Alcohol belts of Europe
Pictured above, a map roughly depicting the “alcohol belts” Europe needs no key. The colors represent the dominance of wine, beer, and distilled spirits, respectively.
[link via Strange Maps]
Forget the supposed aphrodisiac qualities of garlic, Dana E. Amiraian and Jeffery Sobal of Cornell’s Division of Nutritional Sciences wanted to find out what kinds of foods people actually eat on dates. They published their findings in the journal, Appetite.
To look for answers, the researchers distributed questionnaires to students in an introductory biology class. Participating students answered the following questions: “Name three foods that are dating foods,” “Name three foods that are not dating foods,” “What makes a food a dating food?” and “What makes a food not a dating food?” 198 women and 103 men responded.
The most interesting results were gender variations in the answers to the last two questions. First off, women seemed to be more concerned with neat eating; they were more likely than men to indicate that messiness was undesirable in dating foods. For instance, 30% of the women and 20% of the men listed messiness as something that makes a food not a dating food. Also, more women than men thought that foods were not dating foods if they were “quick, easy, and cheap.” In contrast, more men than women believed that dating foods should be romantic or have aphrodisiac qualities. Men also appeared more negative about unhealthy or filling foods. Overall, foods that got stuck in teeth, were associated with sickness or discomfort, or caused bad breath, were also not considered good dating food choices.
For a clue as to what foods people listed as appropriate for dates, check out the following graphs:
Dating Foods by Gender
Not Dating Foods by Gender
Unfortunately, some of categories pictured above can be misleading, since they’re broad enough to overshadow specific responses that might be important. For example, for dating foods, alcoholic drinks accounted for about 61% of beverages, and sushi represented over a third of ethnic food responses. Strawberries were a particularly common response in the fruit category. For not dating foods, steak and fries were common responses in the meat and snack food categories, respectively. Also, nearly half of ethnic food no-no’s were Mexican food. However, if you’re not so crazy about spending time with your date, but you love good food, I say opt for something with beans, cheese, and chilies.
The researchers also point out some other limitations of the study. For one, they neglected to ask questions about cultural identity, which should influence eating patterns. Also, they mention that college students may not be representative of the population as a whole. I know that college students are the easiest population to access on a university campus, but interviewing upper level courses might have improved this situation a bit. Most of the students in the introductory biology class were freshmen who probably hadn’t had many adult dating experiences. Their early date dinners might consist totally of pizza at 10pm…whoops, or was that just me?
So what should you eat on a date? In this study, participant responses varied widely, and many types of foods were well represented in both the dating and non-dating food categories. So, if you have plans for a romantic dinner any time soon, perhaps the best option is to go for foods both parties enjoy. Well, as long as they’re not too messy…and don’t have too much garlic.
Amiraian, D., & Sobal, J. (2009). Dating and eating. Beliefs about dating foods among university students Appetite, 53 (2), 226-232 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2009.06.012
