Many a woman has watched in disbelief as their partner inhales their food minutes after sitting down to dinner. Now Korean researchers have discovered why: men and women actually chew differently.

许多女性看到自己的伴侣坐下几分钟便把饭菜统统吞下时都感到不可置信。如今，韩国研究人员发现了其中的原因：原来男性和女性咀嚼的方式不同。

Men take larger, more powerful bites - meaning they finish eating more quickly - while women chew each individual mouthful more times - taking longer to finish eating their meal.

The researchers recruited 24 male and 24 female undergraduates from the Semyung University in South Korea, where they are based. 

In order to analyze each individual's chewing pattern, they hooked electrodes up to their jaws and fed them 152g of boiled white rice. 

They documented the size of people's bites, total chewing time per mouthful of food, total number of chews and how long it took the person to eat the entire meal.

There was a large variation between men and women on every parameter, they found.

Men typically take larger bites with more 'chewing power', which means they consume their meal more quickly than women.

Though women were found to have the same chewing pace as men, they chewed each mouthful more times, slowing down the total time it took them to eat their meal. 

The study was published in the January issue of the Physiology and Behaviour journal.

It flies in the face of an earlier study, by researchers at Nippon Dental University in Tokyo, Japan, which found no difference in how the sexes chewed gum.

Cary Cooper, professor of organizational psychology and health at Lancaster University said there was not only a difference in how the sexes chew, but between different types of people.

People with 'type A' personalities - typically fast moving, impatient and ambitious people - tend to eat quickly.

Conversely, 'type B' characters - who are generally more laid back, considered and approach things at a slower pace - will relish their mealtimes.

His observation comes after actress and model Gwyneth Paltrow, revealed during her 20s she followed a macrobiotic diet, during which chewed her food at least 50 times per swallow.

This was thought to aid digestion, and means the stomach sends signals to the brain indicating it is satisfied, making a person feel fuller sooner, and eat less calories overall.

But because our diet has become softer, thanks to all that processed food, we now don't need to chew for so long.

However, raw fruit and vegetables, and meat, demand more chewing. 

Dr Read said: 'If you don't, lumps of food will pass through your digestive system and not be completely absorbed.'