Ghouling

The state of inability to eat or drink due to an altered perception of taste. Though usually involuntary, ghouling can also be practiced as a form of fasting to lose weight, and can be symptomatic of eating disorders such as anorexia. The term is in reference to ghouls, the titular characters of “Tokyo Ghoul”, the 2011 Shueisha manga by Sui Ishida and 2014 anime of the same name. Ken Kaneki, the story’s main character and intermittent narrator, becomes a ghoul after receiving organs from another ghoul in a transplant following a violent encounter with them. Due to this, Kaneki can no longer tolerate the taste of foods he regularly ate, as his ghoul state perceives human flesh as more palatable than civilian food.