Do Men and Women Really Eat Differently - and WHY?

Men and women eat many of the same foods, but they bring a different set of taste perceptions, attitudes and eating styles to the table.

Some taste differences are inborn

Women have a more acute sense of smell than men and that translates into a more vivid experience of flavor. (Flavor is actually a combination of tastes - sweet, sour, bitter or salty sensations on the tongue - and a complex mixture of odors.)

A woman will experience a "good" smell as being better than a man will and a "bad" smell as worse; she may even detect some odors that men miss entirely, says Charles J. Wysocki, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. The differences are subtle but may explain why something you think tastes "funny," he thinks is fine.

But the genetics of taste account for only some of the male-female differences.

The mysterious effect of hormones
Women's appetites are influenced by their menstrual cycle. We eat less around the time of ovulation and more just before our period; cravings for sweets peak at that time, too. Less is known about the effect of male hormones on appetite, though men are thought to have a stronger overall preference for sweetness.

Cravings-not for women only
Both men and women have cravings. Women report more cravings than men do, but it's hard to tell if they have more cravings or are just more aware of them, says Marcia Levin Pelehat, Ph.D., an experimental psychologist.

Women tend to crave deserts while men more often yearn for savory foods. But high-fat foods, whether savory or sweet-pizza, nachos, chocolate, doughnuts-are prime choices for both sexes.

Feeding your self-image

When dining with same-sex friends, both men and women eat more - 40 to 50 percent more - than they would dining alone, says Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., the Guthrie Chair in nutrition at Pennsylvania State University. But in mixed company, women tend to eat less than they would if alone.

In a study conducted att he University of Toronto, women ate less with an attractive male companion than they did when they were with other women or a less attractive man. Men are slightly less in the company of women but didn't vary their intake according to the attractiveness of their companion.

In another University of Toronto study, women who reported eating smaller meals were rated as more feminine and more attractive by both women and men than women who ate larger meals. Did the size of a man's meal affect how he was perceived? No.

Patricia Pliner, Ph.D., professor of psychology, who coaunthored the studies, suggests that for women, eating lightly is a way of conveying femininity: "In our culture, that's considered appropriate sex-role behavior. It's a cultural norm, like standing up when they play the national anthem."

Others see it as less neutral. "To be perceived as feminine by having less (though not by doing less) is an across-the-board issue for women, from paychecks to power to weight." says Susan Zigouras, R.D., a psychotherapist and registered dietitian in New York City. "Why should you need to eat less to be OK?"

Subtle differences in the way boys and girls eat begin to emerge as early as age three, says Rolls. As they grow older, girls fall more under the influence of dieting and learn a "feminine" eating style.

Are men happier with their weight?
A male dieter is a relative rarity, but studies conducted by Adam Drewnowski, Ph.D., directorate of the human nutrition program at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, have found that a majority of young men are - like women - dissatisfied with their weight. Key difference: Men are almost evenly split between those who want to lose weight and those who want to gain in order to appear more muscular. And men are less likely than women to express their weight concerns at the table. When they want to lose, they rely on vigorous exercise, not cutting back on food.

What makes him overeat? And you?
Some studies suggest that men are most apt to overeat in social situations (a time when many women would eat less). Women eat more in response to stress: under stress, men drink alcohol, says Susan Schiffman, Ph.D., professor of medical psychology at Duke University Medical Center.


He eats more...
She eats more...They both love...
Barbecue potato chips
Snack cakes
Chocolate sandwich cookies
Pie
Corn chips
Tortila chips
Beef jerky
Bagged popcorn
Sausage pizza
Hot dogs
Chili
Turkey
Roast beef
Potpie
Meatballs
Nuts
Eggs
Beer
Yogurt
Dips
Candy
Fruit
Pretzels
Crackers
Cheese puffs
Toaster pastries
Macaroni and cheese
Taco salad
Grilled chicken sandwiches
Diet ice cream
Frozen yogurt
Dried fruit
Cinnamon rolls
Rice cakes
Low-fat cheese
Fat-free cookies
Diet soft drinks
Cream liqueurs
Wine
Wine coolers
Pizza
Cheeseburgers
Ravioli
Salmon
salsa
French fries
Ice cream
Doughnuts
Potato chips
Iced tea

Couples Versus Singles: Who's Better Off?


What's Better About Being in a Couple

1. Knowing that when you wear sexy lingerie, someone besides you will see it.
2. Talking after orgasm.
3. Full-time, in-house back-scratching and neck-rubbing services.
4. Sleeping with someone you trust enough to lose consciousness with.
5. Waking up with someone who wants to hear your dreams.
6. Dreaming big couple-type dreams: marriage, house, babies.

7. Halving your housework, your worries, your rent.
8. Doubling your friends, your CD collection, your income.
9. Arriving home and finding a hot meal waiting for you that wasn't left there by Big Bud's Pizza.
10. The security of knowing what you're going to be doing, and with whom, for as far ahead as you can see.
11. Party postmortems.
12. Watching his face turn joyful when the pregnancy test turns pink.
13. Not having to listen to your parents ask you for the 478th time when you're finally going to meet someone they can feel excited about.
14. Not having to ask
yourself when you're going to meet someone you can feel excited about.
15. Using him as your trusty bed warmer at the end of a really long day.
16. Turning your attention from men to more exciting things.


What's Better About being Single

1. Feeling like your life could be a trendy TV show.
2. Being the total master of your fate - from what you're going to eat for dinner to where you'll put your sofa to how you'll design the rest of your life.

3. Knowing there's someone who'll always listen when you want to talk, someone who's your ally in a cruel worlds: your best friend.
4. Remote- control control.
5. Making enormous changes in your life without feeling selfish or breaking anybody's heart.
6. Dreaming big single-type dreams: the hot job, the big bucks, the great romance.
7. Dressing for attention and relishing every ounce of it.
8. Not having any question about whose career comes first.
9. Sleeping in a flannel nightgown on flowered sheets with a cat, a dog and a pile of old magazine.
10.The thrill of feeling that anything could happen at anytime - and knowing that when it does, you'll be free to leap.
11. Flirting that's as hot as sex.
12. Sex without soul-searching.
13. Soul-searing sex.
14. Renting
Speed on a rainy afternoon and fast-forwarding past the terrorism to the kissing.
15. Having the privacy essential for meditating on such vital issues as who you are and what really makes you happy.
16. Turning your attention from men to more exciting things.