In the Twilight saga, vampires are very different from traditional vampire lore. While most vampire stories portray vampires as undead monsters who subsist solely on blood, the vampires in Twilight are essentially immortal humans with enhanced abilities.
So what happens if one of these vampires tries to eat normal human food? Let’s take a look at what the Twilight books and movies tell us.
Vampires Can Physically Eat Food
There are several instances in the Twilight saga where vampires are shown ingesting food or drinks. For example, in Twilight, Edward takes Bella out for dinner at a restaurant and orders food to keep up the human appearance on their date. The Cullen family also sometimes have prop food on hand at their house or bring food to school in order to blend in with humans.
The key thing is that vampires can physically swallow and digest food without it causing them any harm. Their bodies are capable of processing human food and drinks. However, just because they can consume it doesn’t mean their bodies actually gain any nourishment from it.
Human Food Tastes Unappetizing to Vampires
Several times throughout the books, vampires describe how human food is extremely unappetizing to their enhanced senses. It no longer smells or tastes appealing to them in the slightest.
For example, in New Moon Edward tells Bella:
“Food…well, food is essentially the same as dirt to me now.”
The taste of human food is so unpleasant that most vampires avoid eating it unless absolutely necessary to keep up appearances. It provides no enjoyment or tempation for their heightened senses.
Human Food Provides No Sustenance
Not only is human food unappetizing to vampires, but their bodies gain absolutely no nourishment from it. Vampires subsist solely on blood – human food does nothing for them.
In Twilight, Bella questions Edward about why he bothered ordering food for their dinner if he gains nothing from eating it. Edward explains:
“I’ve been practicing,” he explained. “If I’m going to pretend to be human, I have to eat at some point.”
The vampires describe human food as feeling like ashes in their mouth. It doesn’t matter how much they eat, they derive no energy or fullness from the food itself. The only substance their bodies crave and require is blood.
Food is Immediately Regurgitated
Not only does human food provide no sustenance, but vampires are physically unable to digest it. Their bodies immediately reject it.
In Breaking Dawn, Bella experiences this first-hand shortly after becoming a vampire. She describes tasting eggs and bacon Jacob cooked for her:
“I could taste the food in my mouth, but it was like sawdust. I spit it into my hand and saw a mess of chewed up omelet and bacon. It smelled like dirt. Automatically, I pushed the rest of the food around on my plate, pretending to eat it.”
Vampires chew and swallow food to keep up pretend human behaviors, but their bodies involuntarily expel the food from their system almost immediately. It is a completely pointless and uncomfortable experience for them.
Drinking Works Temporarily
The one exception is liquids like water, soda, coffee, etc. Vampires can ingest these and their bodies seem to process and absorb them for a very brief time before rejecting them.
In Eclipse, Edward tells Bella about testing his ability to eat and drink:
“I can eat food, too, just like everyone else. Since I measure time in sets of decades, I actually ate food every few years, to see if I was still human enough to avoid suspicion.”
“It didn’t do anything for me. I tasted it, and felt the textures, and then I had to cough it back up again. I couldn’t really swallow it.”
So while vampires can briefly digest liquids before regurgitating them, this provides only a fleeting illusion of humanity. Their systems are simply not equipped to gain nutrients from human food and drinks.
Vomiting Provides Relief
As mentioned above, vampires inevitably regurgitate any human food or drinks they consume. Their bodies reject it automatically.
Interestingly, the vampires seem to describe the vomiting process itself as strangely pleasurable. It provides relief for their systems after being forced to ingest the repulsive food.
In Breaking Dawn, Bella notes:
“I swallowed again out of habit, and shuddered at the sticky, burning taste of the eggs sliding down my throat. My stomach rolled in protest…
In the same second, the eggs, bacon, and every trace of the nasty flavor in my mouth disappeared. As did everything else in my at that moment.
Hmm, pleasant enough, in an odd way…”
So being able to purge their systems of the offensive human food is depicted as an enjoyable sensation for vampires. Their bodies immediately reject what they cannot actually digest or gain nourishment from.
Eating Is Uncomfortable
Given that human food tastes revolting, provides no sustenance, and causes immediate vomiting for vampires, it’s understandable why they typically avoid eating it. The overall experience seems quite uncomfortable and pointless.
Midnight Sun provides Edward’s perspective as he forces himself to eat during a dinner with Bella. He describes the challenging process:
“I chewed the bite carefully and deliberately, trying hard not to think of the taste…The texture was appalling. Like chewing plastic or cardboard. I picked up my soda and swigged it to wash the stubborn lump down my throat.”
This passage highlights how thoroughly unenjoyable and difficult it can be for a vampire to consume human food. Everything about it goes against their instincts and bodily functions.
Blood Is Their True Sustenance
In contrast to pointless human food, blood provides vital nourishment for vampires. It fully satiates their appetites and brings their bodies to life in a way nothing else can.
Their consuming and digesting blood replaces all normal human sustenance. So attempts to eat regular food always fail miserably.
In Twilight, Edward admits to Bella:
“I don’t sleep, so I have a lot of free time at night. I read, I study, I work on my cars, I compose music…And I hunt.”
“Hunt?” Bella questions.
“Yes, I have to hunt very few weeks. It’s the only time I allow myself any proximity to humans, other than when I hunt.”
This dialogue reiterates than hunting and feeding on blood wholly replaces mundane human behaviors like eating and sleeping for vampires. It is truly the only sustenance their bodies crave.
Their Bodies Are Frozen
On a more scientific level, it makes sense that vampires gain nothing from human food because their bodies are essentially frozen and unchanging.
In the official guide book, Stephenie Meyer explains:
“This unchanging state of their bodies explains why their hair will no longer grow out and why injuries inflicted on them will never heal naturally…It also explains Edward’s ability to ingest food and liquids while remaining dead.”
Because their bodies are frozen in their transformed state, their internal systems and processes don’t rely on nutrition from food like a living human body. Things like eating, sleeping, healing etc. become obsolete.
They Don’t Produce Waste
Connected to this frozen bodily state, vampires also no longer produce any kind of human waste. Their bodies use up blood fully and efficiently with none left over.
In Breaking Dawn, Bella notices this new development after becoming a vampire herself:
“I didn’t produce any sort of waste. My body used every bit of what I took in, so there was nothing left over. My hair didn’t grow. Nails stayed trimmed. I didn’t need to breathe.”
With no organic bodily functions requiring nourishment or producing waste, food becomes an unnecessary and rejected substance for vampires.
They Don’t Need Energy
Relatedly, vampires have a limitless store of energy from their transformation alone. They require no external food source to gain calories or strength.
In Twilight, Edward explains to Bella:
“I don’t get tired. I don’t need sleep. I don’t need to eat or drink. Two thousand years of mythology and storytelling didn’t do vampires justice”
This endless energy and strength is another reason human food provides no benefits. Vampires simply don’t require caloric intake.
It Doesn’t Impact Their Health
An important side note is that while digesting human food seems quite uncomfortable for vampires, it doesn’t appear to cause them any lasting harm or have any impact on their health.
The regurgitation process allows them to quickly purge it from their systems. So they don’t suffer ongoing consequences from ingesting small amounts when necessary to blend in.
It’s merely an unpleasant and pointless chore rather than actually dangerous for their frozen, immortal bodies.
They Can Taste Differences
An interesting detail is that while human food all tastes equally terrible to vampires, they can still distinguish subtle taste differences while consuming it.
In Breaking Dawn, Bella notes:
“I did taste the food, though my taste buds were nonessential now. I could taste the meat, the cheese, the bread…My mouth didn’t water and the food provided no sustenance. I might as well have been chewing dirt or cardboard.”
So their advanced senses allow vampires to pick up on nuances in taste that provide no appeal. They simply analyze the differences out of habit more than anything.
They Can Swallow Pills
One exception to regurgitating human substances seems to be medication in pill form. Vampires are able take pills orally when necessary.
In New Moon, Alice requests Tylenol to help ease Bella’s pain. And in Eclipse, Edward successfully takes “vitamins” to trick James into thinking he’s still human.
Since pills have no flavor and dissolve quickly, this appears easier for vampires’ systems to process without rejection.
It Satisfies Curiosity
While ingesting human food certainly doesn’t satisfy any physical craving, new vampires often remain curious about their residual human experiences. Tasting food can provide insights that satisfy this mental curiosity.
In Breaking Dawn, Bella experiences this directly after becoming a vampire:
“I was vaguely aware that I did this out of lingering human habit…and some shallow interest in the taste of the food…
But I didn’t really care about the theories behind what I did and why I did it. I just got a kick out of doing something that would have nauseated me two days ago.”
So until their human memories fade, new vampires can still indulgently experience activities like tasting food simply to satisfy their inquisitive minds.
It’s Only Distasteful, Not Painful
To summarize the sensation of vampires eating human food, the important note is that it’s depicted as extremely unappetizing and uncomfortable – but not necessarily painful.
In Twilight, Edward tells Bella:
“Enjoyable isn’t really the right word… But it doesn’t repulse me either. It’s just part of going through the motions.”
So consuming human food seems to be more of a dull, pointless task rather than excruciating torture for vampires. Just thoroughly pointless and undesirable given their biology.
They May Enjoy Drinks Briefly
While food is always repulsive, vampires can briefly enjoy ingesting drinks like soda, coffee, etc before having to forcefully regurgitate them.
It seems forcing down liquefied sustenance is slightly more bearable. In Midnight Sun, Edward thinks:
“I still had the taste of diet soda in my mouth, and that was nice.”
The sugary, strong flavors seem to be slightly more palatable than heavy foods. So drinks provide fleeting enjoyment before the inevitable rejection and relief.
Conclusion
In summary, the vampires in the Twilight saga gain absolutely nothing from consuming human food. It tastes revolting, provides no energy, and their bodies immediately expel it. Drinking works briefly before regurgitation.
Eating and drinking is essentially an act they force themselves through solely to keep up the human charade. Their true sustenance and satisfaction can only come from blood.
While certainly uncomfortable and pointless, ingesting small amounts of human food does not appear to cause lasting harm. Just a temporary miserable experience they must endure when trying to blend in.
So the next time Edward takes Bella out for a meal, know that he’s likely fighting back vomit with every artificially chewed bite! The things vampires do for love…