Weird foods people live off

Diet of Monster Munch

A 31-yer-old woman lives off nothing but roast beef flavour Monster Munch for the past ten years, it’s been 11 years since Debbie Taylor had a proper meal, she said: “I was 11 when I last ate a proper meal. I think it was a roast dinner with vegetables. For the past ten years I have lived on nothing but beef Monster Munch crisps. Throughout my teens I had trouble with food, going through periods of anorexia and bulimia. Around the age of 15 I started selective eating. I thought it was a sign my anorexia and bulimia were getting better. “

“I began with toast sprinkled with salt. I enjoyed the taste and the lack of fatty butter or margarine. A few years later I moved to dry roasted peanuts, and then came custard creams and finally beef-flavoured Monster Munch. They don’t make me sick or leave me feeling full. I love the taste and sometimes, if I’m lucky, there will be a ball of pure flavoring at the bottom of the pack. Usually I eat three 45g bags a day – two in the afternoon and one in the evening. If I overdo it I get a sore throat because of the additives and have to drink lots of tea or Coca-Cola, which are the only liquids I consume.”

Debbie has a 55 year-old partner and an 11-year old son and they live in Harlow Essex, speaking about how her food choices affect her family she said: “They just have to put up with me. When I was pregnant I made sure to eat properly and I still cook them both wholesome food. I know I have a bad diet. My nails don’t grow much and just break off. When I brush my teeth my gums bleed. It’s not healthy but then neither is smoking and lots of people do that. I have tried to eat normally but the tummy pain I get isn’t worth it. The doctor reckons it is because my stomach has shrunk so much. I know it sounds crazy but I don’t see myself changing my eating habits any time soon.”

Diet of Yorkshire puddings

You can’t have a Sunday lunch without Yorkshire puddings, however for 21-year-old Aaron Saunder he can’t eat without a Yorkshire pudding.
The mobile phone technician says: “I have always been a selective eater. My mum said that as a toddler I had no interest in food and that I was on powdered milk until I was about seven. Texture has always been my biggest problem and I only like plain-tasting food. I only eat safe textures and if something is not quite the same all the way through, if it’s inconsistent – hard in some places, soft in others – that will really put me off. The first thing I remember eating is buttered rolls and the odd chocolate bar.

Explain when the problem really started Aaron said: “By the time I was 11 I would either have a plate of Yorkshire puddings, two big pancakes or a plate of boiled potatoes. I didn’t like gravy or ketchup or anything, just salt – or if I was having pancakes, sugar. My normal day would be pints of milk or energy drinks in the day, no water, and just one meal in the evening. Usually my mum would make me 12 Yorkshire puddings – I only ate the home-made ones. Christmas Day wouldn’t be any different for me, Mum would still make me a plate of Yorkshire puddings. Sometimes when I got up I would feel dizzy and my mum took me to see nutritionists. But they have always said I’m bang on my BMI so they have never really had a problem. I have to try something about 15 times before I even start to like it and if I really hate it then it’s hard to ever try it again.”

Aaron, of Norwich, Norfolk, continues: “I don’t eat proper meals, I just drink a lot of milk and eat cheese spread sandwiches, that’s the best I can do right now. I have learnt to like cereal and pizzas and to drink water and I think my health is better now. My normal day would be to have a bowl of cereal and pint of milk for breakfast, cheese spread sandwiches and a pint of milk for lunch and a cheese spread sandwich then bed. I found out that I’m in the top ten per cent of people with an unusually high number of taste buds on my tongue. hat must mean I taste things differently to most people. People have suggested that it’s to do with family issues or something in my childhood but I don’t agree. I can’t think of one thing in my childhood where something happened and I went off food – I was never on food to begin with.”

Food Health