Beautifully Complex, Ep. 353
Selective Eating & How to Help Fill Nutritional Gaps, with Brittyn Coleman

[00:00:12] Penny Williams: Welcome back to Beautifully Complex, everyone. I am really excited to have Brit Coleman here with me today to discuss selective eating and how we can fill in those gaps in nutrition that we are really concerned about as parents when our kids are picky eaters, so that we know that they will be healthy and grow up strong.
Will you start, Brittyn, by letting everybody know who you are and what you do, and then we’ll jump into it?
[00:00:42] Speaker 7: Sure. Thanks so much for having me. My name is Brit Coleman. I’m a registered dietitian, and I specialize in autism and selective eating.
The role that I fill is supporting parents in helping expand their child’s limited diet due to sensory sensitivities and making sure that we expand in a sensory-informed, sensory-friendly way so that the child can be successful in expanding their diet and live the best life that they can, having the best nutrition and feeling their best.
That’s what I love to do. I do that in many different ways. Social media is a huge one. Yes, I’m so excited to be here with you and chat a little bit more about this.
[00:01:23] Penny Williams: Yeah. Let’s start with the concept of selective eating. Can you tell everybody what that is and what it might look like in their home or their family?
[00:01:33] Speaker 7: Absolutely. So the term “selective eating,” I prefer to use. Of course, everyone is familiar with the term “picky eating,” but when it comes to autism and neurodivergence, selective eating is actually a better term because it better explains what they’re experiencing.
Kids on the autism spectrum are not just choosing to be picky. There’s so much more that goes into it. I think as parents, when we can also understand the foundations of what is going into their selective eating, we can better understand and support our kids as well, and follow an approach that’s going to support them with what they need versus some of these run-of-the-mill picky eating approaches that unfortunately usually make their selective eating even worse.
My goal is to help prevent parents from getting to the place where things have gotten worse and we have to come back from it, where we can start from the get-go with sensory-informed choices to expand their diet.
When it comes to kids who are neurodivergent, we see a lot of sensory sensitivity. Eating is one of our most sensory-rich experiences. If you think about anything that you eat, you smell, taste, touch, hear— all of your senses are happening all at once.
It’s really easy for that to become overstimulating because it’s everything all at once, especially if it’s something unexpected or something that is not within that child’s sensory preferences. Food can absolutely be one of those big pieces.
We see actually up to 90% of kids on the spectrum have sensory processing challenges, which can translate into selective eating. On top of that, we have gut issues, something called interoception, which is your body’s ability to tell if it’s hungry or full—we can see disconnects there. Kids not recognizing that they’re hungry. We can see oral motor challenges that impact how a child can actually safely eat a food.
There are so many different pieces that go into it. Unless you’ve kind of gone down this rabbit hole, there’s really no guidebook for all of this.
Trying to understand all of the pieces and how they fit together, and the right approaches that can support a child who’s experiencing those things, makes such a huge difference. That’s where I come from when it comes to selective eating and coaching parents on how to expand their child’s diet.
[00:04:12] Penny Williams: And you’re helping us kind of reframe from “this is a choice,” this is being picky, to there are things going on underneath this behavior that we’re seeing on the surface.
Why does it backfire when we try to force compliance? Like bribing—“eat your broccoli and then you can have ice cream”—those traditional ideas. Why does that actually make things worse?
[00:04:58] Speaker 7: I love that you asked this. I was just listening to one of your podcast episodes where it talks about how pressure is not motivating, it’s dysregulating.
That is such a perfect example with eating too, because the more pressure we put around food—and especially if a child doesn’t feel safe eating a food, whether that’s from a sensory experience or an oral motor perspective—they can’t safely chew steak, for example, because it takes a lot of muscles.
The more pressure we put on them, we’re not going to have more success.
This also happens with typical picky eating approaches where I hear parents say, “Well, they’re just manipulating you,” which is a huge red flag. As I explained before, there’s so much that goes into it. We’re not talking manipulation here at all.
One of the most common pieces of advice I see is telling parents to stop feeding safe foods so that eventually the child will get hungry enough to try something else.
The problem is, sensory sensitivities don’t go away with hunger. In fact, they usually get worse. The more overstimulated, the more hangry, the more imbalanced blood sugar becomes, the less likely the child is to tolerate new foods.
This approach causes the child to lose trust in food and lose trust in the caregiver. Those are two of the most important things to maintain.
And then we end up in a worse place with fewer foods and more hesitation.
[00:07:25] Penny Williams: Those power struggles can really be a cycle that’s hard to break. I always think about starting with compassion and empathy.
This isn’t a choice. They’re not giving us a hard time—they’re having a hard time.
Is anxiety part of this too?
[00:08:09] Speaker 7: Yes, absolutely. Anxiety can be a huge piece.
We also see something called ARFID—Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder—and we see higher rates of that in the neurodivergent community.
Anxiety can come from past experiences like choking or anaphylaxis, but also just the idea of the experience with food.
There are so many pieces.
And I don’t blame parents at all for following typical approaches. There’s no guidebook. Many professionals are still giving outdated advice.
Parents are scared. When your child eats only a few foods, it’s terrifying. You’ll try anything.
So I come from compassion for both kids and parents.
[00:10:06] Penny Williams: You can only do what you know. When you know better, you do better.
Let’s talk about the parent experience and fear, because that’s really what drives this stress.
What do we need to think about differently so fear isn’t driving us?
[00:11:11] Speaker 7: It’s completely normal to feel fear. If your child only has a couple of foods, losing one is incredibly stressful.
Kids co-regulate with us. They pick up on our stress.
I help parents learn how to regulate themselves so they can show up in a way that supports their child.
If a child is dysregulated, eating becomes even harder. Their sensory threshold is already maxed out.
So I often start with: what does mealtime look like? How can we support regulation first?
[00:14:19] Speaker 7: One of the best places to start is writing down all of your child’s favorite foods and breaking them down into sensory experiences—texture, color, temperature.
You’ll start to see patterns. That gives us a starting point to introduce similar foods.
This takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight.
While working on expanding the diet, I also recommend a high-quality supplement to help fill nutritional gaps.
[00:17:31] Speaker 7: Another important tip is letting go of the idea that eating is the only win.
There are so many small wins—having the food nearby, smelling it, interacting with it.
We don’t start with eating. We start with exposure and safety.
[00:20:28] Penny Williams: What about kids who struggle with the sounds of others eating?

[00:21:06] Speaker 7: Sometimes we need to adjust expectations. Maybe the child eats separately at first so they can stay regulated.
Family connection doesn’t have to happen only at the table. We can find other ways to connect as a family.
One example—if the child enjoys arts and crafts, could we all meet at the table and participate in a non-food activity to have that connection?
It can be really difficult. My brother actually grew up a very selective eater. He would eat at a separate table when he was young. My parents wanted him to eat with us, but at the end of the day, it came down to his regulation.
That really helped him. It’s not necessarily something I recommend right away—I like to troubleshoot first—but sometimes it’s what a child needs.
[00:23:43] Penny Williams: Yeah. It reminds me of a show where a character eats at the kitchen counter while everyone else is at the table. I always wonder if they’re showing sensory needs there.
My own kid stopped doing family dinner. It was heartbreaking, but I knew it was what he needed at the time. And it didn’t mean forever.
I love that you’re giving parents permission to think about their real goal. Is it eating together, or is it connection?
[00:25:16] Penny Williams: You’ve co-founded a multivitamin called Best Part. What inspired you to create it?
[00:25:30] Brittyn Coleman: I started Best Part because there was a huge gap in supplements for kids with selective eating.
On one side, you have megadosing supplements—way more than kids need—and they taste terrible. I used to joke they were just “expensive pee” because the body doesn’t use all of it.
On the other side, you have supplements that are tasteless but don’t provide enough nutrition to make a real impact.
There wasn’t a middle ground.
So we created Best Part to fill that gap. It’s sensory-friendly and has intentional dosing—enough to support the body without overloading it.
We also focused on bioavailability—how well the body absorbs nutrients. Many store-bought vitamins use cheaper forms that aren’t absorbed well.
We use methylated forms of B vitamins and methylfolate to support better absorption, especially for kids with genetic differences that affect nutrient processing.
[00:28:12] Penny Williams: I’m curious about the form of the vitamin because of sensory sensitivities. Is it a gummy, liquid…?
[00:28:35] Brittyn Coleman: We chose a powder, very intentionally.
A gummy only works for certain sensory preferences, and you can’t fit enough nutrients into it without needing a large number of gummies.
With a powder, we can meet the child where they are. It’s versatile. We have an unflavored option and a mixed berry flavor.
We also provide guidance to parents on how to incorporate it in a way that works for their child.
So it’s not just a supplement—it’s support and education as well.
[00:30:32] Penny Williams: That’s awesome. I love that you’re really thinking about the needs of families.
Do you have a special offer for listeners?
[00:30:53] Brittyn Coleman: Yes. Listeners can get 10% off their first order using the code “complex.”
You can also follow us on social media or visit bestpartkids.com to learn more.
We also have more products coming, including iron and sleep support, which we’re really excited about.
[00:32:07] Penny Williams: I’ll link everything in the show notes.
Thank you so much for being here and sharing your time and wisdom. Your passion really comes through, and I know it’s going to help so many families.
[00:32:46] Brittyn Coleman: Thank you so much, Penny. Thanks for having me.
[00:32:49] Penny Williams: Of course. I’ll see everybody next time. Take good care.