Comprehensive List of Food Phobias
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What is Phobia?
According to Wikipedia, a phobia is defined as:
An irrational, persistent fear of certain situations, objects, activities, or persons. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject. When the fear is beyond one's control, or if the fear is interfering with daily life, then a diagnosis under one of the anxiety disorders can be made.
Up to 18% of Americans suffer from phobias, including 10-15% of all children. However, those that seek help have a high rate of remission. Successful treatment methods include Desensatization Therapy, Cognative Behavioral Therapy, and the use of certain antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications.
*Please note that phobias are not mere dislikes, but severe and paralyzing fear in response to the related trigger.
Food Phobias
Food phobias fall under the diagnostic category of "specific phobias," which are irrational fears triggered by a particular environmental stimulus. While particularly common among people diagnosed with eating disorders, food phobias can also be found in otherwise mentally healthy people.
Below I've complied a comprehensive list of food-specific phobias. As you read it, you may feel the urge to laugh, but please remember to be sensitive in the presense of someone who struggles with one of these disorders. It is easy to make light of someone's fear, especially of something as seemingly innocuous as a common edible, but for the phobic, the fear is very real, and sometimes crippling.
List of Food-Related Phobias
- Acerophobia- Fear of sourness
- Alektorophobia- Fear of chicken
- Alliumphobia- Fear of garlic
- Bacillophobia- Fear of microbes
- Bacteriophobia- Fear of bacteria
- Botanophobia- Fear of plants
- Carnophobia- Fear of meat
- Cibophobia- Fear of food
- Consecotaleophobia- Fear of chopsticks
- Coprastasophobia- Fear of constipation
- Defecaloesiphobia- Fear of painful bowels movements
- Deipnophobia- Fear of dining or dinner conversations
- Dipsophobia- Fear of drinking
- Emetophoia- Fear of vomiting
- Frigophobia- Fear of cold things
- Geumophobia- Fear of taste
- Hematophobia- Fear of blood
- Hydrophobia- Fear of water
- Hygrophobia- Fear of liquids
- Ichthyophobia- Fear of fish
- Iophobia- Fear of poison
- Lachanophobia- Fear of vegetables
- Mageirocophobia- Fear of cooking
- Methyphobia- Fear of alcohol
- Mycophobia- Fear of mushrooms
- Necrophobia- Fear of dead things
- Obesophobia- Fear of gaining weight
- Oenophobia- Fear of wine
- Olfactophobia- Fear of smells
- Ornithophobia- Fear of birds
- Ostraconophobia- Fear of shellfish
- Osmophobia- Fear of odors
- Phagophobia- Fear of swallowing
- Pnigophobia- Fear of choking
- Rhypophobia- Fear of defecation
- Sitophobia- Fear of eating
- Teniophobia- Fear of tapeworms
- Thermophobia- Fear of hot things
- Toxophobia- Fear of being accidently poisoned
- Urophobia- Fear of urine or urinating
- Verminophobia- Fear of germs
- Xanthophobia- Fear of the color yellow
- Xerophobia- Fear of dryness
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Getting Help
As with any mental illness, you should never self-diagnose. If you or someone you know may suffer from an eating disorder or phobia, please see your physician for a referral. You are not crazy. There is help. Psychotherapy and psychiatry are key pieces to recovery.
To read a complete list of specific phobias, including those not related to food, visit the Phobia List, or to learn more about eating disorders in particular, please check out the links below:
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Comments
It's true. Some people have an aversion to a particular food, but also there are categories of food (especially with eating disordered people) that might be "off limits," such as cold foods, foods with a certain texture, foods of a certain color, or the possible "consequences" of eating a certain food.
Great Hub! I had no idea people could fear so many foods and such. I'm glad this was never on a psych final exam for me!
Is there a phobia for foods with a certain texture? If so, what is it called?
I am not under or over wieght but I have a weird thing about food. I have never in my life tasted a hamburger, taco, ketschup. mustard, salad the list goes onand on I can not bring myself to taste new foods I mean that I have never had a pickle, steak, any kind of beef the only meat that I have ever had in my life is chicken and bacon (very crispy). I have a phobia of tasting things I never even tried bbq sauce untill I was 23 I am 25 I want to over come this has any one else ever heard of an adult like this. To realy give you the point here are a few more things that I have never ever tasted salad, shrimp, fish, dark meat chicken, any condements except for bbq sauce, tacos, burritos, tomatos, mayonase, olives, pickels, the list goes on and on I have a fear of food and food textures I want to bring myself to at least know the taste of things but I can't.
Crystalie,
Wow, I couldn't believe it when I read your comment. I thought I was the only person like that. People think I'm a picky eater, but it's not "being picky" because I can't even bring myself to taste new things and I've been this way my whole life. I had only tried chicken and it would only eat it if it was really dry, white meat. My husband forced me to try steak when we were dating and I'm now able to eat that but anytime there is a dinner party or lunch date, I really dread it, even though I want to be social. It was so embarassing going over to people's houses for dinner growing up because the focus always ended up being on me and what was I going to eat. I never tried any condiments until about 2 years ago and I tried ranch on my french fries. Now I love it, but I still have not tried ketchup or mustard or bbq sauce. I am now 24 and I have a 1 year old and I'm starting to feed her real food and I don't even know what to give her sometimes because my diet is so limited but I don't want her to be picky like me. Sometimes, I'll bring myself to taste things in social situations to try and look normal, but I feel like I want the ground to open up and swallow me. And then I either have to swallow it with water really fast before I taste it or feel the texture or else I'll start gagging, in which case I'm trying to force myself to swallow while gagging without anyone noticing! It's aweful! I've been so embarassed about it my whole life but its not just some thing that I can fix.
Hi Chrystalie & Candace
I am unbelievably releived to know that i am not the only person living this weird unintentional lifestyle. I believe my phobia is closer to Chrystalie;s in severity but likely more acute.
I do not know what meat tastes like. i only just started eating fish about three years ago, and i am still adjsuting to it. i can only eat fish fried really dry, e.g escoveitched fish.
listen to this i do not bananas, mangos, pineapple, and the list goes on for fruits. i only eat plain rice. i cannot swallow condiments. i do not use any sauce whatsovever on my food.
when people ask me what i eat, i tell them i eat everything but meat, to spare myself embarassment and a lot of explanation. in fact it is much easier for me to list the foods that i eat than those that i dont.
i have been this way since i was about 5 yrs old, i am told. i am now 30 yrs old. i have always been underweight, which worries me a lot.
i eat a lot of oats, pasta, veggie chunks, veggie mince, milk, beans, sweat potato, rice, bread and thats about it for my mainstay of foods.
i just came across some work called energy psychology which claims that this form of treatmnet can heal any phobia withan 85% success rate. do you guys know anything about this?
i do enjoy the smell of some foods, although i dont eat the, e.g KFC chicken. In most other cases teh smell of certain foods makes me feel terribly sick.
i would love to learn more about your lifesyles and how you manage on a daily basis, especially in social settings.
looking forward to your responses.
I'm right there with you guys. I am not sure what to do. i hardly eat anything besides fast food even then its almost always chicken nuggets or strips. i dont even like chicken if its not breaded. i dont eat with my family for thanksgiving. too many foods i dont know and am afraid to taste. when we go out to restaraunts i have to order an appetizer or off the kids menu. i dont like any sauces other than ketchup and buffalo sauce at ONE restaraunt with their own buffalo sauce. i'm going into the marines. how can i solve this problem. i wont have a choice what to eat in boot camp.
I have come to meet many people through my practice that like you have fears of tasting new foods. Those individuals like you had a life limited by their phobia. There is help out there. I am a hypnotherapist and have great success with the sessions also you may want to look into NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) Even more effective and especially even faster. I am so excited about the success rates that I am going to take my certificateion in NLP in 3 weeks actually. If you wish to read up on it look for Richard BANDLERS works.
I came across this when I entered "food phobia" in Google because I have a 12 year old son who I truly believe is afraid and paraylzed at the thought of trying new foods. This has gone on for years and years. He cries because he does not want to be like this but we don't know what to do. We have 2 other children who were somewhat picky but we were able to do the "regular" parenting behavior strategies and get them to try things. Our son is completely different. No amount of rewards, removal of privileges etc. matter. Reading many of your comments made we feel so relieved to know it is something experienced by others as well. He has seen medical professionals but none of them really seem to understand the severity of it. They understand him to be a picky eater and just suggest he "try" new foods. I try to explain that the trying is the problem. When Emaverick said he only eats plain rice I almost died! Jack lives on rice, (but can't try pasta), bread, pancakes, waffles, pears, apples, peanut butter and cereal. He will occasionally have breaded chicken but only fast food and the stars have to allign for him to try it even if he has had it before and liked it. The social stigma is awful! I really feel for all of you who have dealt with this for so long!
ok, i am glad this page is here. I am going to start therapy tomorrow. I have terrible fear of getting sick from food..such as E-Coli or Salmonaella. I got Salmonella once from Baja Fresh ..a fast food place in LA and it SUCKED really bad. I have the worst phobia of throwing up, so I dont want to eat anything that can make me sick. With all of the recalls of tomatos, ground beef today, spinach, etc..I wont eat anything but carbs. Bread, crackers, cereal, etc. It is making me really crazy and very grumpy. I will occasionally eat something else, but then will feel sick and worry all night. HAs anyone heard of this??
carbsonly:
I was in treatment with a young woman who was so terrified of throwing up after eating, that her anxiety actually made her do just that. I'm glad you're starting therapy, and confident you can overcome this, as she did.
In the meantime, try non-meat sources of protein (such as tofu) and drinking pasteurized fruit/vegetable juices to try to get your body the nutrition it needs while you process the emotional aspects of your phobia.
Best of luck, and be well!
Any idea what one can do to 'help' themselves get over this fear? i am EXACTLY the same, as not to repeat everthing that you have all said, i'm in the exact situation and feel so embarrased when people tru urge me to try new things and say i'm missing out... blah blah blah, i'm sure you all know how it goes...
any tips?
I heard on a tv show someone say something about "a fear of new foods"...
is there such thing?and what is it called if so?
Oh my God, I thougt I was the only person with this problem. Its such a relief to know this problem exits. Ever since I can remember (about) I've been afraid to taste foods such as most fruits, I'll only eat pure white chiken too an generally stick to carbs. People, my family included alway's tell me I'm missing out or an forever trying to get me to taste things. i've become better since I was 12 as all I used to eat was anything potatoey an chicken. My dad thinks that it may be something to do with being tube fed through my nose (due to my Illness) as a baby till about the age of 5 so I prob lost a sense for taste. Anybody Know know of help to over come this?
I am 39. The older I get the worse I get about the foods I eat. I prefer soft texture foods. If I eat meat I vomit. If i drink anything but tea or diet soda I get ill or angry. I live on M&M's (I crave milk chocolate... not other kind of chocolate tastes good), scrambled eggs (only with cheese), eggo waffles (plain) and mashed potatoes. I snack on White Cheddar Cheezits and popcorn. I am miserable, not because of my choices, but because no one can explain the headaches, rashes, heart pain and gastric issues I have been facing for the last 4 to 5 years that caused this change in my habits. I can't go to certain restaurants. If I go out and order, I am miserable after I eat a 4th of a burger or a single shrimp and all I want to do is sleep. I don't eat any fruit but watermelon and the occasional banana. I only eat peas and green beans and the beans should be steamed. I love soups, but only brothy soups and have reduced myself to Gerber graduates because I can't eat full helpings of anything. I am on Nexium and Welbuterin and neither seems to alieviate this growing issue. Any comments would be welcomed.
OMG. I just found this page and I'm praying some of you are still online. I have a very extreme case of the general phobia as described above by crystalie, candace, emaverick and jack. i started crying when i read the posts. i truly thought i'm all alone because my phobia is so hard to classify or make sense of.
i've never tried most foods, yet i'm paralyzed by fear- i don't know even know if i'm afraid of new taste, textures, or what- but i went to cognitive behavioral therapy 2-3 times a week for a year to desensitize myself and made very little progress. i added a few things to my very limited diet, but did not get rid of the fear or significantly improve my lifestyle at all.
i don't wanna get bogged down in all the details until i know someones listening but i seem to have different rationalizations for not wanting to eat different foods. i think the idea of eating any meat or fish is disgusting, yet for some reason i've always been able to eat bacon. i'm equally grossed by fruits and vegetables, so what's left? even the sight and/or smell of many foods can make me nautious. i have a few "safe" foods to which there is no sensible pattern.
besides the health concerns, i've been dealing with the social issues my entire life. i hate weddings because i never eat and feel like a retard. thats just one example of the stress and anxiety it causes.
has anyone tried hypnosis or NLP with success? PLEASE reach out to me if you're similar or know about this- I'd like to talk to someone who truly understands.
Hello! I'm Taylor, sixteen years old. When I was a baby I was easily satisfied with foods of all sorts- but like any child I had tastes. However, whatever I wanted, I never had to eat agian! Once I grew up I stopped eating foods- I used to LOVE fish sticks, for example, and I took a break from eating them- now, I cant stand fish of any kind.
I am struggling, especially as a teenager, to get adequate nutrition and help my peers and family understand what I feel when confronted with foods I 'dont like', which is translated as, 'wont eat'. It is much easier to list what I DO eat then what I dont. None of it is very healthy. For years I have worried about my own health, though you'd never believe it, and so has my family. I am constantly reminded that I'll end up in the hospital or worse if I dont start eating better. People are constantly asking me why I dont want to change, why I dont care what happens to me later on. I have a hard time explaining that that's not it. It's not a matter of 'want'.
I cant even explain the feelings of releif washing over me at reading all these comments! I thought for years, just like my family, that I was alone in the world with this problem.
I am definately going to check out the hypnotherepy and NLP sugguestions. It is a relief to have some hope that I'll be able to overcome everything and expand my horizons.
For anyone's intrest, I eat: pizza, chicken nuggets/strips/tenders, all fruit (aside from kiwi, mango, banana, canteloupe, and honeydew), pb&j, corn, carrots, grilled cheese, quesadillas, turkey&cheese sandwhiches (when I say turkey and cheese, I mean literally: bread, turkey, and cheese from subway. Nothing else. And I MUST have it with chips.), breaded cheese (mozarella sticks), crispy bacon, waffles, french toast, hashbrowns, french fries, and spaghetti/noodles with butter only.
As you might have noticed, I do not eat any condiments or sauces. The smell of ketchup makes me nauseous. I refuse to eat fish. There are a few more things I'm sure I eat, but right now I'm drawing a blank. As you can see there are no greens in my diet. I am clearly lacking in the nutritional aspect of life. I need help!I hope hypnotherepy and NLP can help me. Thanks so much, and good luck everyone!
I'm so happy I found this. Like so many of you, I have an intense fear of trying new foods. I can't explain why, but I just can't. I'm 18 and I'm tired of dreading social events because of food situations. I'm tired of my parents constantly searching for places to eat based on if I'll eat anything there. I'm tired of making of excuses at meals about how I'm "not hungry" or "not feeling well" to avoid eating. I'm tired of being judged as being a "picky eater" when this problem goes far beyond a childish stubbornness to not eat certain things. I can count the things I actually DO eat on two hands. I'm moving away for college next year and I'm terrified about what I'll do as far as food goes. More than anything, I want to find a way to overcome this.
wow, im so relieved i found this, im sure all of you know how embarrasing it is to deal with this, the few believable excuses only go so far such as... i feel sick.... or im not hungry im 17 people dont buy it anymore. i dont eat fruits or vegtables, i drink mainly water but i like most any drinks, no meat besides chicken nuggets or strips,, i like bread, pasta with ONLY butter nothig else,pizzas fine ,fast food, french fries, peanut butter, doughnuts, cake, chocolate,cereal,pancakes and waffles and thats what ive ate for 15 years. before then i ate extremely healthy and ate everythingg but hamburgers. can you guys tell me what ur successes were, cause im in therapy and the gains are few and far between.
It was quite interesting to read your comments. I sympathize with each of you. I am 39 years old...I have had a deathly fear of orange peels since I was 5 years old. It has comsumed my entire life. As a child, I wouldn't play at recess if there were peels on the playground. I cried and had major panic attacks if oranges were served in the cafeteria.
My ex gave up all citrus just to be with me. My teen aged son has never had any citrus at home and feels guilty if he has it at school. I am constantly looking on the ground for peels. I will not park my car in a parking lot that has peels on the ground. I was offered a very lucrative job in an area of the country that snows. I turned it down because I wouldn't be able to see if there were peels under the snow and may therefore step on one. I don't even visit people that I know eat citrus on a regular basis...that's everyone I know. I have always explained my problem to others by saying that I'm "allergic" to citrus.
The sad thing is that my mother is a psycho-therapist and she has not been able to help me get rid of this fear. So, unfortunately, my daily quest for searching for peels continues. God Bless You!
My son is 18 and has suffered, as many as you have, from the fear of trying new foods. He eats ham subways with cheese and bacon, bagels, yogurt, oatmeal and some cold cereals, oranges, bananas and banana bread, some cookies and pies and rarely a piece of cake........he is about 30 lbs. underweight and I am very concerned at this point in time. I have had him to a nutritionist (no success) and my physician seems to dismiss it and labeled him as a "picky eater"......Please, can someone suggest help?
Gail:
I'd suggest taking him to a psychotherapist specializing in eating disorders. While he may not have an eating disorder, per se, the root issues may be somewhat the same--fear and anxiety and control.
I'm so unbelievably relieved about what everyone else has said that I started crying while reading some of these, I really liked Sara's input on it. I do eat a couple things, I like a lot of breakfast foods. I only like probably 2 meats (Hot dogs and bacon [Crispy!]) And fast food, but that's about it. Probably my favorites would be Tacos or Chili (Only from Skyline though) I don't believe that what I go through is nearly as severe as some of yours. I'm not paralyzed by trying new foods, but I can't bring myself to try anything anymore. I'm 15, and I take multi vitamins like an old person because I don't get the nutrition I should be getting. Every time I get invited out to eat at somewhere other than a fast food joint, I think of an excuse not to go so that I can spare being embarresed in front of all my friends. The other night my sister made lasagna, it smelled delicious, but I couldn't bring myself to even put it on my plate... I just couldn't do it. I don't want to blame not eating things on a phobia, but I don't want people to just say I'm a "Picky eater". There are just some things in the brain that are completely unexplainable, and I think this is one of them. I sat down and talked to my sister, crying, after reading some of these. I'm very glad to hear that I'm not alone, though. :')
My son has a phobia (anxiety) about eating and has been seeing a hypnotherapist who has been really helpful. He like a lot of you only eats about 6 types of food and they are very bland. i.e bread, chips cereals.I had blamed myself as i thought i was not hard enough and maybe its just become a habit but the more he opens up to me the more i realise its not the way he wants to be he can't help it. The hypnotherapist is helping with his confidence and he is slowly trying new foods (tasting). I don't think it will happen overnight but he is becoming more confident around food. Hope this helps.
I have recently ( within the last 2 or 3 years) developed this irrational fear of other peoples cooking, especially if they are cooking somewhere other than my kitchen. I've never told anyone about it, and when i eat at friends houses i eat very slowly and cautiously. I'm not even sure what in/about the food i'm actually afraid of. Its just because I didn't make the food that it scares me. I'm not sure what that kind of fear would even be called.
This is an issue my mother has and she passed it on to my brother and I. If you are a parent, I really suggest that you get your kids to try new things when they are really young. I think it's fine if they don't like it so long as they try. Maybe have them explain what they don't like about it, is it sour? Too hot? Too spicy? Etc! The few things my mom made me eat that she did not eat are things that I still like to this day.
I'm 30 years old and have been slowly trying to taste new things and I am slowly getting there but I have a really hard time with condiments or sauces. If something smells sour, there's about no chance of me tasting it.
What I can suggest is to try to find a type of food that you like and can eat, and try to expand on that with something similar. I realized for example that I could taste any vegetables or fruits, cereals and a bunch of "dry" things. Maybe that was helped in part because when I was in grade school, we had a tasting of cereals and different vegetables. Slowly, I'm also able to drink new type of juice and the more I try new juices, the more I'm able to try new type of juice! However, I still have a really hard time getting over trying "sauce X" or meat that's been marinated in "something" or pre-processed. I still feel sick to my stomach some times at the though of "trying" food or going to a restaurant that I never went to. I really understand what you are all saying when you fear tasting new food or even known food in some case! For example, I love club sandwich, but whenever I go to a new restaurant, I'm worry that their club will be "different" than what I'm used to and that I won't like it.
Heck, I insulted a chef once by kindly asking him to not put sauce on my fish. He would have kicked me out if my friend had not ordered. He really couldn't understand that I wasn't trashing his food but that it's just hard for some of us to taste food. (I didn't eat diner that night since he wouldn't serve anything without his sauce)
So far, patience and slowly trying has helped me to overcome a lot but I still feel bad about tasting new food. I still have a long way to go. While I'd like to travel a little, what I would be eating is a constant worry...
Im 13 years old and i have read these comments and im stunned. I never knew or heard of this fear. I hope you can all solve this soon. xo.
Sorry i meant 14 years old. oops.
spacebull says:
2 years ago
Really all kinds of things are included, this was intereting to read, thanks.