What is a “Fear Food” and what to do about it?

On this National Pasta Day, I thought we would go back to a topic I posted about on National Donut Day and do a little more in depth post about what “fear foods” are and how to navigate fear foods in eating disorder treatment. If you are searching for eating disorder treatment for adolescents in Ohio, learn more about your options.

Before we get started, I just want to share my love for pasta! I am biased and this bias will definitely lead me to encourage you to add pasta to your diet if it’s not already. It’s delicious, it’s nutritious, it’s affordable, it’s quick and easy to make, and it can be used and flavored in so many different ways, it’s unbelievable!

Ok enough of that.

If my above rant made you uncomfortable or worried about this post, ask yourself why? What are your feelings about pasta? Is pasta bad for you? Do you think of pasta as unhealthy or fattening? If you do, do some exploration as to where you learned that belief. Was it from the media? Family? Did you used to enjoy pasta as a kid? Do you let your children eat it now?

Pasta has been weaponized and demonized by diet culture and it carries a lot of messages attached to it in America. There is belief it’s “fattening or unhealthy”.

The truth is people around the world eat pasta every single day and are healthy. No one single food is unhealthy or can impact your physical health unless you are allergic to it.

Pasta is simply a form of carbohydrates, fuel that we ALL REQUIRE DAILY to survive. Without carbohydrates our brains could not function. So this tells you, the fact that you fear carbohydrates or think they are unhealthy is a lie taught to you by the media- because how can we be conditioned to fear something that is absolutely essential to our survival?

Well, I’m not sure, but we have been.

These feelings about pasta or other foods have a name in eating disorder treatment. While those who are healing from diet culture may also have them, they take on a new meaning and identity when we are talking about eating disorders. Fear foods or challenge foods or goal foods (they have taken on many different names throughout treatment to better fit clients preferences and motivations around them) are certain foods or categories of foods that the eating disorder has deemed off limits, harmful, fattening and therefor scary. When you have an eating disorder, pasta isn’t just a dish that will make you uncomfortable to eat and fill you head with some self-loathing thoughts after dinner. It is a food that will bring you to tears because you are so terrified. You would rather scream, run, and throw things than have to eat pasta. You are so certain that even one bite of this awful food will make you gain ten pounds. This is what makes meals so exhausting for both child and parents. The loud Eating Disorder voice cannot be seen clearly or heard by parents, making it difficult for them to empathize with their child if they don’t understand what’s going on.

In eating disorder treatment, we work to remove the fear from foods that has been taught to us by diet culture and strengthened by the eating disorder.

To do that, we use neutral language around food and put all foods on an even playing field- knowing that all foods provide nutrition, no matter their composition. Some foods provide certain nutrients, while others provide fiber or social connection. They are all important in a well-rounded life worth living. We want to work towards intuitive eating, which includes all foods and does not restrict any certain foods (other than allergies). While we won’t use intuitive eating in eating disorder recovery*, we can keep it in mind as a framework from which our ultimate food philosophy comes from. In eating disorder treatment, food is medicine and it needs to be taken as prescribed.

Ultimately, especially for adolescents, the goal is to move away from the food as medicine philosophy and move towards intuitive eating or resuming “typical” eating. For some adults or patients with more severe and enduring eating disorders, we might stick with the food as medicine philosophy for the long term, and that’s ok too. Whatever moves you more towards your life worth living is what’s best for you.

If we are working in the FBT or Family Based Treatment model for adolescents with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, we are going to want to begin incorporating “fear foods” or “challenge foods” as early in recovery as we can. For my experience in working with teenagers with eating disorders in eating disorder treatment in Columbus, Ohio, I have seen -the sooner we introduce fear foods, the better the outcomes. The longer we keep safe foods in the rotation and avoid introducing the most feared foods, the longer the eating disorder sticks around and the larger the fear and anxiety gets.

While I’m not necessarily advocating for serving your child ALL of their most feared foods on their first day of FBT, I am advocating for challenging them with SOME of their feared foods from day 1 (or week 1).

This will look different for each child and family, but an example would be serving pasta with grilled chicken and salad for dinner. Some of the foods will be “safe foods” that your child may be less afraid of, while others may be feared and more challenging for them. Conquering that fear early on in recovery can give your child and you as caregivers a burst of confidence. If your child is not able to complete the fear food, that’s OK!

If they have one bite of the fear food, that is a win. The next time they may have 2 bites. Each meal is an opportunity to take control back from the eating disorder. If we cater to the eating disorder by offering “safe” or “healthy” foods, yes our child may eat, but the eating disorder will ultimately still be in control and we won’t be making significant progress towards a life with an eating disorder.

All this can be overwhelming for caregivers and difficult to navigate, especially if you have your own fear foods.

We have all been influenced by diet culture and have likely internalized A LOT of beliefs about foods (healthy/unhealthy, good/bad foods).

Don’t judge yourself for this!

You are not alone- there are many resources out there to support you and help you on this journey. Do some work and investigate your own food beliefs with support, so that you can help your child to fully recover and develop a healthy relationship with food and their body! The best way to do this is by modeling it for yourself.

If you or someone you know needs eating disorder treatment in Ohio, please visit my site to learn more about eating disorder treatment in Ohio. I provide virtual eating disorder therapy services from Columbus, Ohio and work with teens and young adults in college. I treat anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in adolescents in Ohio.

Schedule a free consultation call.

This blog is intended to be educational and informational and does not substitute for professional medical and therapeutic help, which is highly recommended when treating an eating disorder. If you would like help treating your child’s eating issues or want to learn more, Schedule a free consultation call today.