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One woman’s phobia of vegetables romaines a mystery as health experts dig for the root cause of her dist-herb-ing illness on reality TV.
The 34-year-old woman named Emma, from North Yorkshire, England, hasn’t eaten anything green in 30 years due to her anxiety over trying new foods.
Emma has instead subsisted on a carb lover’s dream diet of chips, garlic bread and cheese sandwiches. She appeared on the UK series “Extreme Food Phobics” where she described her strange affliction, and forced herself to confront her phobia.
Emma revealed during the episode that she can’t have an active social life due to her unhealthy diet. Her food intake has left her tired and weary.
“I’ve been unable to try new foods, just the thought of trying them stresses me out, makes me all tense,” she said during an episode of the show.
Emma explained that since the age of 4, she was fearful of trying new foods. Her mother took her to doctors to find out the problem and thought it was just a “phase.”
One of her friends was interviewed during the show and said she “fears for [Emma’s] health,” adding that Emma gets headaches and is tired most of the time.
“We do worry if she goes on eating the way she does, she’s going to get so unhealthy and obviously we don’t want her to get poorly because of it,” Emma’s pal continued.
In order to start her recovery and undergo a healthy lifestyle change, Emma went to aversion therapy with Anthony Tait, a food phobia expert. Tait brought Emma into a room filled with vegetables where a dish of sliced tomatoes sat.
“That started to stress me out a bit,” she admitted when she saw the juicy red tomatoes. “When I see vegetables, cut up ready to be eaten then the freaking out starts, I just get all clammy and tense and panic.”
Clinical psychologist Felix Economakis also performed hypnosis on Emma to help change her relationship with food. During the session, Emma tried a few apple slices and later, attended a party with her friend where she ate pizza with cherry tomatoes on top.
“I cannot believe what’s happened today, it’s probably not even a big deal to some people but it’s a massive deal for myself, I’m so happy,” she gushed about her progress.
Four weeks later, Emma revealed she’s made “progress” by enjoying bacon, and a cheesy onion pastry. “I enjoyed that I just need to keep it up and push myself,” Emma said.
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Woman with vegetable phobia has eaten only carbs and cheese for 30 years – New York Post
