Why Men Are Better Dieters Than Women

Posted by Miss Cellania in Science & Tech on January 21, 2009 at 9:39 am


We know that men have an easier time losing weight than women do. Why this is so is the subject of a recent study. Nuclear-medicine specialist Dr. Gene-Jack Wang of the Brookhaven National Laboratory conducted a rather sadistic experiment using 23 male and female volunteers. First, they fasted for 17 hours. Then they were presented with a large amount of their favorite food and told to think about something else to reduce their cravings. Meanwhile, they had been injected with a dye and scanned to see what areas of the brain were most active.

When the scans were studied and the results were tallied, it appeared that both sexes were actually able to lower the overall sensation of hunger. In most people, the brain may grow partially habituated to an empty belly over time, and all of Wang’s volunteers did a good job of hastening that desensitization. What the men could do that the women couldn’t was quit ruminating on food, successfully suppressing — if only temporarily — the conscious desire to eat. The women continued experiencing emotional cravings even if their hunger had subsided.

Wang suspects hormone may play a part in the difference. Link -Thanks, Freshome!

(image credit: Ansgar/zefa/Corbis)


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COMMENT

13 comments to "Why Men Are Better Dieters Than Women"

  1. drukus
    January 21st, 2009 at 9:53 am

    The men were likely focusing on the women in order to get through the hunger.

  2. Evilbeagle
    January 21st, 2009 at 9:58 am

    I'm glad I have never really needed to diet because I have no willpower.

  3. Gauldar
    January 21st, 2009 at 10:45 am

    Oh, everyone knows what exactly what on the men's mind, as does Dr. Jack Wang!

  4. Barking Bud
    January 21st, 2009 at 10:49 am

    Recent 'stidy' huh... Well can't go wrong with that then LOL.

  5. Miss Cellania
    January 21st, 2009 at 11:16 am

    Sorry about that. Fixed.

  6. donna
    January 21st, 2009 at 1:50 pm

    But are men better dieters than women if they don't have women to look at?

  7. Gauldar
    January 21st, 2009 at 2:02 pm

    Donna,

    With the absenece of women, sports, monster trucks and video games, then problibly not. Maybe men are just better at distracting themselves, which causes a whole bunch of other problems.

  8. Barking Bud
    January 21st, 2009 at 2:06 pm

    FYI, I don't mínd the little grammar errors....no need to apologize. Just pointing the little buggers out ;-)

  9. just a guy
    January 21st, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    Well, many brain chemistry and psycholocial experts agree that women are more susceptable to emotional influence in their thinkging, so this study isn't that much of a suprise.

  10. ozoozol
    January 21st, 2009 at 8:52 pm

    Agree with Gaulder. Women are better multitaskers, which presumably means that even as they focus on other things and benefit from that alternate focus, part of their brains would still be keeping track of hunger.

  11. ted
    January 21st, 2009 at 9:24 pm

    Wow, a lot of defensive women at Neatorama.

    So it's not okay to say men are better at something, but it's okay to say women are?

    Was anybody surprised that a guy named Jack Wang would come up with results favouring men?

  12. Rocky Rook
    January 22nd, 2009 at 11:05 am

    This is not really suprising. The best way to diet is to fill your life with stuff that will take your mind off food. Also, don't eat the same delicious stuff all the time. Mixing up the tastes of food will keep your body from putting on the pounds.

  13. S
    January 23rd, 2009 at 5:13 pm

    Our culture bombards women with conflated notions of food and emotions well-being. You need merely look at how low-fat cookies are marketed to women to see how they may be influenced. It is by no means a matter of hormonal influence alone.


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