A fussy five-year-old girl has overcome her phobia of vegetables and now loves Brussels sprouts–just in time for her mother’s Christmas dinner.
Emie Williams would scream and cry if her mom, Hayley, tried to give her anything except crackers, french fries, or other beige-colored foods.
It meant family meals were fraught with conflict—Emie wanting different food and refusing to even taste hot dinners.
“She’d just refuse to eat any vegetable or any meat. We took her for check ups and health visits for advice but they just said give her what she wants because it’s probably a phase.”
But Hayley suspected that she may have ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), believing she had “all the signs”.
Emie’s energy levels dipped, and she would get really tired at the end of the day.
“I explained (to doctors) that if I don’t give her what she wanted then she wouldn’t eat.”
Last month, Emie had a routine health check-up and a blood test revealed she had erratic sugar levels, so Hayley and her husband took their daughter to the hospital where doctors warned them Emie was in danger of developing diabetes unless she changed her diet.
In desperation, Hayley decided to take drastic action and contacted David Kilmurry, who specializes in obsessive eating conditions.
“We were pretty desperate when we contacted David but the results have been amazing,” the mother-of-3 from Coventry, England, told the SWNS news agency.
After a series of two-hour sessions, Emie now counts 30 foods that she willingly eats. Her favorite is Brussel sprouts, which she even enjoys raw.
NOTE TO SELF: Keep Out All the Christmas Spices – They’re Powerful Antioxidants Known as ‘Nutraceuticals’
Due to her age, Emie was not hypnotized, but David, a cognitive behavioral hypnotherapist, sat with the youngster and gradually encouraged her to try different foods.
Hayley attended all the sessions and just watched Kilmurry at work.
“He’d do magic tricks and talk to Emie to gain her trust, and then brought out different foods.
“Slowly, she tried more and more until she was really enjoying apples and oranges.
“She’s really taken with Brussel sprouts, especially eating them raw. I can’t wait to see her enjoying her first ever Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.”
David, who runs practices in Coventry and London, said: “ARFID isn’t taken seriously enough.
“It doesn’t just go away.”
MEDICINAL FOODS:
• Eating Dark Chocolate Is Associated with Lower Risk of Diabetes Type 2 in Large Study
• Carrots May Be Key to Unlocking Microbiome’s Diabetes Defense System
• Type 2 Diabetes Patients Who Stick to Low-Carb Diet May Be Able to Stop Taking Meds
“Food is medicine—and Emie is already making amazing progress.”
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