Autism and Eating

Sensory trauma, phobias, eating disorders, and disordered eating in general, are discussed below, uncensored and in detail. This is meant to be a non-comprehensive checklist, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or dietician if you have a problem or question, and skip the section on eating disorders if you need to for your health. I am not a medical professional.

This is an autistic guide to help answer the question: why can't I eat well? On this page is a list of factors that may influence why an autistic person doesn't eat, both directly autism-related and not. After that list, I write about some techniques I've learned to help me eat, eat healthier, and eat adventurously. They may or may not work for you.

I believe that autistic "picky eating" is not childish - especially disordered eating due to sensory issues or eating disorders. Instead of putting people down for these problems, it is far more fair and productive to identify what the root causes are, how to change them if possible, and how to encourage healthy but still accomodating eating.

I am still working on this page!

Traditionally autistic traits

Autism is associated with food-related issues. Eating problems in autistic people are common. These issues are usually related to autistic ways of life that discourage or distract us from eating.

Sensory issues

Sensory issues in autistic people can take the form of both sensory-avoidance and sensory-seeking (also called hyper- and hyposensitivity, respectively). These issues can appear in the same person, and even for the same stimulus at different times - especially if we're asked to keep switching the stimuli we're experiencing too quickly, like eating something soft and then something crunchy. This is probably due to an unusually high- or low threshhold for stimuli.

The act of eating itself can be overwhelming. Feeling any food or liquid on our lips, in our mouth, and in our throat can be overstimulating, regardless of what we're consuming. Moving our muscles to chew and swallow can also trigger a fight, flight, or freeze response.

The taste of a food can trigger sensory issues. We can avoid or require strong flavours, or particular tastes like spicy, salty, bitter, or fatty. Having multiple flavours at once can also be an issue. I prefer single flavours at a time, and strong flavours sometimes - for me, this can lead to eating things like salt, sugar, or powdered chipotle powder (pouring some onto my palm and licking it).

Smells, like tastes, can be strong or weak, or of a particular category. Unpleasant smells (chemical-smelling foods like skate wing, pungent smells like certain cheeses, eggy smells like hard-boiled eggs, and divisive smells like durian, can be off-putting for most people, but physically painful and emotionally draining for us.) Whether a food is raw or cooked can also affect both taste and smell. I refuse to eat raw broccoli because of the rather subtle, but still deeply unpleasant, smell. I don't mind cooked broccoli as much.

Texture is an often-cited sensory factor in autistic disordered eating. We may have particular issues with soft, soggy, doughy, oily, chewy, stringy, smooth, crunchy, crispy, round, grainy, powdery, lumpy, or any combination of these. We may find the composition of our foods to be too heterogeneous - a problem I have with stews, which can have soft pasta, slightly firm celery, stringy meat, and mushy carrots in one spoonful, surrounded by fatty, fluid liquid broth. We may also prefer certain shapes and textures, to the extent that we have difficulty eating anything else. When I am in a "crunchy mood", but I don't have anything crunchy in my pantry, I usually just don't eat.

The appearance of our food can also impact how overwhelming we find it. Colour is often a factor on autistic plates - some people prefer certain colours not to meet, such as needing red and green bell peppers to be separated. We can also simply be overwhelmed by the number, shapes, and sizes of foods. I like eating one or a few things at one time - and I really love them all to be in separate dishes, instead of lumped in the same plate or bowl.

The sounds that our food makes can feel especially acute and inescapable when the food is in our mouth. The sounds of crunchy and squeaky foods travel from our cheeks right to our ears, and it can be panic-inducing. We can also find the sound of utensils to be deeply unpleasant. I find crunchy foods, especially carrots, satisfyingly loud, and I purposefully eat them loudly - it's enjoyable and focusing, especially when eating in public. Squeaky foods, though, like firm tofu, are foods I generally avoid.

Rule and routine adherence

The ways our food is presented can trigger not sensory issues, but another aspect of autism that makes eating very difficult for us - a need for routine. Things like the way our plates are arranged, or the room environment we are in, that are different from what we desire or expect can make eating a very unpleasant experience. Some of us need to eat at a certain time of day. Some of us find eating with different tableware or cutlery difficult or impossible. Some of us can't eat outside our usual home and cafeterias. Many of us have a preferred chair or eating companion. Having these stable environments can make eating a positive, enjoyable experience, and it can help us feel more inclined to eat regularly.

Alexithymia and impaired interoception

Monotropism is a way of describing autistic hyperfocus - when we become so focused on one or a few interests that we can miss other stimuli. A related concept is the idea that many autistic people share a trait called impaired interoception, or the lack of ability to identify our own bodily sensations. Monotropism and impaired interoception may be two different aspects of the same brain function - or they may be caused by different things. In any case, an effect is that autistic people sometimes don't notice when we are hungry. I have been so singularly-minded while writing for this website that I have forgotten to eat or drink for around ten hours. Eventually, I remember when my throat starts feeling very dry and scratchy and my stomach starts making noise. But I have trouble identifying the subtle cues to eat and drink before I'm desperate.

Difficulty making decisions

One of the major issues that many autistic people have is executive dysfunction, which is a term that includes various impaired abilities to make plans and decisions, and staying attentive enough to follow through. Autistic people could adapt to our different neurotypes, under certain circumstances; but the demands of the common ways of food procurement and preparation make executive dysfunction very impactful.

Eating regularly requires a lot of planning - making a budget, deciding what recipes to make and what I need to buy to make them, finding time and transportation to go to the grocery store, putting away what I bought, finding time to decompress from the stresses of going to the grocery store, finding time to cook, actually cooking, cleaning up from cooking, eating, cleaning up from eating... some days, I can barely afford the mental energy to do one of these things, let alone all of them. Sometimes, I start doing an early step - like making a shopping list - but I get tired or distracted. I don't finish the list for a week, which means I don't go food shopping for a week - which means I barely eat for a week. And when I am very hungry, I find it difficult or impossible to plan, starting the cycle over again.

Autistic burnout

Closely related to the concept of executive dysfunction is the idea of autistic burnout. Unlike regular burnout, which many people face, autistic burnout comes from autism-related factors, such as sensory overwhelm, masking too much, or repeated interruptions to our routine. Autistic burnout can make it especially difficult to make and follow through with plans. Burnout can come from school, work, or any other repeated social gathering or unpredictable event. It can even appear when we feel fine - we can sometimes lack the attentiveness to our own brains and bodies until burnout makes it too difficult to accomplish anything.

I love cooking. I really enjoy trying new ingredients and recipes, as well as making the family recipes I grew up with, like my grandmother's famous cheesecake. But I encountered a period of severe autistic burnout, and I haven't cooked since - as of writing this, it has been about a year since I have cooked anything beyond noodle soups and frozen meals. I think about cooking nearly every day, but I can't, because I haven't been able to recover from burnout.

Caretaker reliance

Some autistic people rely on caretakers - partners, family, hired help, live-in or institutional caretakers, visiting social workers, medical professionals, neighbors, or friends - to assist us, either infrequently or always. Reliance on caretakers can put us in vulnerable positions, such as relying on caretaker whims and decisions for what should be available for us to eat. Many caretakers choose options that are good for us - options that are both healthy and tolerable. But some caretakers do not choose options that are best for the autistic person. This can be forcing us to eat certain foods because they are "normal", even if we don't like or strongly benefit from them.

For autistic people, being forced repeatedly to eat something we do not want to eat, in a situation that is not comfortable for us, can make eating itself feel like a bad activity. I remember being forced to eat something I did not want to as a child, and subsequently having trouble eating anything in subsequent days, refusing to eat again until I felt dizzy. I hid uneaten food in my bedroom, or I flushed it down the toilet, in a desperate attempt to control what I was eating and reject what I did not want.

Caretakers may still think it is in our best interest to make us eat things we do not want to eat. In some cases, such as for an undernourished person, this is the correct action to take. But caretakers should still be attentive to the needs and desires of autistic people, especially those of us who have difficulties communicating our desires verbally.

Mobility issues
Autism is not a physical disability, but being autistic can lead to mobility issues that prevent us from obtaining and cooking food.

∞

Some issues related to eating are separate, diagnosable conditions. Some are proposed to be medical conditions. Some are not separate diagnoses, but environmental and practical concerns. I have listed the other food-related issues I have heard of below. Any of these issues can overlap with autism-related disordered eating, and make any nutritional or practical issues more difficult to resolve.

Clinically-diagnosed eating disorders

Anorexia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa

Binge-eating disorder (BED)

Avoidant and restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)

Pica

Diagnosed and proposed conditions with a food-related component

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) * as of 2024, unrecognized as a disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Body-dysmorphic disorder (BDD)

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Social anxiety disorder (SAD)

Major depressive disorder (MDD)

Bipolar disorder
Periods of changing eating habits

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD)

Atention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Forgetting to eat
Forgetting to finish eating
Impulsive eating

Food-related phobias
Emetophobia
Phagophobia
Choking phobia
Cooking appliance/heat element phobia

Gastrointestinal diseases
Gastritis
Gastroenteritis
Inflammatory bowel diseases
Coeliac disease

Endocrine diseases
Diabetes

Autoimmune diseases
Coeliac disease

Allergies and food sensitivities
Nut allergies
Lactose intolerance
Gluten intolerance

Undiagnosed, subclinical, or historical conditions with a food-related component

Avoidant eating
Avoiding food in general
Craving some foods, and avoiding others

Binging and uncontrolled eating
Emotional and hormonal eating
Binging or cravings associated with pregnancy

Obsessions and compulsions
Eating rituals
Desire for control
Obsession with only eating healthy food
Compulsive dieting and calorie-counting

Anxiety
Social anxiety
Anxiety about eating in public
Anxiety about needing a public bathroom
Anxiety about gaining weight
Anxiety about thinness or athletic ability
Anxiety from social media comparisons

Depression
Lack of interest in eating

Trauma
Child abuse
Sexual abuse
Poverty trauma

Distractions and forgetfulness
Forgetting to eat
Forgetting to finish eating

Fears and guilt
Fear of contamination
Fear of choking
Fear of knives
Fear of wasting food
Fear of wasting money
Fear of judgement
Guilt after eating

Gastrointestinal-region symptoms
Tooth pain
Sore throat
Stomach upset and pain
Vomiting
Reflux
Diarrhea
Constipation
Period cramps
Bloating
Avoiding food to avoid symptoms

Medication or substance abuse
Loss of appetite
Unusual and unhealthy eating habits

Lack of energy or motivation

Environmental barriers

Social pressure
Peer pressure
Societal pressure
Cultural pressure
Role model pressure
Familial pressure
Pro-eating disorder pressure

Unstable home life
Family disturbance

Minority status

Lack of permission
Parental, caretaker, or landlord rules

Practical barriers

Financial strain
Food insecurity

Food and cooking unavailability
Food deserts
Little storage space
Little food preservation
Few available appliances
Few options due to sensitivities or allergies
Few options due to religious and ethical dietary limitations

Religious fasting

Other disabilities
Physical disabilities
Intellectual disability
Other developmental disability

What to do about eating better

The exact changes you need to make to your diet, like how many missing calories and nutrients you need to make up, should be determined by you and a licensed medical professional. Instead of talking about these, I'll focus on the sensory and practical solutions I have developed because of my autistic way of life. These are suggestions, and they are not the right solutions for everyone.

I have a list of safe foods: foods (and beverages) that I am nearly always able to afford, unwrap, prepare, and eat. Many of these are also samefoods, or foods with a consistent and calming texture, flavour, smell, and appearance. These are not always the healthiest options, but they're enough to help me when I stop eating and feel severely fatigued and dizzy.

1) The first of these is water. I often do not notice that I am dehydrated until my vision starts fading. I have an alarm on my phone to drink a glass of water, and I usually have at least one glass per day. Water can be hot, room-temperature, or cold; and it can be from a filter, tap, or bottle. I can be especially sensitive to flavour and temperature differences in water. I try to keep a full gallon of filtered water in my refrigerator at all times. My alternatives to water include unsweetened tea (hot or cold), oat milk, rice water, coconut water, carbonated water (unflavoured or flavoured), and watered-down fruit juice.

2) I also rely on dairy with a smooth, homogeneous texture. This can include both hard and soft cheeses - I prefer sharp cheddar and parmesan. It can also include yoghurt - I like plain Greek yoghurt, sweetened with a little honey (when I feel able, I add granola and fruit or jam, but I am not always able to handle multiple textures in one bowl). Plain vanilla ice cream, with a uniform texture and a pleasantly sweet taste, may be my ultimate safe food. And dairy drinks, like milk and kefir (a tangy Eurasian fermented milk), can also be very calming. There are now many non-dairy alternatives for the lactose-intolerant.

3) I like grains and legumes, often boiled with a bit of salt. Rice, oats, barley, chickpeas, lentils, peanuts, and soybeans are my favourites. The separate and consistent shapes are pleasing and rarely overwhelming, and the soft texture means I don't have to think about chewing. It usually takes minimal effort to put a pot of water on the stove, boil the food, add some salt, drain it, put it in a bowl, and clean up afterward. The instant meal aisle at the market have even simpler options that just require a microwave. These foods are also a great base for more complicated recipes. If I am able, I add garlic powder, black pepper, or dried herbs. Sometimes I add a frozen vegetable like corn, carrots, or green beans. I can also add a protein source like chicken or tofu, but that often involves more cooking and cleaning.

4) I rely on processed grains like bread, crackers, and breakfast cereals when I cannot cook. I have lived for several days with two boxes of plain cornflakes. The only texture I wanted was crispy, and the only flavour I wanted was none. This is not healthy, and probably not cost-effective, but processed grains are unparalleled in convenience. When I don't eat them plain, I have them with nut butter and spreads, jam, and cream cheese. With crackers, when I can, I like slicing cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, and cured meat - sometimes I make sandwiches, and sometimes I eat them separately.

5) Raw vegetables are a great safe food for me, especially because I find many cooked vegetables to be overwhelming. I like raw baby carrots (which are just large carrots, chopped and peeled to resemble small carrots). I also like cucumbers, celery (with the strings removed), cherry tomatoes, and avocados as a quick snack. I like making simple salads with sliced green cabbage or Brussel sprouts, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little dill. When I do cook vegetables, I prefer them made simply - like slicing Daikon radish into thin strips, boiling them until the flavour isn't so sharp, and adding them to a bowl of hot chicken broth. I also love oven-roasted vegetables, especially Brussel sprouts and parsnips, cut into small pieces, tossed in oil and salt, and roasted in the oven. All of these methods have minimal cleanup - a cutting board and one sauce pan or baking sheet is easy to clean up.

6) Raw fruits are similar to raw vegetables in terms of convenience. They also have the benefit of being sweet. I rely on apples and bananas as my main sources of fruit. When they're on sale, I always buy strawberries - I usually finish a pack of them by the end of the day. I like citrus fruits that are easy to peel, like mandarin oranges. Pre-sliced melon and mango are always a convenient and delicious option. Nectarines are rarer in my diet, but I still love them when I feel like eating them. And when I have enough energy and money, I sample a wide variety of fruits - kumquats (grape-sized citrus fruits that I can eat whole), ground cherries (an orange relative of the tomato that is sweet and tangy, though expensive), Korean melon (bright yellow outside and white inside, with a mellow, sweet flavour), and persimmons (orange, sweet, and soft) have become favourites when I can find them on sale. The difficult thing about most fruits is that I have to remember how to ripen them correctly, or they spoil very quickly.

7) Canned, oven, and microwave meals are the same every time, which makes them incredibly comforting. They're calibrated to be consistent and edible, and usually they're not unforgivably unhealthy, as long as you don't eat too many of them. If I'm hungry enough, I need to temporarily stop caring about things like salt and other chemical preservatives; my priority is getting through the day. Cleanup is also very easy. On my low-energy days, I like eating soup from the can (Italian wedding soup is my favourite - but it got very expensive over the past few years), oven mac and cheese, and microwave curry. Takeout food is a similar idea, but it is now prohibitively expensive to rely on. But I'll still get some General Tso chicken a couple times per year.

I will also list some unsafe foods, or foods that cause sensory issues for me. These include many salads and stews, which have many different textures that are difficult to eat and process separately. Instead of salads and stews, I prefer grazing plates - the food is separated, and I get to choose how I eat. More categories of unsafe textures for me are soggy foods (like biscuits soaked in gravy), rubbery foods (like mushrooms), and spongy, squeaky foods (like firm tofu).

∞

While I rely on safe foods, I also structure my food exploration. I grew up on greasy and processed North American food, but I enjoy trying new things and discovering international flavours with old histories. I have specific food interests, like Northern African suppers, East Asian court cuisine, Eurasian meat and dairy preservation techniques, Southern American Black comfort foods, Central and South American tubers, and sweets from pretty much anywhere. Food exploration helps me discover new safe foods.

I live in an area with a lot of cultural diversity. There are a variety of large markets and small shops that cater to people from around the world. I also have supermarkets that have the standard "American" foods. I often go to different markets when I go food shopping, and I try to pick up something new when I can. I have a list of specific stores that are good for particular products: an Indian market that has a good selection of rice and snacks; a local farm stand with fresh vegetables; and a Russian market with amazing fish and pickles.

If you do not live in an area with cultural diversity, or if you don't have transportation to local markets, you have the option of ordering online, although this is usually much more expensive. If you don't have any ideas of what you may like, you can ask a friend, neighbor, or community forum what they recommend. And if you don't have the financial resources to buy anything beyond what you need to survive, you can make budget-friendly localized recipes with ingredients you are able to find and afford - for example, if you can't find hand-pulled Chinese noodles for a good price, you can substitute with a box of cheap spaghetti (no matter what snobs on the internet tell you). If you can't afford lamb, you can use beef or chicken.

If food exploration isn't for you, that is okay. There is nothing more comforting than the food you grew up with, and some people never want to try anything else. I believe that it is very important to eat healthily; but you can do so on a limited diet, and you should if that is what makes you comfortable.

*food chaining

∞

Whether you want to eat something new or something familiar, a fun and cost-effective way of getting food on your plate is cooking. I love cooking, but it is usually the first skill to go when I experience burnout. I stop cooking what I define as "full meals" (with multiple healthy components, usually from a recipe) and I rely only on boiling, microwaving, and oven-baking. During burnout, a lot of my meals are pre-cooked dinners from the freezer aisle, simple piles of rice or noodles, or just whatever is closest.

Planning is a major part of cooking. Autistic people can be natural planners; we can struggle to plan anything; or we can be both, depending on the day. Planning to cook involves making a budget and a shopping list. It involves figuring out how to get the ingredients to you - whether you need to drive or find a ride, and if you need to have anything delivered. For autistic people, it can also be planning how to avoid overstimulation at the grocery store. I have gone to the market to get food to cook, but the store was so bright and busy that when I came home, I was too tired to cook! When planning, it is okay to ask for help. This can be looking online for recipe ideas, asking for a ride, or asking someone to go shopping with you. You can bring your own shopping bags, headphones, sunglasses, or stim toys to the market if you need to. Don't forget your payment method!

Being autistic in public can be scary, so if you feel you can't mask your autistic traits, it is helpful to prepare either a scripted verbal, or a nonverbal, method of communicating your needs. You can practice saying, "I am autistic, and I am feeling overwhelmed. Please be patient with me". You can write it on a card, or type it on your phone - that way, if someone approaches you, you can simply show them. You can use coded messages like wearing a rainbow infinity pin, which is a symbol for autism; or a sunflower lanyard, which is a symbol for any invisible disability. Just keep in mind that not everyone knows what these symbols mean.

It may be frightening to disclose autism in a public place like a grocery store because of the stories of public harassment and violence toward autistic people. But in my experience, most store employees want to help you. They can tell you where to go to find what you are looking for. Some have even offered to allow me into a quiet room to calm down. If they are judgemental, they often have the good sense to keep it to themselves.

Here is an example of a plan I use to go food shopping:

Cooking

Cleanup

Storage

Eating out at restaurants

to sort:

synesthesia?, intellectual disabilities, genetic influence, post-COVID brain fog makes planning difficult *ask

sanitation (dirt, pesticides, germs, hair, bugs, preparation by someone else causing distrust, unsafe storage, food age)
not told to eat (need external demand)
pathological demand avoidance (being given food can be like a command to eat it, or we are literally commanded - implicit or explicit)
fear of waste (that leads to binge-eating, not eating, etc.)
timing (unscheduled meal time, lack of food choice, restrictive environments (summer camp eats at 12 but you want to eat at 11))
unfamiliarity (new food, neophobia, childhood habit of avoiding food, don't want to try again)
familiarity (boring when you eat the same food every day - sensory-seeking due to understimulation)
unrelated stress (makes you hungry or not hungry)
cannot cook (don't know how; no equipment; too distracted to follow directions; kitchen/dishes/sink/stove too unclean; executive dysfunction makes it hard to make plans to shop and cook; not allowed by caretaker or landlord; fatigue/dizziness means you cannot stand or cook or clean up)
cannot eat healthily (limited preferred safe foods/samefoods that aren't nutritious; wanting only one food at a time; in public and no safe, good options; no storage; allergies mean safe ingredients are expensive; food desert; malicious or controlling caretaker)
cannot tell when hungry (interoception), hyperfixated on something else
genuinely not hungry (eating is a chore), just too busy
taking too long to eat, not enough allocated time. sensory breaks between bites?
cannot communicate hunger to caretaker (whether nonverbal, semiverbal, ID, not comfortable)
physical disability that prevents mobility
snacking makes you not hungry for meals (lower nutrition)
religious fasting (not really disordered I guess, but it can be very uncomfortable for autistic people who are used to routines/who are overwhelmed by hunger)

∞

Back to the autism main page:
Autism

AWARENESS, ACCEPTANCE, ADVOCACY

AUTISTIC RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS

Contact me with comments or constructive feedback:
Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Email

Do not use content without my consent. Support new and local artists! Last updated 26 October 2024