Do you know? The real reason why you should fix picky eating
Hello, this is Kakuyuki.
The real reason why you should fix picky eating is that
what we know in current nutritional science is
still only a small fractionof the whole.
What I mean by that is
for example, dietary fiber.
A long time ago, dietary fiber was
called 'a nutrient with absolutely no meaning for the body'.
It was said to be that.
Now, everyone knows that it is essential for health.
That is why I believe that
there are many nutrients that will be called 'essential for the body' in the future
that just haven't been discovered yet.
Recently,
'phytochemicals'
have become famous, haven't they?
Regarding phytochemicals too,
there are those that haven't been discovered yet,
and those that have been discovered
but whose effects are unknown,
there are many kinds.
Surely there must be many others
that haven't even been discovered yet.
That is why it is good to be able to eat anything.
This is the number one reason
why picky eating should be improved.
However,
fixing picky eating is not straightforward,
so let's improve it with a long-term perspective.
Actually, I also
had a time when I was truly
worried about my child's picky eating.
Seeing my son who wouldn't eat vegetables at all
and only ate things like white rice, tofu, and sweet potatoes,
I was anxious every day, wondering,
'Will his future be okay?'
Even when I consulted a nutritionist,
they would say,
'He is growing properly on what he is eating now
and getting enough nutrition,'
but somewhere in my heart,
'Is that really okay?'I was thinking that.
(Since I am a registered dietitian myself,
I know that it is not enough...
I kept it a secret that I was a registered dietitian ^^;)
At that time,
what suddenly came to mind
was the story of old nutritional science.
Until the 1970s,
dietary fiber was treated as
'waste that the human body cannot digest'.
But now, we know that it regulates the intestinal environment,
suppresses the rise in blood sugar levels,
and is absolutely essential for health.
'Wait? Could it be that
the same thing is happening now?'
When I realized that,
my way of thinking changed.
Even what is said in current nutritional science,
'If you just eat this, it's fine,'
might actually still have many things
that we don't understand yet.
Lycopene, the red color in tomatoes, or anthocyanin, the purple in blueberries,
and the phytochemicals that we have recently
finally understood to be good for the body are the same, aren't they?
Surely, the bitter components of vegetables,
the acidity of fruits,
the fats in fish,
components that don't even have names yet,
in 10 or 20 years,
'Actually, this was very important'
might be discovered.
That is why I want my son
to eat as many different things as possible,
even if it's just a little.
But forcing him is counterproductive, so
I decided to be happy about small changes, saying,
'You were able to eat one bite of this today.'
Once I started looking at things in the long term like that,
my own stress decreased,
and my son, little by little,
started trying different things.
Of course, he is still a picky eater even now.
But
thinking of it as "sowing seeds for future health,"
I am continuing without rushing.
You don't have to aim for perfection.
Tomorrow more than today, next month more than this month,
if the things he can eat increase even a little,
that is enough.
When you think about it that way,
daily mealtimes become much easier
and more enjoyable.
If you would like to know specifically
how to go about improving picky eating,
I have compiled the methods I actually tried and found successful
into a 10-step exercise.
By the way, my son has
intellectual developmental disorder and autism spectrum disorder.
This is a method that is especially effective
for children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
I share methods that allow the whole family
to enjoy meals with a smile
without pushing too hard.
If you are interested, please check it out.
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