A Man Has Eaten Only Mac & Cheese Almost His Entire Life. Here’s why!

If you could only eat one type of food for the rest of your life, what would you pick? Austin Davis, a 20-year-old resident of a small Florida town called Keystone Heights, has taken this absurd hypothetical situation and made it his real life. The man has eaten pretty much nothing but macaroni and cheese (the Kraft version with Velveeta, mostly) for the past 17 years of his life.

For Austin, however, it is about much more than just “liking” cooked macaroni pasta and cheese sauce.

Austin suffers from Selective Eating Disorder (SED), also known as avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder: an eating disorder characterised by highly selective eating habits and a persistent refusal to eat certain types of food due to a negative response from certain sensory characteristics of that food. In other words, it is a mental condition where new foods can trigger negative physical reactions. This means that Austin’s choice for eating only mac and cheese is not voluntary. He is actually sick of gobbling down the same high-calorie, carb-laden diet every day and has occasionally tried other foods. But when presented with other foods, or even new flavours or twists to his everyday dish, he gets so overwhelmed by the different flavours, textures and consistencies that they make him nauseous, even if he likes them. 

Austin’s condition is believed to stem from traumatic childhood events. When he was a child, he was physically and mentally abused by his father and was taken away by the Department of Children and Families. He was later diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and amid a life of chaos, started finding comfort in soft pasta shells covered with cheese. Austin’s eating disorder has reached into his psyche today – he has an abysmal social life as he does not want to go out with friends solely because of his penchant for only wanting one dish.

To help understand why his culinary world is the size of a specific rectangle of bright yellow on his grocery store shelves and how he can make his diet more well-balanced, Austin is currently seeking therapy to deal with his past trauma and his current food disorder. Let’s hope he gets better soon!

Your child might be suffering from SED, too!

Austin’s story is not uncommon. There are thousands of Austins in the U.K. alone. In fact, one of the most common issues parents in the U.K. face with their children is that the children end up being extreme picky eaters. Many parents are clueless as to how to deal with this situation and end up getting frustrated, which is usually not good for the parents as well as the child. Yes, dealing with children who are selective eaters can be extremely difficult, but it is an issue that can be overcome easily if dealt with the right methods.

If your child is suffering from selective eating disorder, get in touch with an eating disorder therapist in London to give them the hope that they might eventually overcome their aversion to different foods. 

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Created on Jan 28th 2020 04:39. Viewed 292 times.

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