A few weeks ago I added a blog post entitled, “Is Your Dining Companion a Bad Influence?” which addressed that fact that women often mimic female dining partners in regards to how much food we consume. Eating with someone who loves salads and stays away from the bad stuff will generally cause us to follow suit. Eating with someone who love everything from appetizers, main course, and dessert will cause us to (in general) eat more than we may normally eat. So why am I telling you all of this? Because I just came across a new small study that I found super interesting and I think you will too.
If you had to guess, would you say that men eat more when out with other men or when they are out with women? I guessed, men. I had images of large heaping plates of chicken wings washed down with buckets of beer. But according to Cornell University, I was wrong.
In their article, Men Eat More Food When Dining with Women, they state that men eat significantly more when they are with the ladies as the title suggests. Imagine that.
Researchers observed 105 adults over a 2 week period. The observations took place at an all you can eat Italian buffet. Researchers recorded how many pizza slices and how many bowls of salad were consumed and here are the findings in a nutshell:
Male diners, when eating with a female:
- Consumed over 90% more pizza
- Consumed over 85% more salad
Where do I start? 90% MORE pizza?!?!?! Oh my, that’s a lot of pizza. However, it seems like the men didn’t care if it was unhealthy food or healthy food since they also consumed a ton of salad. According to Kevin Kniffin, PhD, of Cornell University, the research supports the fact that men tend to overeat to actually show off or impress the women. The research also supports the fact that it is primarily males who participate in eating contests or take on a 96-ounce prime aged-beef steak like John Candy’s character did in The Great Outdoors.
There was another very interesting observation that came out of this research. As each of the 105 people were leaving the restaurant they were asked to take a short survey. The survey revealed that the women felt as if they overate when they were with a male companion and they also felt very rushed to finish their meal. Has that ever happened to you? I have many female friends who tell me that their husband eats so fast that they feel compelled to scarf down their food as well.
While we have little to no control over what our male dinner companion consumes and how quickly, we do have control over our eating habits. My recommendation is to plan ahead. Try eating a light bite before going out with someone who causes you to feel as if you are overeating and rushed. If it is an all you can eat buffet (like the one in this study), be sure to watch portion control and pace yourself. One way to use portion control is to use the salad size plates for all food instead of switching to the larger entrée plates. Also, determine ahead of time that you will visit the buffet once for salad and once for your main meal. That will be plenty of food to make you feel as if you’ve gotten your money’s worth.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this research and your suggestion on how you deal with eating with the man in your life. Pop on over to Facebook or leave a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you.