It’s Sunday…game day. He and his boys are all crammed into the living room. Their eyes fixated on the blaring television. Screams and wails echo into the kitchen. “Hey, honey! The food!” Oh, right! That succulent beef that has been slow-simmered in a spicy broth flavored with smoky chipotle chiles and a tangy lime juice, that I’ve been slaving away at all morning is ready to be served to a room full of hungry carnivores, no better yet, I’m about to enter a scene from “Braveheart” – the room full of salivating men, drool dripping off of their tongues, speaking in gibberish, a vague rhetoric that is understood only by the male species. “Ugh”, I think to myself. “How is it that men can eat greasy chips, buffalo chicken wings, and a 6-pack of Bud heavies and still have the physique of a Greek god? While we women, have to suffer by cutting calories to live up to unattainable social constructs ?” Meanwhile, the aroma lingers in the air, following me into the kitchen. My cravings are haunting me, my stomach is livid – it’s screaming for just one itty-bitty bite, taunting me for just one sweet savory second of bliss. “Step away from the food! Tory, stop, no, don’t do it! Walk away. Just don’t think about it, stop thinking about it!”

According to Glamour and Time magazine the key to dieting and curbing our cravings is to think like a man. Well, kind of. Research conducted by Dr. Gene-Jack Wang at Brookhaven National Laboratory suggests that, in fact, our brains are playing a crucial role in our sensations of hunger.

Wang assessed the brain circuits involved in voluntary inhibition of hunger during food stimulation in both fasted men and women. He discovered that women have more difficulty suppressing their hunger, whereas men were better able to stop thinking about food and suppress their cravings. His findings suggest that these sexually dimorphic behaviors may be due to the inhibition to control the amygdala, a mechanism by which cognitive inhibition decreases the desire for food.

Access the full-empirical article here.

Also, take a look at the magazine articles: Glamour & Time.