Have you ever noticed men seem to eat faster?
Every sitcom seems to joke about how quickly men eat. Two characters will be on a date, or sitting down to a normal dinner, and before the woman can even slice into her food the man is finished. But is there any truth to this pervasive myth? Some enterprising researchers set up an experiment to find out.
So let’s get right to the results.
It turns out that men really do eat faster than women. In a recent study done by Semyung University in South Korea, men and women were asked to eat a simple bowl of plain white rice. The researchers hooked electrodes to the participants’ jaws to measure everyone’s chewing patterns, and they also timed the individuals as they ate. What they found was surprising. Men tend to take larger bites and chew with more power. This means that they get through a meal faster than women, who tend to take smaller bites and chew with less power. They also found that women generally chew each bite more times, another factor that causes them to take longer eating.
What about different personality types, was there any difference in their eating?
The researchers also broke the participants down by their personality types, dividing them into two basic groups of type A and type B. They found that different personality types also eat in different ways. Type A individuals treated the meal more as a way to refuel their bodies. They ate at a faster rate than type B participants, and did not appear to enjoy the meal as much. (I get that though, how much can you really enjoy plain white rice?). Type B personalities approached the meal as something to be enjoyed, and overall they took a longer time eating it.
So who has a healthier eating style?
Nobody, really. There is not real difference in the amount of nutrients received by the different chewing styles. There is as basic bottom threshold that should be met when chewing, and so as long as you are meeting that minimum threshold you are good. Our body is very good at naturally telling when our food is ready to be swallowed, and as long as you are not swallowing lumps to food, you digestive system should be able to get all the nutrients it needs.
What happens if you chew more?
There are a few diets that theorize that if you chew each bite around 50 times (food is normally chewed fewer than 14 times per bite) you will trick your body into thinking you have eaten more than you have and feel full sooner. They also believe that this extra chewing will make it easier for your body to digest your food. The first assertion may have some truth to it because of the way your stomach and brain communicate. When you start chewing, enzymes are released in your stomach and mouth that eventually lead to your body thinking it is full, and the length these enzymes are out there is one factor in fullness. The second assertion that extra chewing will lead to more nutrients may technically be true, but the added nutrients would be so minimal as to be negligible. This practice would help you build up stronger jaw muscles though, so if that is something you want this is the diet for you.
Dr. Mike Malone and his team practice expert cosmetic dentistry in Lafayette, LA. Dr. Malone is the former president and current accredited member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is also the official Cosmetic Dentist of the Miss Louisiana USA and Miss Louisiana Teen USA pageants. Check out his website for more information.