You are what your mother eats

Some of you may have heard about a new study released a couple of weeks ago about how a woman's diet before conception may influence whether she has a boy or a girl. The study determined that among women who ate more before they conceived, 56% of them had sons while only 45% of those who ate less had boys. The study questions whether low intakes of certain vitamins or glucose could lead to more girls, since the body might interpret a lack of nutrients as resulting from a harsh environment requiring more females to maintain the population.

Although it's an interesting theory, I have to say what it really made me think about was the old adage about what boys and girls are made of. You know: girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice, whereas boys are made from snips and snails and puppy dog tails. In this case, of course, it would appear that girls are more likely to come from an absence of sugar and spice and everything nice, but how cool would it be if you actually were what your mother ate before conception? I don't mean it in the sense that couples trying to conceive would be afraid to eat ethnic foods; I mean, imagine if the types of foods you ate could influence whether you had a boy or a girl. Here's a bit of where my mind went:

If you want to have a boy, you'd eat:

Corndogs and hot dogs (without the bun)

Sausages

Peas and carrots

Franks and beans

Cashews, almonds, peanuts and macadamia nuts

Bananas and grapes

Six packs of beer or soda

If you wanted to have a girl, you'd eat:

Hot dog buns (without the sausage)

Taco shells

Clams, oysters and mussels

Muffins

Melons

Ice cream cones

Chicken