Why Do Women Love Sugar?

By Allison Ford, DivineCaroline

The truth about your sweet tooth. When my boyfriend returns from any overseas trip, he always knows exactly what kind of souvenir I want. Forget matryoshka dolls or designer shoes–I want chocolate. To be more specific, I want real English Cadbury chocolate. The idea of women’s loving sweets has become a cultural cliche reminiscent of an old Cathy comic strip, but I’ll confess to not being able to get enough of them. In my kitchen right now, you’ll find three boxes of Girl Scout cookies, brownies, caramel popcorn, and chocolate-covered almonds. (The two-pound bar of chocolate is on my desk at work.) I’ve also been known to eat ice cream for dinner on occasion.

Most men, on the other hand, claim that they’d rather snack on a bag of potato chips than a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. We might think of it as a worn-out trope, but it turns out that the stereotype of women’s loving candy has some basis in real life, because studies have begun to show that having a sweet tooth really is a girl thing.

An Estrogen Connection?
In 2004, a pair of psychologists at Florida State University studied rats that were fed either a standard diet or a sweetened version of the same food. The rats eating the sweetened food ate more calories than those eating the standard diet did, with the female rats eating the most. They consumed 35 percent more calories than the male rats, which ate only 10 to 15 percent more than usual. The researchers allowed some of the rats to exercise, and those rats did cut back on their calorie consumption, but the female rats cut back far less than the male rats did. This led the researchers to theorize that although both sexes have an innate preference for high-calorie, high-sugar foods, females’ preference is more pronounced.

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Read more: Diet & Nutrition, Eating for Health, Health

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Amira S.

7:43PM PST on Jan 10, 2012

Good info

send a green star

KayL N.

5:52PM PDT on Jul 14, 2010

I like sweets, but what this female craves is *salty*!

Gaby V.

12:57PM PDT on May 10, 2010

I would not immagine life without a chocolate candy bar

Ashtyn D.

10:43AM PDT on May 1, 2010

I absolutely love candy-my mom is the same way. But I have a brother and sister who, even as little kids, never really cared for candy or ate much of it.

Maureen L.

10:14PM PDT on Apr 18, 2010

I'm so happy to read that REAL Cadbury's chocolate is still available, even tho' it can no longer be found in supermarkets and drugstores here in the U.S. Now I'll have a good excuse to get my fix when I travel. Thanx.

Nellie K A.

5:23PM PDT on Apr 18, 2010

Sugar comforts and makes life sweeter sugar (La Vie En Rose). I think men love sugar too, have a sweet tooth too.

MsR S.

6:12PM PDT on Apr 14, 2010

Noted, thsnks.

Jewels S.

1:52PM PDT on Apr 14, 2010

I love chocolate. I thought it was the hypoglycemia but it is just because I am female! Doesn't change anything. I will still eat the same amount.

Tammy S.

4:56PM PDT on Apr 11, 2010

I don't care for anything sweet. I'm a potato chip aholic!