Women Process Carbohydrates Differently Than Men

New research suggests there are differences in how men and women process both carbohydrates and fats; especially when it comes to levels of blood cholesterol. While most gender studies show that the overall nutritional needs of men and women are very similar, there are some slight differences. New research from the Nutrition Department of Tufts University has shown that a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol is better for men than women. For example when a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet was given to a group of middle aged men and women the men had a much larger drop in the LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides (the fat that travels in the blood). A second study looked at a high carbohydrate diet and its effects on blood triglycerides. Most research shows that a high carbohydrate diet will raise blood triglycerides, but the new research shows that the effect is actually much larger in women than men. While many men will not see an effect in their blood triglycerides, most women will. Researchers are still trying to figure out exactly why it is that women and men have slightly different responses to these dietary changes. A likely candidate is the affect of estrogen on important metabolic organs such as the liver and possibly muscle tissue. While most research (including the two studies referenced above) included pre-menopausal women, more research needs to be done on women after menopause to look at the effects of no estrogen in women. According to Dr. Zinta Zarins, exercise physiologist, the work they have done in post-menopausal women showed that women after menopause respond much more like men to exercise training and that this is associated with the loss of estrogen. However there is the complication, according to Dr. Zarins, of aging, as it is difficult as a researcher to separate in postmenopausal women and premenopausal women the metabolic differences because of the age difference. Most research is done on young college age individuals because researchers, usually on college or university campuses have easy access to large numbers of 20 to 30 year olds. Now that the National Institute of Health, the largest Federal Funding Agency has made a new institute on aging in particular, we will start to see more research done on the middle and later ages in the population, says Dr. Zarins.
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