When you’re living with emetophobia, food becomes more than just sustenance. It can feel like food controls your life. Certain foods become safe while others remain untouched out of fear.
Using restrictive eating as a shield may feel like a great short-term solution, especially if you’re dealing with more triggering situations than usual. But, over time, a restricted diet leads to more complications than it solves.
Restricting your diet often leads to avoidant and isolating behaviours in other aspects of your life as well. If you become malnourished or dehydrated, you can experience digestive issues, which can ironically trigger nausea.
Claiming freedom through your meals can make a world of difference to your entire life, not just your emetophobia.
What Are Safe Foods?
For people with emetophobia, safe foods are usually not concerned with nutritional value. Instead, they are often chosen based on whether they will minimise the perceived risk of digestive issues. This means they are usually plain and bland.
Whilst many people perceive food differently, the most common safe diets are:
- Beige foods. Common with neurodivergent people as well, plain foods that are beige are often perceived as safe. This usually involves plain carbohydrates such as sauceless pasta, potatoes or bread.
- Specific brands. Having a specific brand of processed food, such as chicken nuggets, means that you know exactly what to expect. Instead of switching foods, consistently having a factory-made product that will be the exact same as the last time you ate it will eliminate any surprise variations.
- The BRAT diet. An abbreviation of “bananas, rice, applesauce and toast”, this diet is medically prescribed and a standard for those recovering from stomach issues. Due to this, emetophobes often trust these foods and will adopt them as a preventative measure against stomach issues, instead of a treatment.
These foods are largely considered “safe” due to their predictability. When you’re living with emetophobia, you will gravitate towards food that you know (or think you know) will not make you sick. Processed branded foods can be relied upon for their predictability and consistency, which is very soothing to an anxious brain. Unpredictability can mean danger and vulnerability.
How To Reintroduce Foods
The most effective way to move away from regimented, safe and unsafe foods is to use graded exposure. Instead of diving in the deep end and reinstating your phobia, use a ladder where you gradually introduce new foods in a controlled manner.
If you’re unsure of how to take the first steps, try using this guide:
- Step one: A new variation of your safe food.
If you stick to a specific, familiar brand of crisps (for example), try to branch out into a different brand. This will help to reassure that unfamiliar foods are safe to eat whilst tasting and looking similar to one of your safe foods. It’s the same food, but a “new” experience for the brain.
You can also substitute your safe food for a new one that is very similar. For example, if you exclusively eat white bread, try to introduce a light whole-wheat or sourdough that will feel similar and solidify that safe foods don’t have to be harshly restricted.
- Step two: Changing textures and flavours.
If you stick to plain carbohydrates, try adding a small amount of sauce, butter or spices. By keeping your base food the exact same, you can introduce a new flavour or feel to the dish, even though the safety factor remains
- Step three: Low-risk ingredients.
Once you have introduced variations of your safe foods, it’s time to introduce new ingredients. By beginning with low-risk ingredients, such as cooked vegetables that are easy to digest, you will not only get used to home cooking but also increase the nutritional value of your meals.
This will make a huge difference to your digestion, and whilst it may seem scary, it will reduce your nausea as well.
- Step Four: High-risk ingredients.
Now that you have reached the top of the ladder, it’s time to introduce the foods that may seem scary or high-risk for food poisoning. For many emetophobes, meats or dairy products are at the top of the ladder.
But by slowly introducing small amounts of these foods into your diet, you can build your confidence without creating unnecessary fear.
There are some ways to introduce your ladder that will make the process much easier:
- Let yourself be in a controlled environment to give yourself the best chance of feeling safe and comfortable. Trying foods in an already anxious environment can reinstate your fears.
- Rationalise your phobia by using a thermometer to check the cooked temperature of your food, and therefore eliminating the chance of food poisoning.
- You don’t have to commit to eating the entire meal/food. If you begin by eating small amounts with no pressure to finish, then you can feel more comfortable building up your tolerance at your own pace.
How To Manage Post-Meal Panic
For many emetophobes, taking these recovery steps isn’t the hardest part; it’s the anxiety that follows it. To overcome this, keep yourself occupied post-meal. Do an activity or hobby that is comforting and normal to your routine.
Remember that nausea and digestion are two different sensations. You will hopefully feel full and satisfied after your meal, so do not misunderstand this feeling as nausea.
Recovery
If you have tried reintroducing foods in the past and it hasn’t been successful, remind yourself that progress isn’t linear. Some days you’ll be able to handle a completely new food, and then the next day feel sick from your safe foods. But that’s okay as long as you’re trying to recover.
If you are particularly struggling by yourself, look into other treatments such as therapy. They will be able to personalise this ladder and coach you through it, giving you the extra support you may need to overcome these steps.
