Did know you know that there are a quite a few food phobias that exist? One particular phobia, Neophobia, is the irrational fear of new things, trying new things or breaking routine.
The Daily Mail recently reported that a nine-year-old Oklahoma boy has been diagnosed with Neophobia in the form of a severe food phobia. Michael insists on only eating plain Cheez-It snacks, nothing else and his mother was reported saying that, “He literally gets sick at the sight of food”.
His phobia is so bad that he doesn’t want to be around food or even see it or else he’ll run away and get nauseous. His mother said that he is scared of food and can’t even bear to watch the movie Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.
It may seem bizarre but food phobias are a reality and there are many people who have to deal with related phobias on a daily basis. Can you imagine being afraid of food? It’s the very substance that keeps you going from day-to-day and provides you with those much-needed nutrients.
I’m sure to some it must sound crazy and you probably cannot imagine not wanting to eat that yummy slice of cheesecake but people like Michael have never tasted (or had the desire to taste) everyday foods like cheeseburgers and chocolate cake.
Other strange food phobias that you might not know about
Arachibutyrophobia
The fear of peanut butter sticking to your palate.
Cibophobia/ Sitophobia
The fear of food or eating.
Geumophobia
The fear of taste. People who suffer from this phobia only eats bland, flavorless food.
Phagophobia
The fear of swallowing. This is quite serious as it could lead to cibophobia – the fear of eating which will often result in malnutrition.
Thermophobia
The fear of hot things, including hot weather, hot objects and hot food.
Acerophobia
The fear of sourness. Eating anything sour – lemons, sour candy – can trigger panic attacks in Acerophobes.
Carnophobia
The fear of meat. This not is not to be confused with vegetarianism as vegetarians choose to not eat meat whereas Carnophobes have an irrational fear of eating meat.
According to Medical News Today, unpleasant experiences involving a certain thing, is the cause of a phobia. It can also be hereditary and witnessing a family member’s phobias at a young age can also result in a child having the same phobia.
Do you (or any of your friends or relatives) have any food phobias?