The Tribune

By TANITH CAREY

Eating together is one of the most bonding activities we do regularly with our partners. But if we’re in a heterosexual relationship, should we really be sharing all the same meals? While the foundations of a healthy diet are the same for everyone, a growing amount of research is finding that men and women don’t get the same benefits from the same foods.

Differences between the sexes in muscle mass, hormones, reproductive organs and metabolism affect our body’s ability to use nutrients.

EAT MORE TOMATOES, ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE A MAN

Tomatoes are a nutritional powerhouse for everyone, but they seem to offer even more benefits if you’re a man. For example, if you’re planning to become a father, the antioxidant lycopene, the pigment that gives tomatoes their rich red colour, has been found to improve sperm quality.

In one clinical trial, healthy men who took a daily supplement containing the equivalent of around two tablespoons of concentrated tomato purée made sperm that were more likely to swim well and showed fewer signs of DNA damage.

The benefits don’t stop there. As men age, lycopene seems to protect against cell damage and mutations, lowering the risk of prostate disease. This is when the prostate – a walnut-sized organ located below the bladder which produces seminal fluid – gets gradually bigger, making men want to go to the loo more as they age.

It also has a protective effect against prostate cancer, according to a 2016 review published in the journal Scientific Reports. The good news is you don’t have to eat tomatoes raw to get more of them into your diet. In fact, your body will absorb lycopene better from cooked or processed tomato products, like tomato purée, passata, soup and sauces.

Nutritionist Kirsty McNiven, co-founder of geno3.com, which helps people understand their own health patterns by combining genetics and lifestyle, says: “Cooking tomatoes can help break down the plant structure and make lycopene

more available for the body to absorb. Adding a healthy fat source, like olive oil, can also support absorption because lycopene is fat soluble.

“Simple options like cooked tomatoes, passata, tomato sauces or adding tomatoes into Mediterranean-style meals are also easy ways to include more.”

BEWARE INSTANT NOODLES, IF YOU’RE A WOMAN

They’re cheap, convenient, ready in minutes and all you have to do is add boiling water. But that bowl of ready-made noodles may be worse for your health if you’re female.

A 2014 study, published in the journal Nutrition, analysed the eating habits of almost 11,000 Korean adults aged 19 to 64. It found that women who ate instant noodles more than twice a week were much more likely to have metabolic syndrome.

This is a cluster of conditions that includes high blood sugar, rising cholesterol levels and added fat around the tummy. However, this rise in metabolic syndrome was not seen in men, even when they ate the same amount of noodles.

The researchers believe women’s hormones make them more sensitive to blood sugar fluctuations, which can be triggered by high-carb foods.

Other reasons could include the fact that fast food can contain preservatives which may disrupt women’s metabolisms more.

According to Hyun Shin, a cardiologist and nutrition epidemiologist who co-authored the study: “Although instant noodles are a convenient and delicious food, there could be an increased risk for metabolic syndrome, given the food’s high sodium content, unhealthy saturated fat and glycaemic load.”

DARK CHOCOLATE IS BETTER FOR MEN

Sharing a bar of dark chocolate with your partner? If you’re a man, you can argue that you deserve to have the last few squares because it’s better for you.

Dark chocolate, particularly the kinds that contain at least 70% cocoa solids, is rich in plant compounds called flavonoids, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

Researchers believe flavonoids increase the production of nitric oxide, a compound in our bloodstream that helps boost blood vessel flexibility and circulation. So if you’re a man who doesn’t overdo it and chooses brands that don’t have lots of added sugar and fat, it may even help reduce the risk of strokes. In one 2012 study by the University of Aberdeen, platelets – the cells in the blood that make it clot – were found to clump up less in men’s bodies after eating dark chocolate, compared to women.

According to Professor Baukje de Roos of the university’s Rowett Institute of Nutrition Health: “Although we found that dark chocolate is beneficial for both men and women, different mechanisms appear to be at work, and the effect we observed was larger in men.”

SAY NO TO ANOTHER GLASS, ESPECIALLY WOMAN

Sharing a bottle of wine over dinner? If you’re a woman, it may be wise to stop after a glass or two. One reason is that women produce far less alcohol dehydrogenase in their stomachs, a group of enzymes that help break down alcohol.

As a result, when a woman drinks alcohol, it enters her bloodstream more quickly.

Women also have a lower percentage of water in their bodies than men – on average around 50% compared with about 60% – because of differences in fat and muscle composition.

This means the same amount of alcohol is more concentrated in a woman’s blood and, over time, does more damage to the female liver, brain and cardiovascular systems. What’s more, alcohol is more damaging for women because it affects oestrogen levels and produces DNA-damaging chemicals.

This seems to affect women’s breast tissue more than men’s breast tissue, according to a 2025 meta-analysis presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Breast Cancer Congress.

Nutritionist Kevin Greene, from weight management company almased.co.uk, says: “My advice would be to treat alcohol guidelines as an upper limit rather than a target. Try to spread alcohol intake across the week, include alcohol-free days, avoid binge drinking and be mindful of portion sizes.”

IF YOU’RE A WOMAN, UP YOUR KALE AND LENTILS, BUT BEWARE OF TOO MUCH TEA

The NHS recommends getting 14.8mg of iron a day if you’re a woman aged 19 to 50 – almost twice the amount advised for men. That’s because during a typical period, women lose around 1mg of iron in their menstrual blood.

Iron is vital for making haemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body.

Without enough, you can feel tired, weak and short of breath.

To replace this loss, women are encouraged to eat plenty of iron-rich foods, including beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, oily fish and green leafy vegetables like kale.

But there is one surprising catch: your cup of tea could be getting in the way.

Tea contains natural plant compounds called tannins, which can bind to iron, particularly when you’re eating it from plant foods, making it harder to absorb.

Drinking tea with or soon after an iron-rich meal can reduce iron absorption, in some cases by more than half, studies have found. To get more iron, try leaving a gap of an hour or two between drinking tea and eating your main iron-rich meals.

IF YOU’RE A MAN, HELP YOURSELF TO OYSTERS

Zinc is an essential mineral for everyone. It helps our bodies make the enzymes needed for cell growth and repair, wound healing and a healthy immune system. Because our bodies can’t store or make zinc, we need to get it regularly from what we eat.

But men need more of it than women. The NHS recommends 11mg a day for men, compared with 8mg for women. That’s because zinc plays a key role in making testosterone, the main male sex hormone. Too little can leave men feeling tired, with a lower sex drive.

It’s also crucial for making healthy sperm and supporting the normal function of the prostate gland.

One of the richest natural sources is oysters. Just three oysters could provide around 74mg of zinc, almost seven times a man’s recommended daily intake.

Nutritionist Cassie Bali, of valehealth.co.uk, says: “Zinc is essential for men and women, but it’s certainly one of the minerals I come back to time and time again when I’m working with men on their sperm health.

“It’s required in the production of sex hormones, and for making new sperm cells. It’s used therapeutically for infertility, low testosterone and erectile dysfunction.”