So, last week three of my friends and I were debating about who eats more between men and women. Though my opinion was women, they managed to convince me otherwise with facts. From that enlightening discussion, I was able to learn a few reasons as to why women are generally more furious than men are. They are as follows:
1. Higher Nutritional Requirements
Food is the main source of nutrients essential for life and health. Notably, women need more nutrients than men do, hence their higher demand for food than men’s. That is attributed to the different functions of or related to their reproductive system, including menstruation. During this blood discharge process, a woman tends to lose a lot of iron, which goes away with the blood. To avoid iron deficiency, she has to eat and eat with a major focus on iron-packed superfoods. Examples of such include chicken, spinach, watermelon, kidney beans, beet greens, scallops, and oatmeal.
What’s more, during pregnancy, a woman shares all the nutrients she derives from food with her unborn child. To avoid nutritional deficiency because of that, the mother of the unborn has got to eat more than normal.
Another reproductive-related factor that contributes to women’s extra love for food is lactation. During breastfeeding, a woman has got to subtract from her nutrient reserves in a process called “maternal depletion.” To avoid nutritional deficiency, again she needs to eat more food than normal.
Having said that, some nutrients that are crucial for breastfeeding mothers include calcium, folic acid, fiber, carbohydrates, protein, iron, iodine, and healthy fats. Good sources of these nutrients are dairy foods, broccoli, beans, whole grains, lean meats, liver, fish, and avocados, in that order.
However, women need fewer calories than men do because they have fewer muscles than their male counterparts do. Don’t forget that calories are crucial for the maintenance of muscles. And the more the muscles the more the calories needed to sustain those muscles.
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2. Big Appetite
It’s no secret that women’s appetite for food is higher than men’s. According to a study, nearly 90% of women battle with cravings for certain foods a couple of times a month. However, just a tiny percentage of men report a similar experience. And there are two plausible explanations for that.
First, women have higher levels of ghrelin and leptin hormones than men do. These hormones are associated with a process known as energy homeostasis, which triggers appetite as well as satiety sensations.
Second, women’s huge food cravings go back to many centuries ago. During those times, food was so scarce and hard to come by that if you got an opportunity to eat, you would want to consume food until you couldn’t.
Overeating provided a survival advantage to women who after all were the most affected population by famine. That was due to factors like menstruation, pregnancy, and breastfeeding.
Since you didn’t know where the next meal would come from, you needed to have an appetite high enough to eat more to cater to your current and next meal requirements as a woman. Women have inherited that from their predecessors hence their overeating tendencies.
3. Mental Wellness
Another factor that contributes to women’s overeating habit is mental health. It’s no secret that many women lack emotional and psychological well-being. This explains why common mental disorders such as stress, anxiety, and depression are more prevalent in women than in men.
According to the statistics from the World Health Organization, unipolar depression(a type of depression that is characterized by loss of interest in activities or a persistently depressed mood) is twice as common in women as it is in men. What’s more, the figures suggest that regular depression may be more persistent in the fairer sex than in the opposite sex, even though more research is still required to be sure about this.
Yet, mental disorders are well-known triggers for overeating habits. And since women are the biggest sufferers of these disorders, it’s not surprising that many of them eat more than men do.
4. Men Can Control Food Cravings Better than Women Can
Finally, women eat more than men due to their poor ability to control food cravings. Interestingly, men can control their appetite better than women can. This is evidenced by a mind-blowing study that was conducted in 2009 by the Brookhaven National Laboratory. And it may explain why the rates of eating disorders and obesity are higher in women than in men. Besides, it may also serve as a clue as to why women generally have more difficulty losing weight compared to men.
Final Thoughts
Food is sustenance, delight, as well as life, especially for women. According to a study, 25 percent of women think about food every 30 minutes. And it is well-known that women generally eat more than men do. That explains why weight gain is prevalent among members of the fairer sex.
It all boils down to variations in a couple of factors that affect men’s and women’s food intake capacities. These factors are namely; the nutritional requirements, appetite levels, mental health, and appetite control capabilities of each gender.
Taking the above factors into consideration, do you think it is safe to say that women eat food more than men do? And if not, why is that? Please feel free to share your thoughts with us below. With nothing more to add, good luck with that.
