Georgi Readman suffers from an extreme condition – Selective Eating Disorder (SED). For several years, he has been eating almost exclusively instant noodles. As calculated – eats nearly 50 km of this product annually.
Georgi’s problems began when she suffered acute food poisoning at the age of eight. From then on, in terms of food, she was a difficult child. At first, I was just a little fussy. I only ate small bites of meals and I did not want to eat vegetables – says the teenager. Even then, the girl loved to eat pasta. Soon there was not only an aversion to eating vegetables, but also nausea after eating them. Now Georgi openly says that she is simply afraid of vegetables and fruits and cannot swallow them due to their terrible texture.
After several visits to the doctor, the diagnosis was made – a selective eating disorder. This disease manifests itself as reluctance to eat specific products, which turns into anxiety, and at a later stage into physical inability to eat them (difficulties in swallowing, nausea, abdominal pain appear).
The underlying cause of this disease may be of different nature. As Dr. Bradley C. Riemann of Rogers Memorial Hospital, Milwaukee: It could be the taste, texture, smell, or appearance of the food. The beginning may also come from an accident. If you choke on meat, you can develop a fear of further choking and, consequently, a fear of eating any meat.
The girl was referred to behavioral therapy, but the treatment did not help much. For many years, she ate almost exclusively pasta – and one particular brand, because other instant noodles often contain vegetable additives. From time to time, Georgi added a few bites of roast chicken or potatoes to her diet.
The teen’s restrictive diet led her to extreme malnutrition. Georgi began to feel bad. During one visit to the doctor, she was diagnosed with leukemia. The specialist estimated that her body is in the same state as that of an 80-year-old.
Now the 18-year-old is struggling with leukemia and an aversion to healthy food at the same time. Her biggest dream is to break her aversion to vegetables, she wants to gain weight and start a normal life.
source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk
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