Women's sweet tooth dates as far back as 10,000BC

A team of anthropologists in Niigata made an interesting discovery about why Japanese women love sweets. By studying the teeth of nearly 300 dead people from the Jomon period (10,000BC to 400BC), they were able to find evidence of an unusually high level of tooth decay (8% in Jomon peeps compared to a worldwide average of about 1-3%). The anthropologists believe that the Jomon diet was high in starch—and that Jomon women were especially crazy about cookies made of acorns and chestnuts.

Japanese women today seriously love sweets. I have never been to one, but there are all-you-can-eat dessert cafes all over the place and if you walk in, it's all young women. And the other day, my mom bought a bouquet of flowers that looked like a slice of cake and came in a little cake box with a ribbon. Japanese cakes aren't sweet the way American cakes are, though. They're less sugar-y and a lot bit easier to eat in large quantities.