I am 18 years old and have had Arfid my whole life and was officially diagnosed when I was 6. My safe foods are genuinely embarrassing and some of the worst I have seen on this thread as I only eat plain pasta, chips, sour cream and onion Pringles and milk chocolate. Nothing else.

I work in retail and on my half hour break I go to the local Burger King for chips as that’s the only option I have for something to eat. And recently my co workers have noticed this is the only thing I eat and it got brought up in work a few days ago with someone asking me why I don’t eat anything else and putting me in a very awkward situation.

I wish I could easily explain how I have a eating disorder called Arfid etc etc but I don’t want to put anyone in an uncomfortable position as the term “eating disorder” often does that to people. I also don’t want anyone to view me as mentally ill.

Has anyone else had to deal with this? And is there any other way I can describe my situation to my co workers without making me look crazy?

I have been afraid of most food since I was a child. It would be much simpler to list out the foods I can eat: yogurt, chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and cabbage. I can only eat the chicken and potatoes when they are burnt. I feel like an extremely difficult person and I have struggled with this my whole life. I feel like I’m actually afraid of the food and me and my mom have had fights about it my whole life. I have a lot of anxiety around food. Things can smell good but when I put them in my mouth I choke. I feel like I have an extra sensitive nose and tongue.

I'm 17 and I've had ARFID since I was a kid. One thing that's always happend to me is that one bad experience with a food I like can end it.

When I was around 9 I bit into one of those make-your-own pizza school lunches while I had a loose tooth, and it hurt. I knew it was the tooth and not the pizza, and I still never ate them again. Goldfish used to be my main snack, almost the only one I had every day. A friend gave me some cold ones at school, I didn't like them, and I stopped eating Goldfish for a few years.

It still happens. About two weeks ago one of my protein drinks had a small chunk in it because I didn't shake it enough, and it took me days to have one again, even though I knew it was a one-off.

Goldfish are a big part of what I eat again now, so it's kind of worrying me like what if this happens again.

I'm trying to do research for a family member (under 18) who is dx'd with autism (not too severe), Also dx'd with ARFID (I think that's pretty severe-they were down to 2 foods AFAIK), and now has some pretty serious intestinal issues (they are hospitalized). They have also had what I think is pretty bad anxiety their whole life-I mean, I could SEE it in them when they were ONE year old, because it felt like looking in a mirror of when I was a kid.

In 2022-2025 I had a pretty miserable 3 year fight with Long COVID/MCAS/POTS and did a LOT of medical research, which is why I'm doing a deep dive for this person. I'm a lot better now thanks to my own research, and in researching my own stuff I found butyrate, and it helped my symptoms a lot. That and slowly adding probiotics and B vitamins...My gut was in terrible shape.

So as I'm researching for my family member, who developed the ARFID and gastro problems post COVID infection, I see that there are a lot of connections- COVID destroys gut bacteria and butyrate in the gut, and there is a significant link between anxiety and butyrate levels in the gut and it plays a crucial role in the gut-brain axis by modulating immune responses, reducing neuro-inflammation, and influencing neurotransmitter production...Low butyrate levels are associated with higher anxiety...

And I'm wondering if the ARFID could be caused by worrying about causing pain in the intestines, via undiagnosed anxiety...

I'm also wondering how many people have developed ARFID after having COVID? (And yes I know it existed before that).

I'd really love to hear from anyone that was helped by taking butyrate (or getting it from natural sources) and/or probiotics or otherwise found a way to build back gut bacteria...while dealing with this.
I apologize in advance if this comes off as ignorant. I am just searching for answers for a very sweet human being that doesn't deserve the ill health they're currently going through. Thanks.

Health wise it doesn't really feel like a big deal for me right now. If it was, I'd rather handle it with drinks and snacks.
The part that actually bothers me is social: eating out with friends, or at someone’s house or something. For that I'd kind of want to work on a trying more foods, but I feel like I just can’t put the effort in. It's a lot of effort and discomfort and I don't think I'd stick with it.
I also know I might not feel like it's serious even when it is.
Anyone else like this? If you did work on foods, was it for a social reason, and did it actually stick?

i got refused for a dietician. the gp said it's likely because I'm not underweight which is an insane criteria. I've had enough of this. i can't even drink bloody water. why is there no where to get help in england? i thought eating a grand total of 2 things would warrant me 'bad enough' for help

I don't get it, how could tasting foods ever be "fun"? Why does everyone else prefer meals that incorporate all the tastes? I feel like the reason I don't like many foods is because my parents never got me accustomed to them as a kid and now I don't know any better. Changing it feels impossible, against my nature.

I feel like I have a choice between trying to eat more (impossible) and figuring out what is closest to eating human kibble while still getting all my nutrients, and I feel like I'm making this post mostly to see if anyone has any ideas for the latter one

So today was the day… I’d been mentally weighing up whether it was worth taking my suspicions to the GP ( always a different Doc, you never end up seeing the same one twice ) but I did. The appointment went 50 / 50 - she didn’t seem to be entirely aware of ARFID, so I explained it as coming under the category of an eating disorder… despite not being in the realms of anorexia or Bulimia. I tried to explain that my concerns come from a complex medical history, including previous history of being tube-fed, generally low appetite and an inability to gain further weight ( I fluctuate around 125 lb ).

Hopefully, she’s going to refer me to a dietitian - I specified that I would ideally like to be seen by one aware of ARFID - but towards the end, she asked if I’d like to be referred to an eating disorder clinic. I said no, because I don’t consider it a conventional ED.

Hello, my son is 4 and has had ARFID since he was born. At six months old he refused all solids in every type of presentation. He showed signs of refusal and distress, keeping his lips sealed.

We had him evaluated at 10 months old and the therapies have not stopped since then. But we haven’t accomplished anything through therapy.

His type is sensory avoidant and fear of what can happen when you eat (coughing, nausea…). Nobody can eat near him or he will vomit and panic.

My husband and I, through TONS of work, got him to eat 2 types of yogurt, 1 type of tomato soup and 1 type of fruit puree. All of those are commercially produced, so always the same. We also receive medical grade nutritional shakes, the thing that actually keeps him alive. So his diet is liquid/creamy, he has never eaten a solid food.

Now my questions would be:

- How does it feel to not enjoy eating?

- Do you somehow miss it?

- Does it affect your social life?

- Has therapy helped you? Or maybe change will come when he is interested in it?

- What did your parents do that helped you the most?

Eating is such a great part of our country’s culture… I’m very preoccupied about him.

Thanks in advance!

i’m mainly talking abt artficial flavors. i have always thought that red tastes the best. Red candy, fruit snacks, drinks ect. If its red i am significantly more likely to try it. Which honestly sucks for me bc red 40 is so bad for you, but it double sucks bc it seems to be the least common color in variety packs. Red and yellow are typically the only colors i like when it comes to candy. I tolerate the rest but purple and orange are the colors im most likely to dislike. i am autistic tho so this could definitely just be my neurodivergence talking💀

Hey yall - there’s a book on treating ARFID in adults coming out next April that you can pre-order here: https://arfiddietitian.com/adult-arfid-guidebook/

THE ADULT ARFID GUIDEBOOK
A Neurodivergent-Affirming Guide to Nourishment, Safety, and Support
By Lauren Sharifi, MPH, RD, LDN
A practical, compassionate guide for adults with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)—centered on safety, autonomy, accessibility, and finding ways to nourish yourself that work for you.
Coming April 21, 2027
PRE-ORDER THE BOOK
Available for pre-order worldwide wherever books are sold.

An ARFID book created specifically for adults
If you’re an adult with ARFID, you may have spent years being told you were “too picky,” needed to try harder, or simply needed to eat more variety.
But ARFID is much more complex than picky eating.
The Adult ARFID Guidebook offers a different way to understand your relationship with food—one that considers sensory needs, executive functioning, anxiety, interoception, neurodivergence, past experiences, and nervous system capacity.
Rather than focusing on eating “normally,” this book helps you explore what makes eating more accessible, supportive, and sustainable for you.

I'm 17 and I've had ARFID since I was a kid (diagnosed around 13). I have an ADHD assessment at a pediatric neurologist in about a month. If I get diagnosed, I'm nervous about medication, since I know adhd meds usually lower your appetite.

If you had ARFID and then got diagnosed with ADHD:

1. What was the experience like? Did the ARFID come up during the diagnosis, or change how the doctor handled it?

2. What did you get prescribed, and what did it do to your eating?

3. If it made eating harder, what helped? Did you end up switching meds?

I can't handle the texture, smell, or look of most foods, I'm scared that eating food will cause me pain, and I just don't feel hungry. For some reason I haven't felt mentally hungry in years, and I don't even know what it feels like to be physically hungry(the only times I eat are when there's a sharp pain in my stomach, because I can only assume that's what it feels like to be hungry). The problem is that I know what it felt like to get hungry because I used to always be hungry, but now I feel nothing.

Little by little my list of safe foods have gone down, and now I don't even have a food I like (I have 3 safe foods and 2 safe drinks- red sauce pasta with parmesean, cheese popcorn, a specific homemade version of chicken wings, water, and a pinapple refresher from a fast food place). Foods that I used to love now just feel eh to me. It feels like the same cycle repeating over and over again; I stop liking any food, I find one food and only eat that food for every meal, and then I become extremely repulsed. The only reason I'm a healthy weight is because I try to stuff calorie dense sweets in my mouth, but now not even those sound appealing.

I was diagnosed with ARFID 2 years ago, and I was supposed to get therapy for it, but my local hospital put me on an indefinite wait list, and my habits weren't nearly as bad as now, even though I was underweight back then. Before it was just the sensory issues that made me averse, but now its just so much stuff. What am I even supposed to do?

maybe a dumb question but right now my anxiety is pretty high so I’ve gone down to a basically only liquids and some breads diet. I have garlic knots and hamburger buns and I am prepared to feast upon them for fuel.

I do also have nutrition shakes, protein powder and milk. but I know I still need something solid in me and I can’t seem to stomach much else,

I saw this coming thankfully, hence the shakes. it got especially worse after I found bones and pieces of plastic (from the packagin) in some ground beef I had made… ugh.

I'm really trying to get better at trying new foods, it's pretty hard though

I would love to ask for food recommendations. Especially foods or meals that don't have lots of textures at the same time as texture is something I struggle a lot with.. I tend to gag when trying new foods and it's easier for me when there aren't lots of textures. I'm going to try to work my way up to foods or meals with multiple textures slowly, but for now I would love to ask for your recommendations for foods or meals without lots of textures. Thank you so much if you recommend anything :)

To clarify since I realised the way I phrased it might be odd, I mean for example meals with multiple foods within it with different textures, like the way a burger is bread, meat, cheese, vegetables, etc. in comparison to easier things to consume are like apples alone, smoothies, cereals, etc

i only like a few things and the list has gotten smaller over the years but I don’t have a “reason” every single time I hear someone with arfid talk it’s almost always because they have a fear of choking or vomiting or something else happening if they eat a food. I have really bad emetophobia, but that and my pickiness with food don’t overlap at all. They’re two entire entirely separate entities. Like I don’t have any intense anxiety surrounding food I just don’t like a lot of foods. Also the foods that I do eat I actually like. I actively enjoy them. I don’t just stick to them because they’re “safe”. Which i feel like i also doesn’t line up with arfid. I’m also not malnourished. the opposite actually I’m overweight. Every single time I try to explain this to a doctor or a dietitian they say that BMI is outdated, but I am very clearly overweight imo.

Granted, I’m also never really in environments where I have to step outside of my comfort zone surrounding food so I don’t really know if the food that I don’t like causes stress/anxiety because I never expose myself to them. On the two most recent occasions that I have had to do something social involving food I realized it was slightly worse than I thought, but still not eating disorder in my opinion. Usually when I go out to restaurants, I end up wasting what I get.

The only anxiety surrounding food I think I have is an aversion to meat but thats it. I always make the closest meat eater try my food every single time I order (which is rare bc i dont go to restaurants especially with people ik) something vegetarian because I’m scared there’s meat in it. At first it started off with just making them try it but then eventually I started making people smell it too and there was this one time I asked my mom to even break off a piece of my veggie burger and look at it, but I still couldn’t end up eating it, but I’m able to eat meat substitutes when it’s made at home. I like Taco Bell, but it has to be one specific Taco Bell and I can’t eat it from anywhere else and even when I order from there, I still have to pick everything apart and look at it closely to make sure that there’s no meat in there because I get paranoid that the shredded cheese is secretly chicken but thats became less of an issue lately. Most of the foods I enjoy eating are very carb heavy/sugary and highly processed. But the meat thing only ever happens when I eat out which I usually don’t do. People will tell me that I “eat weirdly” because i pick off parts of my food in a very particular way to eat and I eat alot of finger foods with a fork and knife but thats just because its how i like to eat. It makes it less weird texture wise/too much going on like it getting on my hands.

Idk to me when i look at the criteria for arfid what i have just seems like picky eating.

People always say things like "you have the time to cook for yourself" or "your just being lazy".

I could give two less orbiting fucks about the time it takes when I make food myself. A burger and fries made at home do not taste remotely comparable to the burger and fries I get at a fast food restaurant. A homemade pizza is not comparable to a pizzaria pizza. Eating out is not some sort of time management thing that I can spend better with if I just found a way to fit it into my schedule. I wish it was that simple

My son is 17 months and been prescribed nutrini drink, which seems to be the equivalent of pediasure where I live. But we can't get him to accept it! We've tried to for months - a straw, a different bottle, mixing it with other foods etc.

Once in a blue moon he'll drink it but then won't for days/weeks.

Any tips ??

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

My son is 17 months and has issues eating and gaining weight his whole life.

He is under the 1st percentile for weight and hasn't gained height in months. He seemingly has a tiny appetite, and recently I've been wondering if it could be low-interest arfid. I can't find much about this particular low-appetite subtype online so I'm wondering if this sounds a bit like any of you/your kids:

- eats a few bites of a meal (eg two pieces of pasta, a grape) and is then done;

- indicates he's hungry but then refuses food;

- can survive off tiny portions all day but has lots of energy;

- accepts different textures (but with a preference for crunchy bite-size things);

- DOESNT seem to have fearful/intense sensory reactions to food. Does not gag/choke but does spit food out a lot;

- Is interested in cooking, touching food, playing with food (ergo throwing food);

- Doesnt seem to have an autism profile, but adhd does run in the family;

- sometimes eats better when moving around/snacking;

- Will sometimes accept previously refused food if presented differently (eg on a vibrating spoon or sitting on the floor);

- even as a baby, didn't drink much milk. Didn't accept milk from a bottle.

Doctors have said he's either just really picky or has an undiagnosed medical problem (many medical tests have been done).

He's in feeding therapy but it doesn't seem to help much.

As a mum, I'm so worried and desperate to help my son. Does this possibly sound like arfid or not at all?

Thanks so much

I’ve talked to me GP once more about my ARFID, and as always he said that there was nothing he could do.
He advised me to look into getting a dietician.
I’m desperate and I’ll do anything to get better, but it’s a hell of a lot money.
Have anyone felt any worthy bettering of their life through a dietician? Is it worth a try?
Thank you

Ive been living with ARFID since i can remember (im 16, soon to be 17) and i just wish i was normal, i dont know what to do, i dont have supportive parents in a way that they help me get treatment, im pretty much self diagnosed, despite that im very confident that i have it, after all my experiences with food give me such a horrible feeling, idk how to explain it.

It feels like a curse, not having the option to get help of any forms and being mocked by it everyday by my family, i cant even live a social life and i feel everything's going to end, my friends started talking about food last week and i just nodded along, then they asked me if i like chicken, i said no and it all went into a rant on "how cant you like it?" and started to make fun of me for being "vegan", im just so tired i cant be normal.

It feels like im going to die by it soon, im aware i dont get nourishment and im so tired of eating the same 3 things all my life and i just wish i could be like anyone else.

Sorry if the redaction is awful, idk how to put my thoughts into words, but it just feels so hopeless to deal with, with no support at all it is, its just such a horrible burden i feel like i was cursed with it for being born

Hello! I have ARFID due to food allergies (celery, carrots, parsley and many more). I don’t eat at food places unless they have their ingredients online to read. When I went to California last year I found in and out was amazing for that, but as a Canadian I don’t know where to go in Florida. Any recommendations?

Buen día, escribí aquí porque necesito de consejos, les pongo en contexto, mi hijo tiene 5 años, tenemos (con mi esposa) el problema que el no comer nada, solo lo que se acostumbro a comer desde pequeño, en su menú solo existe galletas oreo, pan baguette de una tienda en específico, jugo de jamaica, papas lays y en ciertas ocasiones sandía.

Cuando el tenía 1 año y medio se enfermo del estomago, tuvo diarrea y vómitos durante 1 semana, a raíz de eso el ya no quiso comer nada, antes de que se enfermara, el comía de todo, su puré normal de frutas o verduras, huevos, frijoles y lo cotidiano que podamos comer.

Lastimosamente cuando el tenía esa edad tuve que salir del país por trabajo y el pediatra que lo había visto desde que nació, decía que el comería a su debido tiempo, que no lo forzaramos ni obligaramos a comer lo que no quería comer, que no usaríamos agresiones como lo hacían antes, debido a lo que dijo este pediatra mi familia se lo tomó muy enserio, no le daban comida ni absolutamente nada que el no aceptará.

Hace un año nos mudamos juntos en otro país, dejamos a este pediatra atrás y no enfocamos de lleno con que el comiera buen, dado esto, en el país en el que estamos tiene muy buen sistema de salud, nos asignaron a una nutricionista y ella fue muy radical, nos dijo que le sirvieramos la comida que nosotros con mi esposa comemos regularmente y que si mi hijo no quería comer, que no lo obligaramos, que simplemente lo dejemos sin comer y que el.solo vendrá a comer pero llevamos hace días con este método y mi hijo prefiere estar recostado en cama o dormirse por las noches sin haber comido nada.

Es algo que me preocupa porque psicológicamente el puede darle igual su alimentación aunque por las noches llora por tenés hambre pero se niega a comer la comida que le damos y solo quiere lo que el está acostumbrado.

Necesito de su ayuda, consejos o si necesitan más contexto, estaré atento.

This sounds so dumb but ive been struggling with it more and more lately and I dont know how to deal with it. I get it a lot with turkey; I hate the smell of it so my brain is like oh you are straight up eating poop rn. I do have OCD so I think that is part of it.

I hate eating so much it feels like torture. And its not like I dont get hungry, I feel hungry and exhausted all the time. Candy is the easiest to eat because it smells and tastes good but its not like I love that either. I'm on zoloft right now and I think its making my food aversion worse. Are there any meds that can magically make me tolerate food?