Interview with Author Mary Roach
GUPTA: My next guest has been called America's funniest science writer. It's pretty good moniker, Mary Roach. She's written about the curious lives of human cadavers and</s>MARY ROACH, AUTHOR: Elementary.</s>GUPTA: We'll go with elementary, not elementary, which will be a totally different book.</s>ROACH: You can say it however you want?</s>GUPTA: How did you decide on this topic?</s>ROACH: OK, I'm going to tell you this. I was talking with a reader who happened to be a gastroenterologist. We were talking about the whole, you know, digestive tract, and it's pretty interesting thing. And he says -- he goes, think of it. Nobody appreciates their digestive tract. It could be human anus, this is a rim of muscle, the nerve that can discriminate between solid, liquid, and gas and selectively decide what to let go. And it's like -- he goes -- anyway, he was like no one appreciates their parts, Ok? It's pretty miraculous.</s>GUPTA: So, you appreciate -- maybe no one talked about it.</s>ROACH: Lonely anus.</s>GUPTA: Lonely anus. You said people like what they eat rather than eat what they like. What does that mean?</s>ROACH: That has to do with the fact that we talk about if someone's a picky eater and trying to change people's eating habits. One of the things you can do is just -- if you get somebody to just eat it a few times, they'll say they like it. There's a study about women in this -- women's college who, they ask them do you like evaporated milk? And only 15 percent said they liked it. They fed it to them 16 times and they asked them, do you like evaporated milk? Now 51 percent said, yes, I do. So whatever is in front of you, if you eat it enough, you tend to like it. So, if you can get somebody to try something --</s>GUPTA: I mean, culturally foods are so different as well. So I guess that would explain in part why some foods are so palatable in certain cultures even at a young age versus other cultures.</s>ROACH: Sure. Whatever -- well, up until the age of about two, you can get kids to try almost anything. There was a psychologist Paul Rizen (ph) who did this wonderful study where he presented babies with a number of very off putting things like a cracker with ketchup, or fish eggs. And one was fake dog doo. And up through the age of two years, you could get the kids to try pretty much everything. The dog doo, it was 55 percent, it wasn't real, it was made of peanut butter, the smell came from Lindenberger cheese and they made this whole concoction. But the kids were like yes, I'll try that.</s>GUPTA: You know, this comes up and people always ask me this. I'll get your take on it. But the stomach itself, you have all this digestive acid, hydrochloric acid, why doesn't it digest itself?</s>ROACH: My understanding is in fact it does, but it also is very good at rebuilding its own lining. So, you essentially have a new lining every three days or so because you're -- yes --</s>GUPTA: Sloughing off.</s>ROACH: Yes. Because the acid does do its job even on your own stomach, because you would think you can eat tripe and you eat other stomach and digest it, why don't you digest your own?</s>GUPTA: Did your diet change while writing this book or afterward?</s>ROACH: You have fewer -- I'm careful with hot dogs.</s>GUPTA: I really enjoy you and I enjoy your books very much. I'm honored that you would join us.</s>ROACH: Oh, thank you so much. A pleasure to be here. Thank you.</s>GUPTA: "Gulp". Thank you. And coming up, it is Final Four weekend, one of my favorite weekends. I'm going to show you exactly how surgeons repaired the pretty shocking broken leg of Louisville basketball guard Kevin Ware. Stay with us.