# Zombie diets in the modern day. Do they really crave brain?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-diets-in-the-modern-day-do-they-really-crave-brain/601003
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 27, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-diets-in-the-modern-day-do-they-really-crave-brain/601003 "2011-10-27T20:39:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-diets-in-the-modern-day-do-they-really-crave-brain/601003/1 "2011-10-27T20:39:02Z")
I mentioned something about zombies and brains to my girlfriend recently, but she wasn’t aware of the connection (she is foreign-born and did not grow up with U.S. culture around her, except what comes through in TV/movies that go to foreign markets). She has seen a fair number of zombie movies, but in every zombie movie that she or I can think of, the zombies are perfectly content to nosh out on any and every part of the human body. I’m no zombie movie aficionado, but I couldn’t think of a single example from film or TV where zombies demonstrably preferred the brain to generic human flesh.
So, where did this wide-spread belief that “zombies love braiiiiiiins” come from originally? Are there any _modern_ examples (i.e. TV, movies, or literature from the last 10-15 years) of zombies that actually love brains? Are the modern, holistic zombie diets we are seeing simply a result of advancements in zombie nutritional science?
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-diets-in-the-modern-day-do-they-really-crave-brain/601003/2 "2011-10-27T20:43:55Z")
Brains are too high in cholesterol. You can’t be a fast zombie if your arteries are all clogged, now can you?
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-diets-in-the-modern-day-do-they-really-crave-brain/601003/3 "2011-10-27T20:51:25Z")
The “zombies eat brains” meme seems to have originated in the _Return of the Living Dead_ franchise of zombie movies, and mostly only appears there. In those movies, the zombies were intelligent enough to speak, and communicating with them revealed that being an animated corpse was, apparently, incredibly painful, and only consuming human brains could reduce the agony.
The Return movies diverged from traditional zombie mythos in that the zombies were effectively indestructible - even blowing their brains out wouldn’t stop them, and their severed body parts would still animate and attack. Only total immolation would destroy them.
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-diets-in-the-modern-day-do-they-really-crave-brain/601003/4 "2011-10-27T20:58:56Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> Brains are too high in cholesterol. You can’t be a fast zombie if your arteries are all clogged, now can you?
This is a good point. Most of the zombies I see are in great shape - not too many fat zombies out there.
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### Author:  [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-diets-in-the-modern-day-do-they-really-crave-brain/601003/5 "2011-10-27T21:08:25Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> The “zombies eat brains” meme seems to have originated in the _Return of the Living Dead_ franchise of zombie movies, and mostly only appears there. In those movies, the zombies were intelligent enough to speak, and communicating with them revealed that being an animated corpse was, apparently, incredibly painful, and only consuming human brains could reduce the agony.
On a related note, wasn’t the reason given for why only human brains could reduce the pain of being living dead due to the endorphins in them? Or is that another movie?
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-diets-in-the-modern-day-do-they-really-crave-brain/601003/6 "2011-10-27T21:18:18Z")
> [@NDP](#):
>
> On a related note, wasn’t the reason given for why only human brains could reduce the pain of being living dead due to the endorphins in them? Or is that another movie?
Could be. I haven’t seen any of those films in at least ten years.
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### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-diets-in-the-modern-day-do-they-really-crave-brain/601003/7 "2011-10-27T22:02:38Z")
> [@NDP](#):
>
> On a related note, wasn’t the reason given for why only human brains could reduce the pain of being living dead due to the endorphins in them? Or is that another movie?
If that is the case, shouldn’t simply morphine do the trick? :dubious: Of course, it could be that brains are more easily obtained…
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-diets-in-the-modern-day-do-they-really-crave-brain/601003/8 "2011-10-28T01:30:38Z")
> [@NDP](#):
>
> On a related note, wasn’t the reason given for why only human brains could reduce the pain of being living dead due to the endorphins in them? Or is that another movie?
Yes, the it was even confirmed that they craved endorphins specifically in **Return of the Living Dead 3**. The RotLD films are the only zombie movies that have zombies craving brains only as opposed to human flesh in general. Having the zombies only eat brains was a deliberate choice by Dan O’Bannon to cut down on the gore and ensure an R rating.
It’s not that Romero-style or Solanum-zombies wouldn’t eat brain matter given the chance; it’s just that they won’t bother (or aren’t capable of) cracking open their victim’s skull when there’s so much other human flesh, unprotected and easier to bite.
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### Author:  [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-diets-in-the-modern-day-do-they-really-crave-brain/601003/9 "2011-10-28T01:39:44Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> The “zombies eat brains” meme seems to have originated in the _Return of the Living Dead_ franchise of zombie movies, and mostly only appears there. In those movies, the zombies were intelligent enough to speak, and communicating with them revealed that being an animated corpse was, apparently, incredibly painful, and only consuming human brains could reduce the agony.
Actually, no. Being DEAD was what was painful, i remember this clearly because the idea that death meant eternal pain was the scariest thing i had ever heard at that age.