A man with a rare condition has “never” eaten fruit, vegetables or meat – and survives on two loaves of bread a day.
Thomas Sheridan, 35, says the thought of biting into an egg and sausage sandwich leaves him feeling “horrible” and would make him “throw up”.
After decades years battling his food aversions and being dismissed as a “picky eater”, Thomas was finally diagnosed with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in 2023 at the age of 33.
The condition leaves him unable to eat foods and he doesn’t have any understanding of most textures or tastes – as he feels physically sick at the thought of taking a bit of fruit or vegetable.
Thomas survives on a diet of white toast with butter, three bowls of Shreddies and Haribo sweets – and takes protein supplements to get the vitamins he needs – but longs to be able to enjoy a bowl of stew.
Thomas has been prescribed antidepressants but this hasn’t helped and he has “become accustomed” to his condition.
He is fundraising the $8K needed to pay for private hypnotherapy which he hopes will help him achieve his “dream” of sitting down for a shared meal with his family.
Thomas, who is currently unable to work due to his health, from Liverpool, said: “It’s torture.
“I’m not living at the moment, I’m only surviving.
“I want to live a normal life and be able to go to work and not feel like a freak.
“It’s closed so many doors for me.”
Thomas’ aversion to certain foods first became evident when he was a toddler.
Born weighing 9lbs, his parents say there were no signs of unusual feeding habits until he was 18 months old and “one day I just shut my mouth”.
Thomas was told he was taken to the doctors – with one suggesting his parents, Tom, 65, and Sheila, 59, “just starve him” to the point he’d eat.
His dad also tried to “bribe” him with gifts but to no avail.
Thomas said he can’t even try most foods as his mouth “just closes over” and previous attempts led to him feeling physically sick.
When he was at school, Thomas’ parents allowed him to go home at lunchtime to eat toast – instead of trying to force down school lunches.
He said: “It [the disorder] didn’t really affect me until I was about 18, because I had a small bubble of people I was around.
“When you become an adult, you see people’s opinions change of you, when they know you’ve got an eating disorder.
“Because the school didn’t know anything about it, when they gave me work experience, they put me in a college, in the catering department.
“I was prepping all the foods, I was quite good at it and then I thought about going to college, maybe about food.
“I mentioned it, and then people were just like ‘what’s the point of that, you can’t even eat a chip?’.”
Thomas struggles with socializing when plans are based around going out for food and often feels “isolated”.
He said: “There was one time when we started drinking and everyone used to talk about bacon sandwiches when they were roughed up.
“I attempted to make an egg and sausage butty one day and as soon as the egg touched my mouth I vomited about 10 feet across the room.”
Thomas is currently unemployed due to his condition which, he says, leaves him physically unable to work.
“The last time I worked over a 10-day period, I lost 21 pounds,” he said.
He says being unable to work often means he struggles to afford foods he relies on – like Weetabix.
Thomas has also recently been prescribed food supplements to make up for the shortage of nutrients in his restricted diet.
But he can only consume certain flavors – with a taste profile he is familiar with.
Thomas’ restricted diet has left him unable to put on weight and at his lowest he weighed just 8st 2lbs.
He maintains his current weight by regularly eating his beige diet of two loaves of bread, three bowls of cereal, and a packet of Hula Hoops.
Thomas says he’s tried therapy – one of the treatments suffers of ARFID are usually referred for – but says the “inconsistencies” caused him to struggle.
He said: “They said ‘you’ll probably get a different person every time. We can’t guarantee you the same person.”
Unlike anorexia or bulimia nervosa, ARFID lacks the awareness of other eating disorders and only appeared on the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases in 2022.
The British dietetic association recognized ARFID as an eating disorder in 2013.
Thomas says he’s never met another person diagnosed with the same condition.
He is now looking to raise $8,000 to pay for private hypnotherapy that may enable him to expand his diet.
