That Happened!

New York - Men are better at suppressing their hunger than women, according to a new study.

Scientists at the Brookhaven National Laboratory asked male and female volunteers to resist hunger when presented with their favorite foods

The study consisted of 23 non-obese men and women.

Participants were asked to fast for 17 hours prior to the experiment.  They were then directed to either focus on a favorite food or practice a technique called cognitive inhibition to suppress thoughts of eating and hunger.

When researchers asked the subject to focus on food, brain scans showed that hunger and desire for food increased at similar rates in both men and women.

But when subjects practiced cognitive inhibition, the differences were apparent. While the technique suppressed hunger in both genders, the technique significantly lowered the desire for food only in men.

Researchers suggest that the rate of obesity is slightly lower in men - this new study may offer some evidence why.

“Our findings of a lack of response to inhibition in women are consistent with behavioural studies showing significantly higher scores in disinhibition (tendency to overeat in response to food stimuli when presented with palatable food or under emotional distress) in women than in men,” the authors wrote. “The decreased inhibitory control in women could underlie their lower success in losing weight while dieting when compared with men.”

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.