After a day of extensive research, I've culled articles from credible sources that aim to unravel the famous French Paradox and clue us in on why the French women look as good as they do despite eating fatty food. After all, the fat-laden 'foie gras' is a French term, is it not?
If given a choice, I'm sure everybody would rather be the skinny bitch than the fat hag. Haha. But that said, you don't have to be either of the two extremes. I would be comfortable with the middle ground--neither morbidly obese, nor anorexic skinny--but healthily slender.
This is a summary of everything I've read thus far, lovingly consolidated by yours truly:
The
French woman's diet is more lifestyle and philosophy than a diet consisting
merely of do and do not foods, according to Mireille Guiliano, author of the
best-selling book "French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For
Pleasure." It is a lifestyle of learning to live in the moment for that
"joie de vivre" and feasting on foods that taste good.
Despite
a diet stuffed with cream, butter, cheese and meat, just 10 per cent of French
adults are obese, compared with Britain’s 22 per cent, and America’s colossal
33 per cent. The French live longer too, and have lower death rates from
coronary heart disease – in spite of those artery-clogging feasts of
cholesterol and saturated fat. This curious observation, dubbed ‘the French
paradox’, has baffled scientists for more than a decade. And it leaves us
diet-obsessed women smarting.
Vanity
In
Chic and Slim: How Those French Women Eat all that Rich Food and Still Stay
Slim, Anne Barone seeks to unravel the puzzle. As it turns out, it's all about
knickers. 'Never underestimate the power of a black lace garter belt,' she
writes. 'Even French women's lingerie helps to keep them slim, [it's] a
constant reminder to make choices that pay off in slimness. Their belief in
this principle is demonstrated by the fact that there are almost as many
lingerie shops in Paris as bakeries.' Vanity, it seems, is a very useful vice
if you want to fight the flab.
Take pleasure from food
To the French woman, eating
is a leisurely experience. In Singapore, we often wolf down meals in
record time or eat while driving or sitting at our desks. But the French appear
to have all the time in the world to sit around and dine. “The mind is
the French woman’s ultimate firewall against getting fat, and the senses are,
of course, the portals to the mind. Through them we take in the world—its
flavours, its textures, its sounds and its smells. We sit down and eat for pleasure, using all of our senses,” Mireille Guiliano, author of
the best-selling book French Women Don't
Get Fat, has said.
What she
means is: eat what you love. Just make the space to appreciate your food fully.
This means not eating your lunch while checking your emails—it’s about not
multi-tasking when you’re enjoying food so that you connect with what you’re
eating. If it’s chocolate you adore, that’s okay! Just eat a small portion and
concentrate on it fully. You’ll need less of it that way.
Low-carb diets have many of
us saying no to white foods like bread and pasta, but in France, everyone seems
to be toting a fresh baguette to bring home. "You need to eat a large
volume of bread or pasta for the calories to add up, and most of the time,
French meals are quite light and portions are small," according to French diet expert David Benchetrit, MD.
Cutting
down on Carbohydrates may not help
Doctor
François Baudier of the CFES reports that 'the French, in contrast to
Anglo-Saxons, hardly ever snack outside of meals'. One reason for this is that
their fat-rich diet stimulates the production of cholecystokinin, a satiety
signal which promotes an extended sense of satisfaction after eating even small
amounts of high-fat foods. Brie-eaters stay fuller longer.
But, cutting
down on Processed Food will help
Instead
of an addiction to 'invented foods' full of hydrogenated oils, E numbers and
preservatives, the French way, even today, focuses on the careful preparation
of unprocessed foods. It's why French women ration themselves to one rich, dark
square of real chocolate rather than hogging-out on a preservative-laden,
pre-frozen, half-chemical wodge of pseudo-foodo. Snobbery, alongside vanity, is
an asset in the war against weight. (Consider, by contrast, the disheartening
fact that the market for ready meals in the US grew by 39 per cent from 1999 to
2003; the $3 billion market for 'food bars' is expected to more than double by
2007.) When they get those enviable produits du terroirs home, French people,
it seems, naturally exercise strict portion control.
Eating
slowly promotes physiological negative feedback
Dr
Andrew Hill, senior lecturer in behavioural sciences at Leeds University,
agrees. ‘Eating in France is a social activity. There are several but small
courses, with plenty of time between courses for the physiological feedback to
kick in.'
The
unhurried approach to eating extends even to France's Big Mac generation.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found ‘from observations in
McDonald's that the French take longer to eat than Americans. Ironically,
although the French eat less than Americans, they seem to eat for a longer
period of time, and hence have more food experience.'
Aiming
for Quality over Quantity
In
their study of why the French remain so much slimmer than Americans, the
researchers from the University of Pennsylvania came to the remarkable
conclusion that it was because the French ate less. 'Based on observation in
Paris and Philadelphia,' they wrote, 'we document that the French portion sizes
are smaller in comparable restaurants, in the sizes of individual portions in
supermarkets, individual portions specified in cookbooks, and in the prominence
of "all-you-can-eat" restaurants in dining guides.'
Make
Walking a Way of Life
Guiliano
rejects the ''American rule'' of ''no pain, no gain'' and describes exercise
machines as a ''vestige of Puritanism: instruments of public self-flagellation
to make up for private sins of couch riding and overeating.'' By all means go
to the gym if you really love it, she says. Otherwise take the stairs and pick
up some weights in the privacy of your own home. She finds walking an
indulgence that allows time for ''freedom of thought,'' and says French women
walk an average of three times as much as American women do. She proudly
reports that during the 2003 blackout she easily made it past the younger
people in her building who were huffing and puffing on the stairs.
But sometimes these ''simple values'' seem
perhaps too simple for our harried lives. Many of us need the discipline of the
gym and don't have time to stroll to the open-air market or set a proper table
twice a day.
Nevertheless, incorporating daily physical activity into our
hectic routines would certainly go a long way in helping us shed the pounds. Besides,
taking an evening walk after dinner is a way to unwind and relax after a
long day. The point is to get moving.
Beat the Stress
Learn
to relax. Stress is a major factor in weight gain for women, as well as heart
conditions and other health issues. In America (and just about every other developed
nation), it seems that just about everyone suffers from chronic stress. Stress
hormones like cortisol block weight loss. The body interprets extended stress
as famine and stores body fat to offset starvation. Prolonged stress can also
lead to chronic inflammation and adrenal fatigue. Many women with adrenal
fatigue crave sweets, which can exacerbate the already rapid weight gain
process.
Eat Yoghurt Everyday
Yogurt is a dietary
staple that helps French women manage their hunger. Guiliano says most French
women eat one or two yogurts a day, often at breakfast -- and especially after
an evening of overindulgence to help balance out the calories.
According to Guiliano, the calcium content
helps block your body’s absorption of fat.
"Yogurt is
the perfect food because it is high in calcium, has carbohydrates, protein, and
fat - everything you need in every meal," she says.
When you wake up, drink two
glasses of water
After a big long sleep your body has gone without
water from anywhere between seven and ten hours (sometimes more). Even though
you may not feel like drinking, your body will be craving water. Answer this
with two glasses, first thing in the morning.
Sources:
(not in proper citation style)
