If you reject vegetables, refuse to try new foods, and stick to a limited menu of familiar dishes, you probably qualify as a picky eater. This is somewhat expected behavior in children, and it’s usually considered “just a phase.” But for a surprisingly large number of adults, that phase never ended. Approximately 30 percent of people — nearly a third — identify as picky eaters, according to a Washington Post article.

While adults who refuse to let anything green touch their plates may struggle in social situations, do these self-imposed dietary restrictions actually pose a risk to their health? Some experts believe so. Because picky eating can lead to a very limited diet, it can be more challenging to meet nutrient requirements. “If you are restricting food groups from your eating plan, there is a chance nutritional deficiencies may arise,” says Anne Blocker, RDN, the executive director of the Ellyn Satter Institute.

The Health Risks of Picky Eating

Research supports this idea. People who subsist on bland comfort foods like french fries and grilled cheese don’t get much in the way of nutrient diversity. College students who self-identified as picky eaters ate significantly less fiber and fewer vegetables than nonpicky eaters, in research published in the October 2021 Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

Additionally, people who present tendencies for food neophobia, the clinical term for a strong reluctance to try unfamiliar foods, have overall lower-quality diets and are at a greater risk for certain health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, according to study results published in the June 2019 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Finicky eaters also deal with social stigma, and may struggle emotionally as well. “Picky eaters may get anxious about meals and feel shame about how they eat,” says Blocker. “Because of this it can become much harder to engage in social interactions involving food and feel comfortable during them,” she adds. When people label themselves as picky eaters, Blocker says, it’s usual to become self-critical, which can have a psychological impact. Not to mention that overt fussiness can simply take the joy out of eating.

The Case for Food Diversity

Past research has shown that people who include a greater variety of healthy foods in their daily menu are more likely to maintain healthier body fat levels. The key here is “healthy foods,” not a greater variety of ultra-processed foods. What’s more, a Cornell University investigation found that adults who were more adventurous eaters tended to maintain higher rates of physical activity, were more concerned about the healthfulness of the food they ate, and were more likely to use mealtime as a way to socially connect with friends and family.

Diet variety can also have a significant impact on the composition of your gut microbiome, the collection of microbes that research has linked to not only digestive health, but immune function and even mood. Data generated from the American Gut Project that was published in mSystems in May 2018 showed that people who consumed at least 30 different types of plant foods each week had more diverse microbiomes than those who consumed only 10 or fewer types of plants weekly. And research in the January 2019 issue of Aging found that a diverse microbiome was a hallmark of healthy and long-lived people.

So, broadening your diet to include a wide variety of foods seems to have a plethora of benefits — if you can overcome your picky preferences. There's no simple explanation for why some people become incredibly choosy in what they eat, and there’s no one-size-fits-all advice for overcoming this, but the following eight strategies are worth trying.

1. Take Baby Steps

Being a picky eater is certainly not something you can snap yourself out of overnight. Blocker cautions you not to overwhelm yourself with a plate loaded with unfamiliar foods or items you are not particularly fond of. Instead, you want to create small, attainable goals — for example, Blocker says to think about adding a single unusual item to your meals that will bring with it a new flavor. For instance, if mac and cheese is a go-to meal, you could try adding a few olives or roasted red pepper as a way to start expanding your food horizons slowly. Introducing only one “new” food a month might be as fast as you should go, or perhaps you commit to just one or two bites of something different to start with. “Some people will do well by starting in the same food family,” notes Blocker. “If you like apples, then try serving apples in a different form, such as using applesauce on pork chops.”

You can’t expect to undo your picky behaviors overnight, and keeping motivated is key, so don’t rush it. “You should see your confidence increasing, which will open up more opportunities for experimentation,” says Blocker.

2. Find a Nonthreatening Setting

Whether you are dining solo or with friends and family, Blocker stresses that you want to be in a comfortable environment. “You want to make sure that you don’t feel any pressure to try something or that you’ll be negatively judged if you end up not liking the food and not eating it.” An uncomfortable situation can foster undue anxiety around food and might make the problem worse. “Instead, you should keep meals and food sampling as stress-free and pleasant as possible,” Blocker says. This means that a dinner party might not be the best time to branch out. Instead, try chipping away at your picky eating when you're by yourself or with someone supportive and nonjudgmental.

Trying novel dishes with friends can be a fun experience. Past research has shown that we pick up on the social cues of someone enjoying a food, and this makes the food more appealing. When you're with someone you are comfortable eating with, you can also communicate more openly about your food limits and not be afraid of saying something is a hard no.

Blocker advises learning ways to make situations like holiday meals less threatening. “Do something that makes these situations feel more comfortable, such as bringing a dish with you that includes your core foods so that you feel a little more comfortable about trying something unfamiliar at the meal.” This way, she says, you can go back to what you know you like if the testing process does not go well. This will make the social aspect of experimental eating less stressful and more pleasurable so you’re more likely to keep at it.

3. Pair the Novel With the Familiar

Trying anything new, food included, requires you to step outside your comfort zone. But it’s helpful not to venture too far away from the unfamiliar. Blocker believes that you can make an unfamiliar or less desirable food more appetizing by pairing it with something you already enjoy, or your core foods. In other words, mix the foods you fear with things you like. This process, known as flavor-flavor conditioning, involves incorporating a food you don’t crave into a dish you do enjoy as a means of retraining your palate. For instance, you can try adding a couple of canned sardines to a favorite pasta dish or sprinkling a bit of goat cheese on your go-to salad. “Top new foods with well-liked sauces or seasonings to help them seem less strange and unusual,” adds Blocker. Not super into quinoa? Try the half-and-half trick by mixing it with an equal amount of brown rice if that is more your speed at the moment. Blocker calls this giving yourself “an out”: If you don't like the new food, you'll still have enough to eat on your plate.

4. Don’t Give Up

Since picky eating is a more common problem in children, you may want to follow some of the advice given to parents of fussy eaters to get on the road to becoming an epicure. This includes trying the repeated exposure method. If parents keep offering an unfamiliar food, most children will take a bite ... eventually (it can take many attempts). A research review published in May 2021 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at ways to enhance the desirability of a greater variety of vegetables in kids and found that when participants were repeatedly offered an assortment of veggie types, rather than just one type, they were more likely to eventually try a disliked food and come to like it. There is no reason to assume the same strategy won’t work for adults.

In this case, familiarity may breed not contempt but enjoyment. If you taste a new food repeatedly, you might start to like it as much as your default fare. “You can reset the pattern of likes and dislikes, but it takes time,” says Blocker. Research suggests that it can take several instances to get used to a new flavor. So don't give up after trying something once. Few people are overjoyed with blue cheese or liver from day one. No one just wakes up on their 30th birthday suddenly liking kale. “But never beat yourself up for taking a long time to accept a food or for eventually deciding it’s just not for you,” Blocker says. “Just be happy that you gave it a shot.”

5. Learn From the Pros

If you fall back on the same foods day in, day out, consider signing up for a cooking class to expand your culinary repertoire. As reported in a June 2022 issue of the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, participation in a cooking class was shown to be a way to increase the willingness to select and consume unfamiliar vegetable-based food and drinks, especially if the instruction included sensory aspects of the food, including taste and texture.

If you opt for a class featuring cuisine from different cultures like Thai or Indian, you’re more likely to be exposed to an even greater variety of less-common foods prepared in different ways.

6. Change How You Prepare It

Sometimes something as simple as a new cooking method is all you need to turn a yuck into a yum. Different cooking methods bring out different flavors and textures. “Sometimes a dislike for certain foods is just the result of texture issues,” notes Blocker. If you can’t stomach the thought of boiled mushy Brussels sprouts (you’re not alone), then give them another go, but this time roasted. Not a fan of oven-baked salmon? Try making it into grilled burgers for a different approach. You may gag at the thought of eating beans, but blending them into a dip could make all the difference. “It might take a few tries before you find the way you prefer a food to be prepared,” Blocker says.

7. Try Different Dishware

You may want to give some unappealing foods another chance, but this time served in a different colored plate or bowl. A British study published in the journal Food Quality and Preference in January 2023 found that the color of dishware had a surprising influence on the taste perception of certain people — especially those who were very picky about what they ate. For the investigation, 47 people were divided into two groups: picky and nonpicky eaters. Afterward, each person was presented with snacks in red, white, and blue bowls. Each color changed the perceived saltiness and desirability of certain foods for the picky eaters. More specifically, snacks in red and blue bowls were perceived as saltier than those in white bowls, and snacks in red bowls were the least desirable. So someone who turns up their nose at cauliflower or tofu may want to experiment with serving them on different colored dishware to see if that flavors your perception.

8. Make It a Feast for the Eyes

Speaking of appearances: As any good chef — and science — will tell you, the arrangement of food on a plate makes a big difference for visual deliciousness. We eat first with our eyes, as the saying goes. Past research has found that people enjoyed a salad more when it was plated to resemble a Kandinsky painting. It can be helpful to sample foods in unique ways. So consider paying some attention to the presentation of your food. Try arranging some unfamiliar foods artfully on your plate and adding a special finishing touch in the form of a bright sauce or fanciful garnish, like microgreens. You never know, you may just discover a new favorite. Blocker says the caveat to this approach is that for some people it may add pressure to mealtime, which can make it less likely you’ll want to keep on trying to overcome your picky eating. Ultimately, you need to find the strategies that work best for you to try to expand your menu.

Are You a Picky Eater? Why This Isn’t Healthy for Adults, and 8 Tips to Expand Your Palate