A matter of taste
Chocolate Coffee Pie by jessicafmAccording to a 1997 review by Drewnowski, foods high in sugars and fat are universally appealing to humans. Blogger Wendy Maynard, "The Marketing Maven," expresses the widely held opinion that women have a different relationship to chocolate than men do. Maynard goes on to express surprise that the major chocolate companies are not marketing specifically to women. Do women really respond differently to chocolate than men do? Smeets et al (2006) found sex differences in chocolate satiety in the hypothalamus, ventral striatum, and medial prefrontal cortex using fMRI.
Grogan et al (1997) surveyed 129 men and women about their attitudes towards sweet snacks. Interestingly, they found that women's behavior was predicted not only by their attitude towards the snacks, but also by social pressure to eat them. Men's behavior was predicted only by their attitude toward the snacks. Grunberg and Straub (1992) found that women under stress ate more sweet and bland (as opposed to salty) food under stress conditions than they did under control conditions.
I was in neuropsychology class yesterday and we were talking about how the hypothalamus responds to things put in the mouth. One of the other students inquired if this might have something to do with the way women respond to chocolate. The professor pointed out that chocolate is psychoactive on its own merits, but admitted there might be other cravings related to chocolate. It got me thinking about the stereotype of women and chocolate, and how "manly" snacks tended to be salty, whereas women were often pictured indulging in sweets. I've always had something of a sweet tooth as well as salty cravings, but my dietary habits are too variable to draw any connections to my transition.