The Gourmand Syndrome: Brain Damage Can Trigger Food Obsession

The Gourmand Syndrome: Brain Damage Can Trigger Food Obsession

In December 2009, a young snowboarder, Kevin Pearce, sustained brain damage from a near-fatal accident. Since he awoke from his coma, Pearce has had frequent, intense cravings for basil pesto even though pre-brain damage he had no particular fascination with pesto.

Turns out, when a certain section of the brain's right hemisphere is damaged, some patients develop Gourmand Syndrome. This bizarre syndrome was first identified in the 1990s and it consists of patients being obsessed with food and "fine eating."

Another sufferer of the syndrome was a Swiss political columnist who changed careers to become a food writer after a stroke.

Minus the whole head trauma thing, if we had to have some kind of disorder, this would definitely top our list.

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