The Science Behind the Foods We Love (and the Ones We Hate!)

Childhood: Anything Your Family Hates

During a child's impressionable early years, watching a sibling or parent recoil after eating stinky cheese or rare meat can have long-term consequences. French researchers have shown that emotions on other people's faces can powerfully impact our own desire to eat particular foods: When looking at images of a disgusted face, study participants had less desire to eat foods they already liked; images of faces showing pleasure made them willing to eat kidneys, blood pudding, and other foods they had previously deemed unappetizing.