Why You Should Reconsider Being a Picky Eater

The world is composed of a variety of people, which allows for a multitude of opinions and choices. For that reason, we’re all going to have different tastes when it comes to food preferences and what we naturally gravitate towards. Some people may be omnivores and others may be fruitarians. I hope to shed some light on the topic of those who abide by the diet mentality of “I eat the same 3 foods daily” or “I only eat white foods” or “Do french fries and ketchup count as veggies?”, and why you should reconsider being a picky eater if you identify as one.

From a nutritional standpoint, being a picky eater is not favorable. Why, you ask?

Here are a few reasons:

• Picky eaters tend to eat many of the same foods, day in and day out relying on their favorites to meet their nutritional needs. This is not an ideal scenario as following this type of regimen could set one up for developing food intolerances. One theory on how food intolerances (or sensitivities) develop is by exposing yourself to that food for prolonged periods of time. Your body may be able to tolerate that particular food (or the allergen in the food) in smaller quantities but overdoing it maybe not so much. *Please note that I am not referring to a true allergic reaction to a food which is an entirely different response altogether.*

• Because picky eaters have a limited palate to work with they are also predisposing themselves to develop nutritional deficiencies. Attaining your micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) from the daily diet can already be difficult enough for someone who has a wide range of foods to choose from. Try eliminating a whole segment of foods and you’ll see how extracting certain nutrients can now be a challenge.

Here’s an example:

Meet Miss Alpha — she despises fish and most seafood, loves chicken (probably eats it 4-5 times a week), eats beef maybe once every 2-3 months, veggie intake primarily consists of carrots, potatoes, corn, and lettuce. She doesn’t really care for green veggies.

Analysis of Diet:

Though I’m not a doctor and do not diagnose medical conditions, hypothetically if one were to consume a diet similar to Miss Alpha’s for prolonged periods of time, we might observe the following nutritional deficits if an analysis were conducted:

• Omega-3 Fatty Acids: eliminating fish and seafood from the diet makes it more difficult to obtain these beneficial fats, which have been shown to be cardioprotective, aid in joint health, support optimal mood and cognitive functioning and skin health.
• Iron and B-12: avoiding animal proteins could potentially set one up for developing a deficiency of these micronutrients. Lack of energy and fatigue could be one manifestation of an iron deficiency and nervous system symptoms and/or mental impairment in the case of vitamin B-12.
• Magnesium: found in green leafy vegetables, seaweed, and walnuts. Inadequate intake of magnesium from the diet could present as an energy deficit, increased risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, stress, muscle tension, and insomnia to name just a few.

Eating a wide selection of whole, nourishing foods, a variety of colors (I call this “eating the rainbow”), and occasionally taking a break from foods you indulge in often is the ideal way to ensure that you will not develop these deficiencies and/or sensitivities to certain foods.

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How to Change Your Ways:

So, how does one transition from being a picky eater to one that is more omnivorous in nature and someone that will consume a broader palate of foods?

This might not happen overnight, so be patient and follow these guidelines if you’d like to be more open to trying new foods:

• Realize that eating a new food the first, second, or even third time may not be your favorite thing to do but that with additional exposures to the food, you may grow to like the food. I’ve heard people say that children can eat a new food 15-20 times before growing to accept and continue eating it. So, my advice would be to keep an open mind and give it a go, more than a dozen times if you think you’re missing out on the health benefits of an important food category.

• Try different preparations of the same food until you find one that will work for you. Perhaps you’d like to introduce more fish into your diet but have only eaten it baked and that was not working for you. Maybe a recipe which coats the fish with a crust or almond meal “breadcrumb” would be the trick to make you enjoy this food. Buttering up and lightly seasoning your vegetables with flavorful spices that you enjoy is another recommendation for introducing greens or other veggies that may otherwise taste bland or be off-putting for you. How could one not love anything smothered in butter?

• Sometimes just coming to terms with a health condition you are dealing with and knowing your options might in a way force you to accept that you’ll need to change your habits and begin to learn to appreciate foods that you once avoided. We’ve all heard stories about the guy who absolutely hated running and then went on to become an ultra-marathoner after being diagnosed with diabetes (or other life-changing diseases). Or the ex-smoker/fast-food junkie who then transformed his career into a holistic chef.
  

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Take home message:
We are human and have the ability to adapt, change our ways, learn from experiences (both positive and negative) and decide to keep rolling with the status quo or embrace a new way of approaching life. The same principle applies to food and nutrition and our eating patterns.

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Here’s your Challenge:

Do you consider yourself a picky eater? If so, is there a food you’ve heard about that you know is beneficial to your health that you’d like to try to introduce into your daily, weekly or monthly routine?

How can you implement one of these techniques above to try to forge a new relationship with this food?

If you found this post helpful, please share with a friend!

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References:

Murray, Michael. Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1996.