Tag Archives: junk food syndrome

Name calling

Have you ever heard of Gourmand Syndrome?

It occurs when a certain section of the brain’s right hemisphere is damaged.  Patients become obsessed with food…specifically ‘fine dining’ choices.

For example, a snowboarder recently sustained brain damage in a near-fatal accident and awoke from a coma experiencing intense cravings for basil pesto, a food he had no particular feelings for prior to the fall.

I’m fascinated by this disease…because I think I have its polar opposite.

You see, I experienced a hard blow to the head at an early age.  It wasn’t coma-worthy — just involved some stitches and a scar to the forehead.  But I think it may have made me obsessed with the ‘non-fine dining’ choices on menus.

Goodness knows that’s the type of food I crave to this day.  And if I can blame a whack on the head and call it Junk Food Syndrome — instead of a lack of self-control –

Sign me up.