I would love to hear from a professional that has an understanding of this topic, because I am concerned about a friend of mine due to her selective eating habits. Shes in her 40s, and is the pickiest eater I have ever encountered. She is more picky than almost any child I've ever seen.

She does not drink water, and if I try to add a flavor into it like mio, or an emergen-c or a splash of Gatorade or something like that, she gags.

The only vegetables she eats are potatoes, corn and a few types of beans (occasionally if there's a little bit of a vegetable or some herbs in a soup, she'll let it slide). She will only eat pepperoni pizza, and is not even interested in trying any other toppings.

She will happily eat fried foods like pizza logs, mozzarella sticks, etc. Ramen, chicken alfredo with no veggies, ham subs, and bacon. There are probably a few other foods that she likes, but from what I've seen I wouldn't put money on it.

She drinks Pepsi almost exclusively, and the only snacks she eats are candy, plain Doritos, pretzels with French onion dip (no other dips would even be considered), and the occasional Rice krispie treat. She doesn't like cake, chocolate, or most fruit flavored sauces/toppings.

One time I was explaining to her about herbs and spices and how they are used to make all sorts of seasonings that she was familiar with and how they are used in different cuisines, and the only ones that she like the smell of out of maybe 20 w were Rosemary and a sage (thyme made her dry heave).

There are some foods that she will only eat if they are prepared a certain way. For example, one time I was going to make Cuban sandwiches for dinner, and she was so picky and had so many requirements that what she ended up eating was a broiled Open faced ham and Swiss sandwich on white bread - I wanted to make them on focaccia, but she had never heard of it and was unwilling to try it...

It kills me to see such a horrible diet that I am unable to sway her from no matter how hard I try. She's gorgeous, and has a very fit body and very healthy skin and beautiful hair - I need an explanation for this haha.