She Doesn’t Recognize Food Anymore
By LooeyVille
@LooeyVille (62)
United States
July 15, 2026 1:04am CST
Mother in law is 83 years old with Alzheimer’s and lives in a memory care facility
She has a good appetite and eats well but doesn’t know what food is now
We’ll ask her what she had for dinner 5 minutes after she’s eaten it and she’ll say “some kind of meat” or “something green”. She can’t name foods anymore
We’ve been ordering for her for the last six months when we take her out for lunch. We know what she likes
Sometimes she’ll ask us what the food is on her plate and we’ll say “that’s a taco” and she’ll ask us what a taco is. She can’t find words for simple things like bread or butter.
It’s all very sad but she eats everything you put in front of her, so that’s a good thing
10 people like this
12 responses
@2ndchances24 (12396)
• Cloverdale, Indiana
13h
that is sad, but as long as she's eating
that's a good thing it's when she stops eating I'd worry about.3 people like this
@MarieCoyle (60407)
•
13h
As the disease advances, many Alzheimer's patients lose their ability to name many things. My friend with the 95 year old mother with this disease says her mother rarely even recognizes her--or if she does, she's forgotten her name. She remembers faces, but rarely can put a name to the face. One day recently she made it be known she wanted her checkbook--and she hasn't been capable of writing a check or paying a bill in many years. She just kept saying ''papers'' which of course leaves a wide range. Finally she pointed at her daughter's purse and kept saying it, my friend just gave her mother the purse and she opened it up, and said, you took my checkbook. My friend doesn't keep a checkbook in her purse, so then they had to go through that drama, too. It's just so hard.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (87645)
• United States
4h
I’m glad she still at least has an appetite. That seems to be a major deterioration, though. 
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (175621)
• United States
7h
At least she's willing to eat food, even if she doesn't recognize it.
When I was in my twenties, I got lost in the Mojave desert. When I was found, the police took me to a lockup because they thought I was an escaped prisoner who had gotten lost. I had lost my wallet with all my ID in it so couldn't prove who I was at the time. They kept serving me Mexican foods that I didn't recognize and I wouldn't eat it until somebody explained what was in it.
A friend came to pick me up a week later and positively identified me for the local police. I was sunburned, had sunstroke, heatstroke and heat exhaustion at the time.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (137389)
• Marion, Ohio
5h
Glad she is still eating. It often happens that they stop wanting to
1 person likes this
