Question about salt/spice cravings

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Hi Group

I have not been able to keep up with the volume of emails lately. I try

but get overwhelmed and run out of time. I do plan to get to the site to look

at all the pics people have been posting. I'd love to see what your families

look like.

Meantime, a question from here in Massachusetts. My 15 year old

daughter, spectrum, OCD, possible mitochondrial disorder, has always had

unusual food

tastes. She has a fairly small repertoire of foods she likes, but they are

NOT typical things like grilled cheese, pasta, hotdogs/chicken/hamburgers. In

fact she won't touch those things. She likes eggplant, and oysters, sometimes

quail or lamb, some soups, spicy dips, sometimes very spicy green beans or

carrots. I use Indian spices and southwest spices for her foods, which she

likes. I do have to cook most of her stuff from scratch and she won't eat

school

lunches so I have to plan for something she can warm to eat for lunch each

day. Except for ice cream and pickles, she favors eating all her foods warm,

even watermelon and spicy hoomus when she'll deign to eat those. I'm always

trying new things, and protein is a real issue as she won't eat the same thing

too often. She won't eat tofu, most beans, beef, chicken, fish, most cheese,

milk products. (I have trialed GFCF w/her, by the way, more than once with no

discernible results). Anyway, I am writing more about a new twist, which is

that she is the last month or so wanting to add lots of salt and pepper to

her foods. Many of them are already spicy, and I am not sure where this is

coming from. She has the OCD thing so it is a balance between letting her add

the

slat and pepper for a few times then taking it away, because if it is in

front of her she will feel compelled to keep adding and then won't like the

food. It's complicated, but I am wondering if anyone knows of a nutritional or

other issue that could cause her to suddenly not be able to taste so well or

to be craving strong spices even more than usual? She takes Detrol for bladder

spasms, and also a multivitamin, evening primrose oil, Coromega fish oil,

Culturelle probiotic, Emergen-C, sometimes a B-complex and I just added zinc

every other day to see if that could help with this issue. I would love any

input at all. If this is just my daughter having changed tastes that is fine,

but it seems like there might be more to it. Her thirst level has not changed,

she drinks cranberry or grapefruit juice cut in half with seltzer, and

sometimes plain water.

Thanks

Melinda

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