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When are our adult food preferences formed? According to new research they are ingrained in us very early in the womb.
New research by the Monell Chemical Senses Center finds that mothers can influence a baby's palate and food memories before it is born by introducing foods to her unborn child. In the womb, the baby is surrounded and nourished on the amniotic fluid, which is filled with the flavors of what the mom has eaten.
"Things like vanilla, carrot, garlic, anise, mint -- these are some of the flavors that have been shown to be transmitted to amniotic fluid or mother's milk," Julie Mennella, a researcher at Monell, told National Public Radio (NPR).
At 21 weeks after conception, a developing baby weighs about as much as a can of soda and he or she can taste it, too. Still in the womb, the growing baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid daily.
That fluid surrounding the baby is actually flavored by the foods and beverages the mother has eaten in the last few hours, forming memories of these flavors even before birth. These memories result in preferences for these foods or odors for a lifetime.
To study this theory, researchers gave women garlic capsules or sugar capsules before taking a routine sample of their amniotic fluid and then asked a panel of people to smell the samples.
"And it was easy," says Mennella. "They could pick out the samples easily from the women who ate garlic." The sense of taste is actually 90 percent smell, she added, so they knew just from the odor that the babies could taste it.
Comment: Keep in mind that all sources of fats should be either organic or come from sources that are grass fed or pastured.
For more information about the importance of fat in the diet - which kinds are healthy and which are not, see this Sott article:
Everything About Fat