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

許多女性看到自己的伴侶坐下幾分鐘便把飯菜統(tǒng)統(tǒng)吞下時(shí)都感到不可置信。

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

如今，韓國(guó)研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了其中的原因：原來(lái)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，這意味著他們吃得會(huì)更快；而女性每一口咀嚼的次數(shù)更多，因此也就需要更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間才能把東西吃完。

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

來(lái)自韓國(guó)世明大學(xué)的研究人員從本校的本科生中招募了24名男性和24名女性作為研究對(duì)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.

為了分析每位研究對(duì)象的咀嚼方式，研究人員把電極掛在受試者的下頜，并讓他們每個(gè)人都吃下152克的白米飯。

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.

他們記錄下了受試者每一口的食量大小、每一口飯咀嚼的時(shí)間總長(zhǎng)、咀嚼的總次數(shù)和吃完整頓飯所要花的時(shí)間。

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

他們發(fā)現(xiàn)每一個(gè)參數(shù)上男女差異都很大。

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，所以他們吃飯吃得更快。

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.

盡管女性咀嚼的速度和男性一樣，但是女性每一口飯的咀嚼次數(shù)更多，所以她們吃飯就吃得更慢。

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

這項(xiàng)研究刊登在一月份的《生理學(xué)與行為》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.

這項(xiàng)研究公然挑戰(zhàn)了之前來(lái)自東京的日本牙科大學(xué)研究人員得出的結(jié)論，后者發(fā)現(xiàn)男女咀嚼口香糖的方式并無(wú)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.

蘭卡斯特大學(xué)組織心理學(xué)與健康學(xué)教授卡里亞?庫(kù)伯稱，不僅男女之間，而且不同類型的人之間也存在食物咀嚼方式的差異。

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

A型性格的人一般行動(dòng)迅速、沒(méi)有耐心而且雄心勃勃，吃飯也吃得比較快。

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隨和、深思熟慮、行事緩慢，吃飯也就細(xì)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.

庫(kù)伯得出這樣的觀察之前，演員、模特格溫妮絲?帕特洛曾透露在她20-30歲之間，她一度堅(jiān)持過(guò)長(zhǎng)壽飲食，期間她每吃一口食物至少會(huì)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.

這種方法被認(rèn)為有助于消化，會(huì)讓胃向大腦發(fā)出表示滿足的信號(hào)，這樣人就更容易感到飽，攝入的卡路里也就更少。

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

平均來(lái)說(shuō)，我們每個(gè)人據(jù)稱每天需要咀嚼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.

但是慈善機(jī)構(gòu)The IBS Network首席醫(yī)學(xué)顧問(wèn)尼克?里德博士卻表示，飲食的變化意味著我們不必再像從前一樣吃東西嚼那么多次了。

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.’

他說(shuō)：“維多利亞時(shí)期的人認(rèn)為一口食物得嚼14次才行，但我們現(xiàn)在只要嚼到自己覺(jué)得可以了便將食物吞下，這是一種本能?！?/p>

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

但多虧了加工食品的出現(xiàn)，我們的食物變得更軟了，因此我們吃東西也不必再嚼那么長(zhǎng)時(shí)間了。

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

然而，新鮮水果、蔬菜和肉類需要更多的咀嚼。

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

里德博士說(shuō)：“如果嚼得不夠的話，成塊的食物便會(huì)直接通過(guò)你的消化系統(tǒng)，從而不能被身體完全吸收。”

Vocabulary

wolf down: 狼吞虎咽

inhale: 吸入

variation: 變化

parameter: 參數(shù)

laid-back: 安詳?shù)?/p>

（譯者：實(shí)習(xí)生陳思迪 編輯：侯瑋萍）