为何男人狼吞虎咽而女人却细嚼慢咽？

Many a woman has watched in disbelief as their partner inhales their food minutes after sitting down to dinner.

许多女性看到自己的伴侣坐下几分钟便把饭菜统统吞下时都感到不可置信。

Now Korean researchers have discovered why: men and women actually chew differently.

如今，韩国研究人员发现了其中的原因：原来男性和女性咀嚼的方式不同。

Men take larger, more powerful bites - meaning they finish eating more quickly - while women chew each individual mouthful more times - taking longer to finish eating their meal.

男性每一口吃的更多，而且嚼得更有力，这意味着他们吃得会更快；而女性每一口咀嚼的次数更多，因此也就需要更长的时间才能把东西吃完。

The researchers recruited 24 male and 24 female undergraduates from the Semyung University in South Korea, where they are based.

来自韩国世明大学的研究人员从本校的本科生中招募了24名男性和24名女性作为研究对象。

In order to analyze each individual’s chewing pattern, they hooked electrodes up to their jaws and fed them 152g of boiled white rice.

为了分析每位研究对象的咀嚼方式，研究人员把电极挂在受试者的下颌，并让他们每个人都吃下152克的白米饭。

They documented the size of people’s bites, total chewing time per mouthful of food, total number of chews and how long it took the person to eat the entire meal.

他们记录下了受试者每一口的食量大小、每一口饭咀嚼的时间总长、咀嚼的总次数和吃完整顿饭所要花的时间。

There was a large variation between men and women on every parameter, they found.

他们发现每一个参数上男女差异都很大。

Men typically take larger bites with more ‘chewing power’, which means they consume their meal more quickly than women.

男性通常每一口吃得更多，嚼得也更有力，所以他们吃饭吃得更快。

Though women were found to have the same chewing pace as men, they chewed each mouthful more times, slowing down the total time it took them to eat their meal.

尽管女性咀嚼的速度和男性一样，但是女性每一口饭的咀嚼次数更多，所以她们吃饭就吃得更慢。

The study was published in the January issue of the Physiology and Behaviour journal.

这项研究刊登在一月份的《生理学与行为》期刊上。

It flies in the face of an earlier study, by researchers at Nippon Dental University in Tokyo, Japan, which found no difference in how the sexes chewed gum.

这项研究公然挑战了之前来自东京的日本牙科大学研究人员得出的结论，后者发现男女咀嚼口香糖的方式并无不同。

Cary Cooper, professor of organizational psychology and health at Lancaster University said there was not only a difference in how the sexes chew, but between different types of people.

兰卡斯特大学组织心理学与健康学教授卡里亚•库伯称，不仅男女之间，而且不同类型的人之间也存在食物咀嚼方式的差异。

People with ‘type A’ personalities - typically fast moving, impatient and ambitious people - tend to eat quickly.

A型性格的人一般行动迅速、没有耐心而且雄心勃勃，吃饭也吃得比较快。

Conversely, ‘type B’ characters - who are generally more laid back, considered and approach things at a slower pace - will relish their mealtimes.

相反地，B型性格的人普遍更加随和、深思熟虑、行事缓慢，吃饭也就细嚼慢咽。

His observation comes after actress and model Gwyneth Paltrow, revealed during her 20s she followed a macrobiotic diet, during which chewed her food at least 50 times per swallow.

库伯得出这样的观察之前，演员、模特格温妮丝•帕特洛曾透露在她20-30岁之间，她一度坚持过长寿饮食，期间她每吃一口食物至少会咀嚼50次。

This was thought to aid digestion, and means the stomach sends signals to the brain indicating it is satisfied, making a person feel fuller sooner, and eat less calories overall.

这种方法被认为有助于消化，会让胃向大脑发出表示满足的信号，这样人就更容易感到饱，摄入的卡路里也就更少。

On average, it is said we chew 800 to 1,400 times a day.

平均来说，我们每个人据称每天需要咀嚼800到1400次。

But Dr Nick Read, chief medical adviser for charity The IBS Network, said a change in our diet means we don't need to chew as often as in the past.

但是慈善机构The IBS Network首席医学顾问尼克•里德博士却表示，饮食的变化意味着我们不必再像从前一样吃东西嚼那么多次了。

He said: ‘The Victorians thought you needed to chew food 14 times but we generally wait until it feels right and then swallow - it’s intuitive.’

他说：“维多利亚时期的人认为一口食物得嚼14次才行，但我们现在只要嚼到自己觉得可以了便将食物吞下，这是一种本能。”

But because our diet has become softer, thanks to all that processed food, we now don’t need to chew for so long.

但多亏了加工食品的出现，我们的食物变得更软了，因此我们吃东西也不必再嚼那么长时间了。

However, raw fruit and vegetables, and meat, demand more chewing.

然而，新鲜水果、蔬菜和肉类需要更多的咀嚼。

Dr Read said: ‘If you don’t, lumps of food will pass through your digestive system and not be completely absorbed.'

里德博士说：“如果嚼得不够的话，成块的食物便会直接通过你的消化系统，从而不能被身体完全吸收。”

Vocabulary

wolf down: 狼吞虎咽

inhale: 吸入

variation: 变化

parameter: 参数

laid-back: 安详的