Food for Thought/Something to Chew On/Insert Your Own Food Pun Here

I'm reading a book on the psychology of food and eating called Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink, Ph.D. This book is nuts. On almost every page is something that sounds completely insane and ridiculous, but totally bears out in real life.

For instance, Wansink found in a study of waiters that they could pretty consistently pick out which customers would order what kind of food. You're thinking "yeah right," right? They specifically focused a study on soups. There was a list of 5 soups that they concentrated on, and from those soups they built personality profiles for each one. Of the soups listed, I chose tomato (in pretty much any soup situation I would choose tomato). This is what tomato correlates with, based on their studies: "Tomato, The Affectionate Reader: Often a pet owner, and a creative, book-loving thinker." In the words of Sid the Sloth, "I don't like this cat. He reads minds."

Here's another crazy thing. This one is kind of intuitive, I guess, but still pretty cool. When it comes to your favorite food in a meal, do you eat it first or save it for last? I save for last. People like me who save for last are typically only children or the oldest. This is because as an only child, or the oldest, there is less competiton for food so you can afford to wait to eat your favorite thing.

One of the things I love about psychological studies like these is that it proves that no one is really that different - we all do the same dumb things for the same dumb reasons. I find that kind of comforting. Anyway, I've become a fan of food writing, and this is a good book to pick up if you are too. My next food book is Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. It sounds pretty interesting, but I'm not sure it could top this book for flat out "holy crap, I do that too" factor.