Christina Cauterucci reported on a study that looked at how eating habits are affected by social context in Homo sapiens:

• Men who ate at an all you can eat buffet with women ate twice as much pizza as men who ate with other men.
• They also packed in 80% more salad.
• Women didn’t change their eating habits based on the gender of their companions, but they did say that when they ate with men they felt that that they had overeaten.
• This is in line with other studies which indicate that when men eat with women they take bigger bites and employ more “chewing power”.
• The reason seems to be that men want to prove their ability to pack calories into their guts.
• This could also help explain why eating competitions are particularly popular with men.
• Other research suggests that women seemed to find the scent of men who had eaten garlic more attractive than those who hadn’t.

Read more about the study over here.

Source: Slate