Types of food phobias

Actually, it is not surprising that there are phobias related to , as it is a very daily and physiological act, but where sometimes we also pour out a large amount of emotions and feelings; we have contact with food of many types, colors, smells, textures, temperatures, etc.

What are phobias?

Phobias are included within the anxiety disorders and specific phobias are defined as intense fear or anxiety for a specific object or situation (flying, heights, animals, closed spaces, injections ...). Most phobias start in childhood or adolescence. Among the causes that provoke them, we know that they can be a stressful situation, a traumatic event. There are even learned phobias or imitated from a relative who suffers from a certain phobia and the child ends up imitating their behavior to the point of internalizing it and experiencing it as their own. To determine that we are talking about a phobia, we have to know that in phobias the object or situation that causes it almost always causes fear or anxiety immediate and intense. In addition, this situation of fear and anxiety is persistent, for six months or more.

People who suffer from a phobia often recognize that it is a irrational and exaggerated behavior, but despite this they continue to avoid or try to avoid facing these situations or stimuli. In certain cases this causes great interference in their daily life. Within the world of food and food we can find different types of phobias and in fact there could be as many phobias as there are foods, and more. Let's see the most common.

Food-related phobias

You can also develop phobias of a certain food and certain actions related to eating, such as the mere act of swallowing. The sufferer actively avoids the food or situation and their reaction is disproportionate to the real danger posed by the object. With food, we often see entire families that reject a certain food as a rule, we could say that it is simply a social learning since many of the things that our children learn they do by imitation in what they have observed. If in this case the rejection reaction is exaggerated and active avoidance, it could become a phobia.

Neophobia

This is what we call a person's rejection by try new foods. The typical "I do not want, I do not like" of a child who has never tried that food and is also accompanied by the typical gestures and bad faces to show his "disgust" and rejection. In a way, we could all say that we have a degree of neophobia When we avoid incorporating foods that are not part of our culture or our eating habits, but unless we are going to live in the bosom of an insectivorous tribe, this does not generate an alteration of our daily life. We speak more commonly of neophobia in childhood, in fact, neophobia can be understood as a Defense mechanismBecause a child who was not afraid or reluctant to eat a new or unfamiliar food would be more likely to end up poisoned by a harmful product. For this reason, as we know, infantile food neophobia is common and does not mean that the child is a “bad eater”, but rather that it is a frequent infantile characteristic that tends to disappear over time and there is also a certain genetic predisposition. The most important thing and what we can influence is the attitude of parents and caregivers towards food and even towards the behavior of the child since they can help to dilute the situation, or otherwise aggravate it, increasing rejection and establishing the phobia.

Phagophobia

Phagophobia consists of the phobia of swallowing food. What motivates the rejection of food is the fear of drowning or suffocating at the time of swallowing food. Although at first it would seem that this phobia would occur with solid foods, it can also happen with liquids. Phagophobia can occur at any age and it is generally associated with a choking episode that the person internalizes as a traumatic event that avoids suffering again. That is why it is recommended:

• When the fact is to progressively introduce more consistent textures in a boy or girl, the handling will be mainly food, following the progressive modification advice that can be indicated by a. Now, when it comes to a post-traumatic phobia, it is advisable to go to a psychologist who can guide in the treatment of the phobia.
• If the problem is solid intake (Although it is not the only possibility, it is the most frequent), we must start by serving highly blended purees, which we will gradually thicken until we gradually reach a thicker and thicker puree and finally solid foods.
• In the purees that are going to be thicker and thicker, we will gradually begin to introduce small pieces easy to crumble, and each time we will increase the presence of these "lumps", lumps or pieces, and the size of them.
• The first Solid food that we can include can be semolina, mashed potato with chips, soft-boiled egg, steamed or boiled fish, boiled zucchini, etc.
• If the introduction of food is very slow and difficult, we will have to make sure that the diet is not being deficient. If so, supplement in the appropriate way for each case.
• When the phobia is due to fluid intake We can resort to the use of thickeners to ingest even water based on gelatins or purees, and little by little we tend to a more liquid consistency, the opposite of how we did it with the phobia of solids, until we are able to ingest liquids without thicken.

Cybophobia

It is defined as the fear of eating and food in general, more related to food safety not with specific foods. A person who suffers from cybophobia is permanently worried about suffering a possible allergy, exaggerating the good condition of food, the expiration date, etc. This phobia can occur after a traumatic episode, in this case after having suffered an intoxication or allergy that has been an alarming and unpleasant process for the person.

Mycophobia

Here we talk about the terror of consume mushrooms or mushrooms and the possible risk of poisoning. People with mycophobia, depending on the degree to which they suffer from it, may also be afraid of touching or even seeing fungi.

Lacanophobia

It is what we define as fear of vegetables, and it can occur towards a single vegetable or several, and it is that no matter how harmless it may seem if its intake has been accompanied by a traumatic situation, the aversion can become so intense that this phobia develops. Sometimes it is related to the fact of having found insects among the leaves and the fear of being able to eat a small bug if we eat vegetables. Other times the phobia can be generated if the intake of this vegetable has been forced in childhood.

You have doubts? Register in Savia, MAPFRE's digital health services platform that allows you to speak for free by chat or video consultation immediately with a doctor so that they can resolve all your medical questions.

In addition, you can buy a session on the disorder or problem that worries you the most.

SIGN UP FREE

• Although when thinking about phobias it is not the most common to associate them with food, there are also phobias of different types related to food.
• Phobias are included within anxiety disorders and are defined as intense fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation, in this case, a food or the need to swallow.
• The most common phobias in the field of food are food neophobia, very common in childhood, and phagophobia.

Bachelor of Food Science and Technology Diploma in Human Nutrition and Dietetics