Men aren’t from Mars. Women aren’t from Venus. This is the truth that we know about the two genders today.
But does it mean that there are no differences between men and women?
Of course not. The differences between men and women are real and important, but this does not mean that one sex is somehow better than the other. You can use those differences to personalize your health decisions and understand how your body works and the chemicals reactions that affect each sex’s behavior.
Let’s talk similarities before jumping into what makes men and women different?
First of all, genetically, men and women DNA is 98.5% identical. The obvious difference is in the physique.
Men typically have thicker skin by about 25% than women. This is illustrated that the reason men are less sensitive to cold temperatures than women.
Men also have higher densities of the protein collagen; they have stronger bones, tendons, and ligaments than women.
Men typically have more muscle mass than women, however, those skeletal muscles are faster and more powerful, unlike the women’s muscles that readily resist fatigue and are faster to recover.
This truth clarifies why women can do more than one task at the same time and exert more effort, but their fatigue is slower than men.
However, the muscles burn more than double the calories fat does. So, the daily calorie requirement for men is higher than women because of higher muscle mass, stature, and basal metabolic rate.
For burning fats, men and women carry different amounts of body fat. The body fat in women is about 10% higher than men. This mostly supports her reproductive physiology. When a woman’s body fat gets too low, she stops menstruating.
On to red blood cells, men normally have more than women. However, a study found that men have lower resting heart rates than women. It rises faster during exercise and slows quicker afterward.
Typically, women need more iron than men from ages around 14 – 51 due to their loss of blood during menstruation.
Furthermore, Folate is an essential vitamin for both men and women; however pregnant women need it more to support the neural development of their babies.
For Zinc, both sexes store Zinc in their bones, but men also store the essential mineral in their prostate.
The funniest difference is in the shape of our hands. The second-longest finger in most women is next to their thumb, the index finger. But men are the opposite. Their ring fingers, next to their pinkie finger, are longer than their index fingers.
Another study reveals the sexual nature of a woman’s hand shape. It found that women hands that resemble a man’s hands, where the ring and index fingers are of different sizes, are more likely to be homosexuals.
Regarding the differences in brain functions, the brain structure and functions for both males and females are different. How do they process information, and interact with chemical signals?
For instance, women have bigger memory centers than men.
After age 30, men’s testosterone levels drop every year by about 1% and a women’s estrogen hormones levels drop after menopause.
Most men don’t like to go to doctors or do check-ups. When they visit doctors, they are more likely to hide their symptoms, unlike women who are vocal about their physical or mental symptoms.
To conclude, the illustrations of the differences between females and males do not mean that one sex is better than the other. Instead, it helps us to discover the physiological, biological functions, and nutritional differences to understand our health needs very well.
Published in: blakINwite