Dorset, UK - Vegan pancakes, smoked bean nachos, roasted butternut squash soups – one look at Loretta Harmes' Instagram account would have anyone drooling. Now, imagine cooking these meals but never having a taste of them. For the young chef, that is the bitter reality.

It's been six years since the now 29-year-old last indulged in an actual meal: roast potatoes.

She knew it would be her last ever meal, so she and her mom Julie made sure it was a good one.

But just minutes after she had the first bite of the fluffy potato, her stomach was struck with a familiar pain.

They were the kind of gut-wrenching cramps that made it impossible for the young woman to enjoy anything she ate or drank.

Nevertheless, she had to go through with the dinner. After all, a bowel consultant had finally taken her suffering seriously and asked her to eat solid food so he could find out what was causing her pain and why she would not be able to go to the toilet for weeks or even months.

This nightmare began when she was just 19 years old.

"Things went downhill dramatically – I couldn't eat or go to the toilet at all, and then the next five years became a nightmare I couldn't wake up from," she told the BBC in an interview.

Doctors falsely attributed Loretta's rapid weight loss to anorexia, and mental health services soon sent her to a clinic, where she spent two years in eating disorder units.

She was forced to eat, despite the agonizing pain that would have her tied to her bed.

Years later, Loretta's reaction to the roast potatoes eventually led to a diagnosis of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), a genetic illness.

The condition can manifest itself in various ways. In Loretta's case, her stomach is partially paralyzed and cannot empty itself properly. She also suffers from migraines, fatigue, palpitations, and neck pain.

Six years have passed since her diagnosis. Ever since, Loretta has not eaten or drunk anything – not even a glass of water. And she knows she will never again.

Instead, she is now being fed by total parenteral nutrition (TPN), meaning she is hooked up for 18 hours a day to a liquid feedbag which doesn't go through the digestive track but rather flows directly into the bloodstream.

"The reason I don't go stir-crazy over not being able to eat is because I'm so relieved to be free from the pain after so many years," Loretta said.

"The cooking itself is what I get pleasure from – being in the kitchen is a real creative outlet for me," she added.

Instead of trying her own food, she cooks with her "eyes, nose and gut instinct."

Her flatmate Amy is tasked with the lucky job of tasting her recipes. But Amy knows how to pay her friend back. As a professional photographer, she has helped Loretta build a business out of her food.

The endeavor is a big success: the hobby chef a.k.a. food influencer who goes by the.nil.by.mouth.foodie on Instagram has since gained thousands of followers with mouth-watering footage of her latest creations.