Teen's Strange Ramen Addiction

[KamaAina]

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/teen-s-strange-ramen-addiction--165713286.html

Ramen-style noodles, a staple in the pantry of broke college students, has been the mainstay of one teenager's diet for the past 13 years, according to an article in the New York Daily News.

Georgi Readman, 18, of the Isle of Wight, U.K., refuses to eat fruit and vegetables and exists solely on packaged noodle soup, a snack that often contains high amounts of fat, saturated fat, and sodium. One package typically boasts 400 calories and 20 grams of fat.

Readman, who is 5'3'' and 98 pounds, told the Daily News that she became hooked on the noodles when she was five-years-old and her mother still buys her packages by the dozens. She estimates eating 30 miles of noodles per year and the thought of eating anything else makes her sick.

“I hate the texture of fruit and vegetables," she said. “I can’t go to my friends' for dinner or go out for meals because I don’t want them to see me freak out if the side salad touches the stuff I eat. Mum goes to the supermarket and brings back as many packets as she can afford. I always fancy noodles and could easily eat two packets at once. I’ve even eaten them dry and uncooked before!”

She must be preparing to become a Pastafarian nun. RAMEN!

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. Except for this part -

"Readman could not be reached for comment but according to her doctors, she is malnourished and has the health of an 80 year old.

'That sounds like an accurate assessment,' says Lisa Kaufman, a pediatrician at Village Pediatrics who has not treated Readman. 'A diet of instant noodles has likely wreaked incredible amounts of havoc on her organs. The body—especially one that's still developing—needs protein, minerals, and nutrients to grow; that's just basic common sense. Without it, this girl has probably suffered stunted growth and IQ, osteoporosis, heart and kidney damage, and high blood pressure. Her lifespan has likely been shortened as well.' "

[Xyzse]

2. Sounds awful

Still, I finally found an actual RAMEN place in the East Coast!
One that imports their noodles directly from Japan!

It is a hole in the wall, but heck, it is damn awesome.

[harmonicon]

3. Wow, she's really got some terrible fucking parents. (nt)

[riderinthestorm]

4. Sounds like an Aspie. An aversion to food textures and strange food colors

Plus a hypersensitive sense of smell...

This girl may be an Aspie. I hope her parents have had her checked out....

[sakabatou]

5. Sounds like me

I keep wondering, why isn't the mother doing more? This type of nutrition is atrocious.

[KamaAina]

6. I'm an Aspie/Autie

and I miss purple sweet potatoes from Moloka'i, Hawai'i.

And I have a hyposensitive sense of smell. Perhaps the two are connected.

[LancetChick]

7. They are connected.

In Aspies/Auties certain senses have lower sensitivity than normal, with some ranges of smell, hearing, sight, taste and touch causing the autistic brain to compensate by magnifying the sensory input in that range to the point where it is overwhelming (hence the covering of the ears by so many autistic kids). I have a sensitivity (over-reaction) to the colors bubblegum pink and pale blue, to touch and the feel of fabric on my skin, and to the smell of olives, beets and sesame oil. Actually, I grew out of the sesame oil sensitivity, and now like it, for the most part.

When I was young, though, and living with my parents, my Dad made hot and sour soup often. I complained that I couldn't eat it because of the sesame oil, and he said that he would not use it any more. BUSTED. He tried to trick me by using less, but I could smell it from the other end of the house, and he ultimately confessed.

Olives have become less sensitive over the years, but I still can't eat them. I was having lunch with a couple of other women once. We all had the same chardonnay, which the other two liked, but which I couldn't drink because of the strong stench of olives. I was the only one who detected any olive scent at all. I guessed that the wine had been aged in olive wood vats. And my sense of smell is fairly dull. Brain wiring is very interesting!

[KamaAina]

8. Who on Earth ages chardonnay in olive wood vats?!

It's supposed to be aged in oak, dammit!

A sensitivity to certain colors? That's rare. Are you a synesthete?