Not eating something because you are not familiar with it.
This is a reminder to OP and others that this thread must remain general about the relationship between picky eating and health and should not turn into a thread about OP’s diet, preferences, etc., or it will be removed.
It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. If you already eat a wide variety of healthy food, you’re most likely not going to miss out heavily by not trying more exotic stuff. If picky eater means you only eat fries, nuggets and cereal then yes it’s much less healthy than it could be
Like other people have said: it depends on your baseline. If you include a variety of fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds in your diet - then ignoring all the other options is fine. If you’re missing some of the main plant food-groups in your diet - then avoiding trying out new ones is going to hurt you (in the long run).
In my experience, YES!
Every picky eater I have seen doesn’t eat a balanced diet. Sure they don’t like cakes and pies, but salads are out too. I’ve seen people surviving off mostly pizza, chicken fingers, burgers, or Mac n cheese.
What I have never seen. Is a picky eater magically picking a healthy or diverse diet. I’m not saying they don’t exist, but I am saying that’s a rare jewel!
Personally I eat out probably 4 days a week, and I still stay skinny due to not eating Pizza or Sandwiches of any kind. Who knows what my cholesterol levels are though.
Edit: Whoever reported my account to the Crisis Hotline, you made my day. I get a lot of crap for not eating Sandwiches or Pizza, and this act of disgust may be the best insult I’ve ever received.
It can be but not always. If you’re such a picky eater that you refuse to eat any fruits or veggies, you probably are harming your health. But if you’re the type of picky eater that eats lots of fruits and veggies but hates just mushrooms and cauliflower then you’re probably fine.
This really depends on what you mean by picky eater.
For the typical U.S. picky kid eater and grown adult whose palate hasn’t evolved beyond ultra processed food or kid type food, then yes, as the others have said.
But for the first and second situations I describe below, no.
An elderly relative of mine likes to call us (me, my spouse, sibling, sibling in laws) picky eaters because we don’t really care for the heavy creamy casseroles she makes every holiday. There’s a lot leftover and as we don’t want to bring it home, we are picky eaters in her eyes.
My mom started incorporating more Mediterranean foods into her diet a few years ago. She still cooks some of the Asian foods we grew up with, but in my dad’s eyes she’s “more picky.”
I have also heard people describe someone else as a picky eater…wondering about new behaviors the person is exhibiting that seem oddly obsessive and anxious when it comes to food. It’s not picky eating, but rather a sign of disordered eating or orthorexia. And yes, this is bad for your health, too and someone experiencing this should get professional help.
Hard to say, but most people start out life not being familiar with most foods. So, if you become picky early in life, you’re probably missing out on a large variety of foods, and the limited variety you’re willing to eat could be deficient in certain essential nutrients, eventually causing a deficiency in that nutrient.
I am the opposite. I eat relatively the same staples in my diet at home prepared in various different ways. When I go out to eat, I make it a priority to order something new that I have never had before. This helps with the experience of eating out and the chance I might find something new that I fall in love with that I might not have purchased at the store.
It was bad for my health personally because I would only eat pizza, chicken tenders and ice cream. But I do know picky eaters who are fairly healthy and make healthy choices, they just won’t touch foods with certain ingredients at all (examples: eggs, mayo, olives, mushrooms) which makes them appear pickier than they are
Depends what you are picky about. Variety is one of the easiest ways of ensuring you are getting a balanced diet, the less variety the more likely you are to be deficient is something.
The RDA’s for nutrients are a guideline based on averages so there is generally lots of wiggle room and even being chronically deficient in something doesn’t mean it’s harmful to your health (conversely you could also have a problem with absorption which means the RDA is too low for you). Sticking around the RDA’s is a safe bet though.
Some nutrients you wouldn’t notice a deficiency for decades or ever, omega 3 is useful for cognitive function (particularly memory) but there is no way to differentiate between chronic deficiency and aging on an individual basis. If you are 70 with shitty memory there is no way to know eating more omega 3 would change that for you, ensuring you eat enough will ensure you get any benefit from that though.
Think of it like staying in shape and maintaining a balanced diet. You have no way of knowing if you are going to be hit by a bus tomorrow but you should assume you won’t and maximize your health.
Ya my youngest brother is quite the same.
Eating out is tough with the family, they must have chicken strips or cheese pizza… Though it’s really only 1 option because the other was had for lunch…
This man just turned 18… he does like red velvet cupcakes, sour fruit strips, and untold types of candy.
I watched a video of a guy on YouTube. It was a deep dive on this 20ish year old kid that only ate Velveeta shells and cheese. He could eat other Mac n cheese meals, but other food would make him gag and feel sick and be repulsed… it didn’t seem healthy at all.
I feel like the way to conquer this is with like foods. If they like fried chicken strips, maybe they will like fried beef strips? Or perhaps grilled chicken?
If they like pizza with pepperoni and sausage. See if they like Italian sausage? Or pepperoni and crackers?
Keep going down these chains. If they like pepperoni and crackers, add some cheese. Then try swapping to ham once the meat has other accompaniments. If they like the ham try a pizza with Canadian bacon and pepperoni. Make the changes really small and try to make it fun and experimental with the ability to just go back to normal.
My middle brother had similar issues and is still a little picky. But he’s eating what the family makes now. He likes steak with his A-1 sauce, salmon, mashed potatoes, corn bread, all kinds of stuff.
I know I used to be little picky, but pretty open as a kid. I liked brocoli since as far back as I can remember. I’m fairly certain it’s because my mom over butters the brocoli. At some point in life my grandmother told me there are many amazing flavors and flavor combinations that cannot be had without tasting. And as such we owe it to ourselves to be open to try new things so we can decide for our selves whether we like those flavors or not. So I’ll pretty much try anything once!
My latest new food was menudo which contains tripe. Tripe is the first or second stomach of a cow. It also contains hoof but one guy said no patas (feet) so I thought let’s go one at a time! Anyway the sauce was good, but the tripe is not for me. It’s a texture thing for me. It had a fairly bland taste but the broth added a lot of flavor.