Corvid's guide to expanding your diet as an autistic person who struggles with food
speaking as an autistic person who figured it out
so many autistic people struggle with their diet. it's very common for autistic people to have very restricted foods they will eat and this can lead to nutritional deficiencies. while nutritional deficiencies can be helped with supplements, these don't eliminate the shame surrounding "picky eating" and don't resolve difficulties finding food to eat at restaurants, friends houses, etc.
so I compiled a list of things that helped me expand my diet. my diet is still more restricted than the average allistic person's but I've improved it a lot
1. identify the problem
figure out why you struggle with the foods you do. is it texture? is it taste? is it inconsistency in flavor/texture/etc.? identifying the problem you have with foods allows you to work out solutions
2. take baby steps when adding new foods to your diet
don't try adding 3 new ingredients in one meal. add one thing at a time. this will help you isolate what did or didn't work and why it did or didn't work.
find things to add that are similar to your safe foods- for example, if chicken is safe but sauces are not and you want to try a sauce then gravy might be a good choice. if blackberries are safe and you want to try another fruit, a raspberry might be a better starting place than an apple. this will help you figure out the characteristics of food that affected your opinion on them.
3. approach everything like a science experiment
isolate your variables and re-evaluate successes and fails of every trial. you are trying to investigate your relationship with food.
science is a creative process. adjust your process as you go.
4. research methods of cooking new foods
every different way of cooking something will produce a different flavor and texture. changing up seasonings and other ingredients surrounding the food you're trying might improve or worsen your opinion on that food.
adding fat and salt usually improves the flavor. trust. you will most likely have more success with vegetables (and anything savory, honestly) if you cook them with fat and salt (and seasonings). even if you don't like a lot of seasonings I would still recommend fat and salt.
some foods also come in different preparations, for example the difference between tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomato sauce with chunks, diced tomato, sliced tomato, and whole tomato. if you don't like the texture of regular tomatoes but can handle the texture of pastes and sauces then you can try substituting tomatoes in recipes with tomato sauce or paste.
5. create patterns in what works
do you like things grilled more often than you like them baked? what about frying? if something is working, try that method of cooking first when introducing a new food.
if you find that certain textures or flavors are working well for you, seek out other new foods with similar textures/flavors.
6. cook for yourself
having a hands on relationship with the foods you're trying will improve your relationship with those foods. it gives you control over them and gives you the opportunity to interact with the parts of them that you may not trust [yet]. you also have taste testing powers to perfect what you're working on before you give it a try. this will improve your success rate.
7. learn to substitute preparations of ingredients
like I mentioned in #4, many ingredients can be prepared many ways. these preparations can often be swapped to change texture (or even taste).
8. interact with your trial food before tasting it
before you try a new food, hold it in your hands and feel it and smell it. this prepares your brain for the sensory experience of the food you're trying and reduces the surprise factor. the surprise factor can really deter people from liking a food when the texture/taste/etc. wasn't what they were expecting.
9. give everything 2 chances
if you don't like something on the first bite, wait a few minutes and try again. sometimes when foods weren't what we were expecting that failure to conform to our expectations can get translated into disliking that food. giving your brain time to process the food and coming back can sometimes yield different results on the second attempt.
don't go through this a thousand times. if it's not working by the 3rd or 4th attempt it might be time to put that food away. you're only going to make your relationship with that food worse.
10. you don't have to try new foods alone
foods don't have to stand alone. you can cook things with dipping sauces, in soups, in desserts, etc. these are often more successful ways to try new foods because the new food isn't the only focus.
quite frankly, some foods are just not very good on their own. while some of us sensory seeking autistic people like to drink straight lemon juice, most people would agree it's better in something else.
it's not cheating to mix your new food in something else. it's also not cheating to try your new food in something that "hides" it like a cauliflower pizza crust. that's still cauliflower! maybe that cauliflower pizza crust will be a stepping stone to eating cauliflower in other dishes, and maybe it won't, either is okay.
11. don't force it
you won't be able to blunt force your way through food sensitivities. you will only make your relationship with that food worse. if it's not working then put it away and, if you really want to, revisit the food later down the line.
some foods will never join the safe food collection. that's fine. don't stress about it.
