Woman subsists on crisps for 10 years

A woman who claims to have subsisted on a diet of crisps for the past 10 years is the latest example of a dysfunctional eater reported in the media.

Debbie Taylor, 31, eats two large bags of beef flavoured crisps daily, supplemented by tea and cola.

"The idea of eating anything else is repellent; I don't like being full and bloated, which is how 'proper food' makes me feel," she told the Guardian newspaper.

"I don't get ravenous because my body is used to it after all these years," she added.

Ms Taylor said she has always been a fussy eater, and has struggled with her weight since she was a child, battling anorexia, bulimia and exercise addiction at various points. As a teenager, she was hospitalized due to her low body weight.

She said that she generally feels fine, though her nails are week and her gums bleed when she brushes her teeth.

A doctor told her she is anaemic, but has not forced her to change her diet, Ms Taylor said. She is currently a size 12-14.

Though Ms Taylor's eating habits are not an attempt at weight loss, single food diets often appear in the media, promising dieters miraculous results by eating, say, only grapefruits or potatoes.

Such diets can sometimes lead to short term weight loss, because eating a single food can lead to a lower daily caloric intake.

As single food diets will lack the vitamins, minerals, fibre or proteins the body needs, they are considered harmful.

This article was published on Mon 14 February 2011