Power of Touch

Here's something I found while, of course, researching something else. It's from PBS's Teacher's Domain. The segment is The Power of Touch. Their description blurb is below.

Why is touch so important to our physical and emotional well-being? And what happens when it is withheld? This video segment explores the role of touch in the development of young animals, including humans, and looks at the therapies parents are using to enrich the lives and minds of their infants and toddlers. Footage from NOVA: "Mystery of the Senses: Touch."

Bodily Memory with FOOD

Last Monday (August 8, 2011), two stories from two sources converged. The topic? How food can shape the offspring. Or, the power of bodily memory...?

First, NPR reported on how the flavors a mother eats while pregnant can influence the child's reactions to foods later in life.
Baby's Palate And Food Memories Shaped Before Birth
by Gretchen Cuda-Kroen.

While not fool-proof, greater exposure in utero can increase acceptance of a greater variety of foods while growing up. The story reports some other interesting findings.

Then CBS's the Early Show had a segment by Marysol Castro about Marje Vongerichten's examination of her adopted past called "The Kimchi Chronicles." The point for us here is Vongerichten's account of having a 'flood of memories' return to her once she ate the food that her biological mother had cooked for her. Below is the video of the interview:





The website for "The Kimchi Chronicles" click here.

Two stories on the same day about the how food can shape someone converge.

So, yes, in a way, we are what we eat... and the body has memory...

No wonder I can crave grits, huh?