Do you remember that rich, delicious piece of chocolate torte you ate last week? If so, you shouldn't feel like food rules your world – it’s only natural. Some of the world’s leading memory researchers at the University of California at Irvine have found that eating fat-rich foods triggers the formation of long-term memories of that activity. They discovered that dietary fats cause memory consolidation, the process by which superficial, short-term memories are transformed into meaningful, long-term ones. You can see how this would help our ancestors find their next meal. They would remember where they spotted that woolly mammoth. Of course, we have to be more careful today, because it’s all too easy for us to hunt down fat-rich foods at the corner fast-food restaurant.
So the next time you want to have a memorable meal, add some (unsaturated) fat to your recipes. The Library has a wonderful collection of cookbooks. Below are some new Library titles from the James Beard Foundation 2008 Cookbook Awards that are relevant to the study. And for more information on healthy fats see the Library’s array of health and medicine databases. Or visit the Library to copy a recipe from one of the Library's many cooking magazines.
By Jennifer McLagan
By Ellie Krieger
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