“If you are what you eat, then zombies should be a lot smarter”

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), in the book Physiologie du Gout (1825), wrote “Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are,” often interpreted as “you are what you eat.” This was figurative and not meant literally; one does not become an apple or a donut or a “skinny person” by eating such things. 
 
Zombies eat human brains, and there have been several jocular questions. “Coworker asked ‘If you are what you eat are zombies people?’” was posted on Twitter on May 15, 2009. “If you are what you eat… wouldn’t zombies be the true humans?” was posted on Twitter on August 16, 2012. “If you are what you eat, then zombies are humans” was posted on Reddit—Shower Thoughts on October 27, 2017.
   
“If you are what you eat, why aren’t zombies smart?” was posted on Twitter on September 26, 2009. “If ‘you are what you eat’ is true, then zombies should be a lot smarter” was posted on Twitter on October 26, 2009.
   
           
Wikipedia: Zombie 
A zombie (Haitian French: zombi, Haitian Creole: zonbi) is a fictional undead being created through the reanimation of a human corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, where a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magic. Modern depictions of zombies do not necessarily involve magic but often invoke science fictional methods such as carriers, radiation, mental diseases, vectors, viruses, scientific accidents, etc.
 
Wikiquote: Food
Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es. Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are.
. Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Physiologie du Gout (1825); tr. M. F. K. Fisher, The Physiology of Taste: Or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy (1949)
. Variants:
..Der Mensch ist, was er ißt. Man is what he eats.
..Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach, Die Naturwißensschaft und die Revolution [Natural science and the revolution] (1850), repeated in Das Geheimnis des Opfers, ober der Mensch ist was er ißt [The mystery of sacrifice, or man is what he eats] (1862)
..You are what you eat.
..Victor Lindlahr, You Are What You Eat: how to win and keep health with diet (1942)
         
Twitter
John Smith‏
@WaitingForZed
Coworker asked"If you are what you eat are zombies people?“Unamused I asked if he had a big bowl of DUMBASS for breakfast.Now HE’S unamused.
7:33 AM - 15 May 2009
 
Twitter
Angela Berg‏
@angelaberg
if you are what you eat, why aren’t zombies smart?
8:58 AM - 26 Sep 2009
 
Twitter
Josh Hepler‏
@hepleronline
If “you are what you eat” is true, then zombies should be a lot smarter.
1:28 PM - 26 Oct 2009
 
Twitter
Dr. Doug Martin, PhD‏
@douglasmartin
Good question… RT: @lukesurl: If “You Are What You Eat”, why are zombies so stupid?
2:55 PM - 30 Nov 2009
 
Twitter
erin emerson‏
@gorgon312
if “you are what you eat”, why are zombies stupid?
11:18 PM - 2 Feb 2010
 
Twitter
寒似蘭度‏
@SammNeiland
So if you are what you eat, I should be pasta, birds should be worms, and zombies should be human
8:17 PM - 19 May 2010
 
Twitter
gamboot‏
@gamboot
if you are what you eat then why are zombies not brainy?
12:16 AM - 13 Aug 2010
   
Twitter
Travis Dee‏
@Travis_Dee
why are zombies dumb - if you are what you eat, shouldn’t zombies be geniuses because they eat brains
11:26 PM - 31 Oct 2010
 
Twitter
Quazie‏
@Quazie
The philosophical musings of my brother: If you are what you eat, aren’t zombies the only ones who are truly alive? #fb
12:21 PM - 10 Nov 2010
 
Twitter
Ax, Seb, Steve ❤️ ❤️‏
@jb89nick
If you are what you eat… wouldn’t zombies be the true humans?
9:35 AM - 16 Aug 2012
 
Twitter
Byrein‏
@byreinmucia
if you are what you eat, are zombies the only REAL people?
1:34 PM - 15 Apr 2015
 
Twitter
Matt Thul‏
@matt_thul
If you are what you eat, wouldn’t that make zombies humans? In that case aren’t we all just zombies?
7:50 PM - 15 Feb 2016 from Algona, IA
 
Reddit—Shower Thoughts
If you are what you eat, then zombies are humans.
submitted October 27, 2017 by BabaJim