Picky Eater? How To Still Get Your Nutrients

I've never been a picky eater. Even as a child, I gleefully ate yogurt, wheat germ, broccoli ... even liverwurst! And that's a good thing, because eating a wide variety of whole foods is key to good nutrition. But what about people who flat out hate certain foods?

Must-Read: Do you need to eat breakfast? Even when you’re not hungry?
5 “Bad” Foods You Don’t Have to Feel Guilty for Eating

Are you getting enough of the nutrients your body needs? Unless you’re savvy about the different nutrients in food, you might be missing out. Most Americans are not meeting the recommended intake for several micronutrients, according to the 2010 report from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (the folks who convene every five years to look at how Americans are eating and tell us how to eat better.) The biggest shortfalls? Vitamin D, calcium, potassium and dietary fiber.

To make sure you’re not among the nutrient-deficient, check out the following list. Hate the most common food source? Try eating some of the alternatives to meet your needs.

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Hate Salmon? Eat Cereal

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Key Nutrient: Vitamin D How to Get It: Hate salmon? Eat cereal. Not many foods contain vitamin D, the vitamin that helps your body use bone-building calcium and phosphorus and is also touted as having a host of disease-fighting, health-supporting properties, from helping to ward off depression to lowering cancer risk. Many people have turned to supplements to up their vitamin D intake (the Institute of Medicine recently raised its recommendation to 600 IUs/day for everyone ages 1 to 70 and 800 IUs for adults over 70), but if you're looking to get this nutrient from food (as I am), eat fortified breakfast cereals. Most milk is also fortified with vitamin D and you can find vitamin D-fortified orange juice. Sounds like a D-lightful breakfast for fatty-fish haters!

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Key Nutrient: Vitamin D

How to Get It: Hate salmon? Eat cereal.

Not many foods contain vitamin D, the vitamin that helps your body use bone-building calcium and phosphorus and is also touted as having a host of disease-fighting, health-supporting properties, from helping to ward off depression to lowering cancer risk.

Many people have turned to supplements to up their vitamin D intake (the Institute of Medicine recently raised its recommendation to 600 IUs/day for everyone ages 1 to 70 and 800 IUs for adults over 70), but if you're looking to get this nutrient from food (as I am), eat fortified breakfast cereals. Most milk is also fortified with vitamin D and you can find vitamin D-fortified orange juice. Sounds like a D-lightful breakfast for fatty-fish haters!

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What's your least favorite healthy food?

By Kerri-Ann Jennings

Kerri-Ann, a registered dietitian, is the associate editor of nutrition for EatingWell magazine, where she puts her master's degree in nutrition from Columbia University to work writing and editing news about nutrition, health and food trends. In her free time, Kerri-Ann likes to practice yoga, hike, cook and bake.

Related Links from EatingWell:

• 4 Foods Women Need From Their 20s On
• 10 Super Foods You Should be Eating Every Week
• 10 Expert Food Rules Worth Following
• 10 Easy Ways to Eat Better to Meet the New Dietary Guidelines
• Get a free trial issue when you subscribe to EatingWell Magazine and sign up for our free e-newsletters!

 

Follow EatingWell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/eatingwell

Comments

[Half a century]

12:50 AM on 02/22/2011

Tofu is made of soy. I see some studies saying soy is no good. Is it true? Is it because it is genetically modified? Anyone can help me in this?

[YeWight]

03:40 AM on 02/24/2011

There is non-GMO soy/tofu. What you might have heard about tofu has nothing to do with GMO, but with unfermented (tofu) vs fermented soy (miso, tempeh, etc). Google it, there a lot on this subject.

[Eric Mann]

12:52 PM on 02/21/2011

How about this-quit being a picky eater! Sheesh.

[Palitra Pitania]

03:44 AM on 02/21/2011

Just eat a wide variety of foods. Fruits and vegetables with different colors. Different colors indicate different nutrients. Or get the support of a professional to design your nutrition. http://www.palitra-pitania.ru/ourservices_eng/healthynutrition_eng/?lang=en

[SIgrdrifa]

04:11 PM on 02/20/2011

You missed black-strap molasses as a great source of calcium!

[Nancy Cronk]

08:35 AM on 02/20/2011

My kid never ate vegetables except for fresh cucumber spears. My pediatrician told us to get Green Machine or Superfood green smoothie drinks. Worked like a charm. The smoothies are sweet and green. Eventually he tried other vegetable blends, and now he is actually eating the vegetables they are made from. Thanks, Doc.

[Derek Lantin]

12:20 AM on 02/20/2011

Sir

Thank you for the excellent article about eating a proper diet.

Breakfast is properly the most important meal of the day, and the meal that is most abused by most people. In the morning the body is in need first of water and secondly of food. This is just common sense as the body would have had no water or nutrients for 7 to 8 hours and needs a top up.

It is a common fallacy that skipping breakfast will help weight loss. Many people mistakenly think that by getting through the morning on an empty stomach must be good “because I must be burning fat”.

Not true. Deprived of food and water, the body will slow down it’s metabolism to match the resources available to it.

By eating a healthy breakfast, a person gives the body an energy boost. The body can and will function at a more active and more efficient level, - thereby burning more calories than if it is running on an empty tank.

Sincerely, Derek Lantin. http://dereklantin.booksabuzz.com

[samknox]

10:00 PM on 02/19/2011

The various animal proteins are good sources of all the essential nutrients, except Vitamin C.

Throw in some fruits and vegetables, and you're pretty much covered.

[Vickster]

12:11 AM on 02/20/2011

You can get vitamin C from animals if you eat raw adrenal glands, which is what indigenous people who live in the arctic circle do, or if you consume fresh blood like the Maasai.

[Last Gasp]

05:53 PM on 02/19/2011

you have GOT to be kidding with that first slide. Cereal as a source of vitamin D? I think this might be very worst slide show EVER.

[purenergy]

06:28 AM on 02/20/2011

Right? How is cereal a good replacement for salmon? Ridiculous.

[sabelmouse]

09:37 AM on 02/20/2011

added vitamins. they're as good as the real thing. i don't knowwho puts this stuff together.

[violettefemme]

03:20 PM on 02/19/2011

This article is like a file on what not to do right. Soy for milk? Grain for salmon? And then a link to an article telling you to eat breakfast even if you're not hungry....so now we should eat when NOT hungry...ok. Of course, the real latest research as published right here on HP shows that all breakfast does is add calories to your day, and skipping it is fine as long as you're eating to your own schedule, regularly and healthily.

[Threepointturn]

07:38 PM on 02/20/2011

Even though what you say is true, you drink too much coffee! Just sayin.

[GreenKate]

02:31 PM on 02/19/2011

Processed cereal as a nutritional substitute for wild salmon doesn't pass the chuckle test.

Many people say they hate fish, but most don't seem to have ever had any, other than at Long John Silver's. If you don't want the health benefits, fine, skip it. Kind of like hating exercise.

[Fred Butters]

12:53 PM on 02/19/2011

C'mon. Tofu?! Unfermented soy isn't fit for human consumption. Asian cultures have known this for thousands of years.

"9 Reasons why Soy Will Ruin Your Health"
http://www.drmercola.info/2010/10/9-reasons-why-soy-ruins-your-health/
http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/avoid_soy.htm

[Acert]

01:13 PM on 02/19/2011

I hate to break it to you, but Asian cultures have included tofu in their cuisine for thousands of years.

[mssreader]

04:45 PM on 02/19/2011

Acert, I have tofu 2-3 times a month and use a plain soy milk on my oatmeal and have thyroid disease and it soy doesn't effect it at all though I only eat it in it's close to the original state and never powdered or such. And I only use organic.

[Last Gasp]

05:54 PM on 02/19/2011

he said unfermented soy genius.

[GreenKate]

02:27 PM on 02/19/2011

I used soy protein powder for an extended period of time. My doctor said that too much soy is bad for the thyroid and can be linked to breast cancer, so I quit using it.

[mssreader]

10:54 PM on 02/19/2011

GreenKate, I wouldn't use soy protein powder though I do use tofu and plain soy milk on my organic. The soy milk has nothing else added. Both are organic and I have no reservations about using either though I do have hypothyroidism but so do my daughter and both sisters and none of them eat soy in any form. My Endrocrinologist, four years out of med school, says he sees no reason for not eating tofu or the plain soy milk I use. He said soy protein powder is too processed.