Picky, Picky, Picky!

Do you remember when you were young and your mom tried to get you to eat those dreaded vegetables?  How you vowed never to torture your kids the same way? Probably! 

  

But you’re a good mom, and when it was your turn, you figured you would do better and season the vegetables just right for the perfect little soul in your life.  When that didn’t work, you didn’t give up; you paired the vegetables with cheese, peanut butter or those sauces that promise to get past your little one’s barriers.   When those efforts failed, you became an artist, creating shapes that would make Picasso proud.  Faced with continued resistance, you tried your hand at professional ventriloquism, throwing your voice with ease to produce airplane sounds, a train’s choo-choo or truck’s horn. 

Despite your commitment to marketing vegetables as absolutely fantastic, in the end, your child is just plain choosy and cannot be convinced.  It turns out there is some science behind your picky eater.  Your little one may be a supertaster!  You always knew your child was special, right?

In fact, researchers in Naples, Italy published a study titled, “Taste perception and food choices,” looking at about 100 children, their parents, and unrelated control adults. They used genetic studies on saliva samples to look for variations in genes for the TASR38 bitter taste receptors, along with a standardized assay for bitterness taste sensitivity using 6-propyl-2-thiouracil. Kids and adults who were very sensitive to the bitter taste of that chemical were classified as “supertasters.”  Basically your child may be really sensitive to the way food tastes.

So now what?!

Today many doctors will tell you not to worry, you can simply give your child a daily multi-vitamin, and they’ll get all the nutrition they need.  That advice, while well-meaning is not 100% accurate.  But don't worry, I have the answers you need. 

Give me a call or send me an email and I’ll explain what you can do to make sure that nothing comes between your child and the vegetables they need to keep them mentally and physically fit. It’s so easy you’ll wonder what took you so long – promise!  I look forward to speaking with you. 

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