Why do autistic people eat the same foods?

What’s your favorite food? Could you eat it for the rest of your life?

Or could you eat a handful of foods for the rest of your life?

This is the life of some autistic people, even those without avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID).

These are called samefoods.

1. Predictable & comforting

Eating the same foods is comforting because it’s predictable. You know what flavors and textures to expect. They rarely change — or never change, as long as you make it the same way every time.

Samefoods are an autistic person’s comfort food. They’re our go-to when life is hard or we’ve had a long day or we want something that feels home and nostalgia.

2. Stimming

There are many ways to stim. In this case, oral stimming is wanting to taste the same flavors and/or feel the same textures in your mouth.

This kind of stimming isn’t discussed often because non-autistic people find it uncomfortable? 🙄 That doesn’t mean it’s not real.

3. Sensory sensitivities or aversions

Autistic people may be sensitive to certain smells, flavors and textures of foods or avoid them altogether. These needs can seriously limit food choices.

Some foods have different textures, smells and tastes when prepared differently or raw. Grapes, for example, can be firm or squishy, sweet or sour, small or large.

Many foods are unpredictable in flavor, which is nerve-wracking for people who have limited capacity for handling different sensory inputs.

4. Food allergies

I have so many food allergies and find navigating safe foods a minefield. It only takes a little amount, or one slip-up in reading a food label, and I could wind up really sick.

Eating the same-ish array of foods on a regular basis is easier for me. I feel safe when I’m eating “safe” foods, because I’ve developed trust for the foods I know I can eat.

5. Disordered eating

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is similar to anorexia, in that the person eats a limited diet due to various food sensitivities and/or aversions — but not because they have negative body image.

ARFID may, of course, co-exist with other eating disorders.

6. Routine

Meal planning as an autistic person is really stressful. Instead of trying to work in many different foods, planning the same or similar meals is easier.

Making a list of foods I like, then turning that into a meal plan is easier than trying figure out what meals to make specifically. I have a list of go-to meals that are easy to make, and I usually forget the sides unless they’re super obvious.

For instance, I pair most things that have a red sauce (e.g. spaghetti, pizza, ravioli) with corn, because that’s what side would be served for school lunches and it’s easier — a no-brainer.

Mashed potatoes are always going to be accompanied by some type of bread, as long as I have it, because the sensory experience is all the more divine when tiny pieces of bread are mixed in — or I can dip my bread into the taters.

When non-autistic people meal plan, they have a couple meals they make on rotation and might try one or two new meals a week. This isn’t any different from autistic adults who decide to try something slightly outside their ordinary meal plan.

The only difference is that neurotypical society accepts major meal plan changes and ignores the more subtle meal plan changes. I surmise this is because autistic people often pay closer attention to smaller details, whereas non-autistics have a lower perceptual capacity.

7. Because we want to/like them.

Sometimes, the reason autistic people do something is because they want to and/or like to.

Imagine going about your life, living it as you do and enjoying yourself, and being asked why you do something you’ve been doing forever.

You thought it was normal!

And this person asking you WHY you do the thing is acting like it’s NOT something everyone does.

While you knew that not everyone lived your life the same, you never expected to be asked why you did something like it was stranger than fiction.

What makes someone else’s way of living life more right or better than the way you live yours? Why are people so curious about why you do things?

Not every behavior has a reason behind it. Not everything needs or has a reason.

Sometimes, autistic people do things because they want or like to. We don’t always think about it consciously.

Autistic people who have more self-awareness might know the exact reason why they do everything they do, but that won’t be the reason why every autistic person does something.

Autism is different for everyone, ergo every autistic person experiences autism in a different way.

I eat the same-ish foods because I know what I like. Sometimes, I’ll get burnt out on eating the same thing on repeat — like frozen burritos, ham and cheese Hot Pockets, or pizza rolls — and mix it up.

I’m pretty brand loyal in regard to certain things, because generic brands don’t always taste the same or better. Ritz crackers and generic butter round crackers don’t taste or feel the same at all.

I have my own reasons for why, which involves a little bit from every part of this list. 🤷‍♀️

I don’t understand why it’s wrong to eat shelf-stable beef stew with rice everyday if that’s what I like. It includes grains (rice), veggies and meat…so what’s the problem?

While non-autistic people might need more variety on a regular basis, I can deal with eating different meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks — and that’s my variety.

This still isn’t that different from non-autistic people, though. They can plan different meals on rotation and ultimately eat the same-ish things on repeat, with other dishes in between, and no one cares because their different meals are more distinct.

What does it matter if I’m still eating? 🧐

Read my other posts about autism in adulthood:

• Autism vs. social anxiety
• I don’t want to be perceived.
• What does it mean to go nonverbal?
• Why do autistic people love beige foods?