Top nutrition experts highlight the different ways that men and women process food, and have recommended diet tweaks per your sex.
Dietitians in the UK have outlined intriguing science that shows men and women should ideally eat different quantities of favorites like steak, cheese and chocolate, for optimum hormonal and gut health.
‘Differences between the sexes and how nutrition affects them can vary by things like metabolism, sex hormones and body structures,’ UK-based registered dietitian Helen Bond said, in a new report.
For example, studies show women may be able to stomach larger amounts of steak and cheese – because the female sex hormone estrogen can blunt harmful effects of excess fat.
‘As we are finding out more I think it will help us to draw up dietary recommendations tailored to the needs of men and women’, said Bond.
MEN REALLY CAN OUT-DRINK WOMEN
Because of their body size and composition, men are able to digest alcohol quicker than women, which means it gets absorbed into the blood stream slower, resulting in a gradual path to drunkenness
Generally speaking, men can handle their drink better, scientist Emma Catterall told the Telegraph.
Men process alcohol more efficiently than women because they have a higher water percentage, compared to body fat, said Catterall, the head of research at the UK charity Drinkaware.
The more water in your system, the more dilute alcohol will be. What’s more, those with higher amounts of fat will not absorb as much booze – meaning it quickly enters the bloodstream.
She adds that because women are usually smaller than men, their bodies have fewer enzymes to break down the alcohol, which makes women absorb it into their bloodstream more quickly. The more alcohol there is the bloodstream, the drunker you will be.
Though both sexes are at risk for developing long term health affects – such as cancer, heart disease, liver disease, and mental health problems – the chances are higher for women, Catterall said.
She gave the example of liver disease: ‘The threshold for risk is much lower in women and they’re also more likely to have rapid development of the disease.’
Still, more men suffer from alcohol-related diseases than women, because they tend to drink more often and more heavily, according to the NIH.
With these differences in mind, the US National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention recommends that women drink no more than seven drinks per week, and men drink no more than 14 beverages per week.
…BUT WOMEN CAN ENJOY MORE COCA COLAS
Women have a lower risk of developing diabetes, almost across the board
They might have an edge when it comes to alcohol, but men can’t handle their sweet tooth as well as women can, studies suggest.
Research shows that men are more susceptible to developing diabetes on high-sugar diets.
Boys who drink sweet beverages are more likely to develop diabetes than girls who do, according to a long-term study of children in Massachusetts from Harvard.
Other lifestyle choices that may lead to diabetes, like a sedentary lifestyle, affect men more than they do women, University of Missouri researchers found.
Further, men are at an overall higher risk for developing diabetes than women, even when they intake the same amount of sugar and are a lower weight, Professor Roy Taylor, a diabetes expert from the University of Newcastle, told The Telegraph.
WOMEN CAN EAT LARGER AMOUNTS OF FAT
Red meat is high in fat, which men may feel more acutely than women
Women’s bodies are better able to cope with large amounts of fatty foods like steak and cheese, some studies suggest.
When male and female mice were given the same amount of high fat foods in a 2014 study, the female mice were better able to fend off harmful effects, according to Deborah Clegg, a clinical dietitian from Cedars-Sinai research institute, who led the study.
The male mice brains developed signs of inflammation in the brain – while the female animals did not.
A similar response has been shown in lab studies to occur in humans with chronic-high-fat diets.
In Clegg’s study, the female mice brains weren’t affected by the increased fat intake at all.
‘It is as if the brains of females had a chemical force field that kept the dangers of fats and sugars from harming them,’ she said.
Another 2018 study suggested that estrogen could have a protective effect on how the body processes fat.
Women might’ve developed this miraculous trick to protect themselves during pregnancy, study author Djurdjica Coss told Medical News Today.
In other words, it may be an evolutionary mechanism that helps women gain weight safely in pregnancy.
MEN GET GOODNESS FROM DARK CHOCOLATE
Dark chocolate’s cardiovascular benefits have mainly been demonstrated in men
Studies haven’t linked many health benefits to milk chocolate.
However dark chocolate – which is lower in sugar and thought to contain disease-fighting antioxidants – has been linked to a range of benefits. Although the strongest effect is seen in men.
Researchers say the polyphenols in dark chocolate can help the body form more nitric oxide, a compound that causes blood vessels to dilate and blood to flow more easil
Researchers from Aberdeen University determined this by measuring participants’ blood before and after eating dark chocolate (which contained at least 70 percent cocoa). They found fewer clumps in the blood of the men.
Blood clumping can be a major contributor to a whole host of cardiac problems- from heart attack to stroke.
Why men were more likely to get the blood-benefits from dark chocolate than woman is still unclear, study author Baukje de Roos said.
‘It’s a bit of a mystery why this is. It might be to do with hormones but it’s something we’re still trying to understand.’
PASTA COULD GIVE SOME WOMEN SLEEPLESS NIGHT
Refined carbohydrates might increase risk for insomnia in older women
Though you need carbohydrates in your diet – from bread, pasta or produce- consuming a diet too high in these products might have an effect on your health.
Specifically, research has delved into the effects of eating carbohydrate-heavy diets for women who’ve gone through menopause.
By studying 50,000 participants, researchers from Columbia University Medical Center found that processed foods increased the likelihood of women developing insomnia.
‘Whole fruits contain sugar, but the fiber in them slows the rate of absorption to help prevent spikes in blood sugar,’ James Gangwisc, one of the study’s authors, explained in a University press release.
‘This suggests that the dietary culprit triggering the women’s insomnia was the highly processed foods that contain larger amounts of refined sugars that aren’t found naturally in food,’ he said.
Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
