We have all been there, haven’t we? Didn’t get that job we wanted, broke up with our other halves, the horrors after the hangover. And what has been our trusted solution? Take aways, more beer, chocolate and as much skittles as you can fit in your mouth.
Well, now scientific evidence has concluded that women may actually be programmed to overeat, which may make them biologically more vulnerable to eating disorders.
Scientists carried out tests on female lab rats and their male counterparts and discovered the females were more likely to gorge. The study is the first to examine the difference between sexes regarding binge eating, according to the Daily Mail.
Psychologist Professor Kelly Klump, of Michigan State University, said: ‘Most theories of why eating disorders are so much more prevalent in females than males focus on the increased cultural and psychological pressure that girls and women face.”
“But this study suggests biological factors likely contribute as well, since female rats do not experience the psychosocial pressures that humans do, such as pressures to be thin.”
Professor Klump and her researchers from Michigan State University ran a feeding experiment in the lab with 60 rats, half of them female, for two weeks. The scientists have concluded the evidence may suggest binge eating is associated with the brain’s natural reward system.
The study promises to have an impact on human eating disorders and this research may help with the treatment of these disorders, particularly female.
