Expert: Nafeesah - 2/5/2010

Question
I have found over the last year and a half that I am no longer enjoying food.  I am not overweight or trying to lose weight, although I have lost about 25lbs over the last two years.  Things just don't taste right to me and I find I can go a day or longer with nothing more than a Grande soy latte.  I work in the health insurance field and have two boys ages 3 %26 6 so my life is a bit stressful.  I also have a history of generalized anxiety disorder, which I think I have under control and do not take any medication for. I am also severely intolerant of any dairy products, including anything with milk proteins, so sometimes eating in and of itself can be stressful.  I have talked to my doctor about it and blood work has been done and it seems I am healthy.  I don't know if it would have anything to do with it, but I also quit smoking about the same time I started losing weight.  I am not sure if I am on the precipice of a big problem here or just going through a phase in my life.  Any insight would be helpful.

Answer
If you stopped smoking you're detoxing from the chemicals in cigarettes, but I would look into some kind of combined medical treatment and counseling to work on the issues that is driving you into a self-imposed starvation. I would talk to a dietician to get you on a healthy eating regimen since you're unable to eat anything dairy so you're better off on a vegan diet. Whole Foods Market has a vast selection of food for people who adhere to the vegan diet. Explore that kind of eating and see if you can adapt to a diet without dairy and look for alternatives to get the nutrients you need that you would get out dairy products. If you've been checked and have no real issues I would consider the counseling because a general anxiety disorder does require some kind of medicinal treatment to keep your hormones balanced. I would still look at these options to help in recovering from what you're going through.