A diet some could only dream of has turned into a cheesy nightmare for one British woman.
Her whole life, April Griffiths, 29, has eaten only cheese sandwiches — and on the rare occasion, potato chips — for breakfast, lunch and dinner, due to a severe anxiety condition that propels her into a panic attack every time she attempts to munch something new.
“The fear of choking and experiencing a different texture of food scares me,” the bubbly mother of two children tells Caters News Agency. “And even though I have tried to eat pea-size portions of rice, pasta or vegetables, I have never been able to swallow it without throwing up.”
So it’s purely grated cheese on bread, she says — preferably Mature Cheddar or Red Leicester. Griffiths can sometimes stomach basic sliced cheese or sour cream and onion Pringles on special occasions.
“I would love to eat a roast dinner, but I couldn’t face it — the vegetables, potatoes and meat all touching makes me feel sick,” she says.
The phobia began when she was a baby, she says. Her parents tried to transition her from milk to solid food but she would become extremely anxious or vomit immediately. They took her to the doctor, who said at the time there wasn’t anything medically wrong with her.
And, now that she and her husband, Leigh Kendall, are raising their own children, ages 8 months and 2 years old, she hopes they won’t adopt her behavior. She even eats in another room so her kids won’t see.
For the record, she says doctors tell her she’s otherwise healthy. She insists that she gets all the vitamins she needs from orange juice (“I drink three large cartons a day,” she says). But the mental toll it’s taking on her has been a challenge.
“I am genuinely scared of food and always have been,” she says.
The Post reached out to a nutritionist for comment about potential risk factors of this cheese-driven diet, but didn’t immediately hear back.
Meanwhile, Griffiths says she once came close to conquering her fear of other foods through expensive hypnotherapy — during which she was able to eat rice. But it’s not something she can afford on a regular basis.
“Even with years of counseling, I am unable to overcome my phobia,” she says.
And on top of that, it’s taken all the fun out of what’s a comfort food for most people.
“I am bored of cheese sandwiches,” she says. “I think this will be my diet for the rest of my life.”