February 6, 2019

I’m revisiting this question: Why are sweets more popular among women? Most Instagram accounts dedicated to sweets are run by women. In the Japanese TV series about sweets, “Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman,” the dessert shops are always filled with women. The theory I came up with and shared here before sounds ridiculous upon re-reading; so, I need to rethink.

On the Web, there are many theories floating around but none are conclusive. Some say it’s entirely cultural and nothing biological, but that does not sound right. They found that in some cultures, the difference is nonexistent, but I think it would be more reasonable to assume that those few exceptions are the results of cultural biases. That is, their cultures somehow discourage women from eating sweets resulting in the disappearance of the difference. They didn’t find any cultures where men consumed more sweets than women—If you know one, let me know; I want to go there.

The studies conducted on rats showed that female rats consumed significantly more sugar when given the opportunity. One of the explanations for this is that women need to store more calories to give birth, and sugar is an efficient way to do so.

Another theory is that women consume more sugar to compensate for their lower levels of serotonin, to feel happier. More women suffer from depression and anxiety. This also explains why “comfort foods” tend to be starchy and sugary.

The preparation for birth and lack of serotonin sound reasonable and plausible. It’s likely that the biological reason came first and the culture magnified the difference.

Instead of discouraging women from eating sweets, perhaps we should encourage men to eat more sweets. I’d like to see someone open a dessert shop for tough men. A place that looks sort of like Hogs & Heifers but serves only sweets like ice cream sundaes and cupcakes. The waitstaff should consist entirely of muscly men with beards, but the kitchen staff can be all women. The spoons should be shaped like shovels, and the ice cream bowls should be shaped like buckets. And, the posters of Chuck Norris everywhere.

#sweets #desserts #icecream #mango #mango #flushing #queenseats