Smithsonian's Food + Think blog uncovered an interesting story yesterday: A man who sustained brain damage after a snow boarding accident now experiences frequent and intense cravings for pesto--a food he didn't really like before.
This is apparently a known eating disorder called "The Gourmand Syndrome" caused by lesions to the right frontal lobe of the brain and characterized by a "preoccupation with food and a preference for fine dining." It was discovered by neuroscientists in the 1990s.
(If you just thought, "Oh. So maybe there is something wrong with me," then we just had a mind meld.)
In another example, documented by Science News, a Swiss political columnist became a food writer after a stroke replaced his enthusiasm for politics with an obsessive fixation on food.
No one's quite figured out why this happens yet, but, combined with the stomach-bacteria-influence-your-personality thing, science sure does make it hard to keep the faith in gustatory free will.
[via Smithsonian]