Loretta Harmes, 23, has not eaten solid food for six years, yet she continues to cook and share her recipes on Instagram, where she is known as the nil-by-mouth foodie. Her last meal was a roast potato and lemon-garlic chicken in 2015, eaten under medical instruction to investigate her debilitating digestive issues.
From a young age, Loretta loved cooking, often replicating dishes from TV shows with her grandmother Mavis. She won cooking competitions at school and earned a place at a top culinary arts college in London, but her health forced her to drop out after one year.
Loretta's digestive problems began in her teens and worsened dramatically at age 19, leaving her bed-bound and unable to eat or go to the toilet. After years of being dismissed by doctors, she was finally diagnosed with a severe motility disorder at St Mark's Hospital in London.
She now survives on liquidised meals and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) via a Hickman line. Despite this, she continues to cook for her family and posts recipes online, describing her passion as 'cooking for the love of it, not for the taste'.
Loretta hopes to raise awareness of invisible illnesses and inspire others with similar conditions. She says: 'I may never eat again, but I can still create joy through food.'
