It was Shan vs. Food and Food won.

So, if you know me at all, you probably already know that I am most likely the pickiest eater you’ve ever met. No, really. Don’t even try for the title, because I WILL win.
While I have expanded my palette over time, I basically make the same food choices as a five-year-old, a picky one, at that. When I actually was five, I could probably name on one hand the things I would eat. I am quite well known for my love of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Anytime we went to friends’ homes or to any of the grandparents’ places, they knew to have PB&J stocked up. (Though Ma, my grandmother, would always demand to know what was wrong with me.) I would, of course, eat meat, cheese, bread, bananas and chocolate. And that was about it. Corn or plain lettuce were my vegetable choices, bananas and apples were the only fruits I would eat. Tomatoes, potatoes, rice or anything green were out of the question. “Greens” may as well have been lawn clippings from the yard. No spaghetti, no citrus, nothing with seeds or skin of any kind.
This usually leads one to ask, “Where did things go wrong?” My parents did attempt to make me try things. But they didn’t really press it, do to a bad incident with my brother and green beans. I apparently ate “normal” baby food. This leads me to believe that my problem is mainly a “textural issue” brought on by my starting solid foods. How else could someone not like rice, it doesn’t really have much taste.
Another theory could be called the supertaster theory. Some researchers believe that some people actually have much more sensitive taste buds than others. Something that tastes moderately bitter to the average person would be intolerably bitter to a supertaster. Salt cravings are also thought to be more prevalent in supertasters, which makes sense, due to the fact that I used to eat salt packets until I was dizzy. I just like the name supertaster because it makes me feel like I have a super-power. But that’s just me.
There is a British program called “Freaky Eaters” (helpful for the self-esteem) that addresses adults who only eat a handful of foods (Selective Eating Disorder.) They explain why this diet is going to kill you or mess up your life in general, have a few friends and family members come and cry about your plight, have a shrink try to figure out where “things went wrong” and then they attempt to get you to work up to eating a “normal” meal. I feel a little better after watching this train wreck of a show (available on YouTube.) I can, after all, LOOK at an orange without having a complete meltdown.
After evaluating all of the information I’ve compiled, I’m banking on this being an OCD issue. I have expanded my menu quite a bit, with raw spinach and organic yogurt being the latest two items. I try to add at least one new food a year and try to add “good” foods.
But through it all, I know I always have the trusty peanut butter and jelly sandwich by my side. And bacon. Never forget the bacon.