France is getting fatter due to the americanisation of its diet.
Obesity is even becoming common in developing nations.
None of that detracts from the fact that the traditional French diet is healthy.
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France is getting fatter due to the americanisation of its diet.
Obesity is even becoming common in developing nations.
None of that detracts from the fact that the traditional French diet is healthy.
[QUOTE=paleo-bunny;746596]France is getting fatter due to the americanisation of its diet.
Obesity is even becoming common in developing nations.
None of that detracts from the fact that the traditional French diet is healthy.[/QUOTE]
Yeah I'd agree with that. France is a long way behind the US and UK when it comes to obesity. Go to any beach in France and you can pick the Brits and the Germans a mile off - they are the pale flabby ones - LOL.
My experience of France (I have family there) is that they eat real food that has had minimal processing, three sit down meals with no snacking in between. They don't seem to drink soft drinks either. Those croissants may well be healthier because they have huge amounts of real butter in them (can't prove that they are healthy of course). I know that many French people work very hard to keep the weight off though. It is socially unacceptable in many parts of France to be fat and the pressure to stay slim is huge.
Nothing better than a baguette and a hunk of French cheese - yum.
Also, portion sizes are much smaller. We have a french bistro and bakery and the bakery desserts are small- 2 bites. The bistro serves small portions. Americans eat enormous portions. Cookies are the size of plates. Sandwich bread is enormous and more dense than baguettes.
I don't think wheat is awful per se, it's just that we eat such huge portions of it.... pasta- they give you 8 servings, bread at a sandwich shop is probably the equivalent of 4-6 slices it is sliced so thick, tortillas are ginormous, cookies at places are the equivalent of a half dozen cookies in a lot of cases....
[QUOTE=jo;746628]Yeah I'd agree with that. France is a long way behind the US and UK when it comes to obesity. Go to any beach in France and you can pick the Brits and the Germans a mile off - they are the pale flabby ones - LOL.
My experience of France (I have family there) is that they eat real food that has had minimal processing, three sit down meals with no snacking in between. They don't seem to drink soft drinks either. Those croissants may well be healthier because they have huge amounts of real butter in them (can't prove that they are healthy of course). I know that many French people work very hard to keep the weight off though. It is socially unacceptable in many parts of France to be fat and the pressure to stay slim is huge.
Nothing better than a baguette and a hunk of French cheese - yum.[/QUOTE]
Yep - I definitely feel fat when I am in France :-( however, I am reasonably frequently mistaken for French weirdly enough ... perhaps that's down to my small bones. I always take it as a compliment for having Continental style.
One thing about real French bread - they don't have preservatives so the loaves don't keep as long. Traditionally you would buy bread every day from the local baker.
[QUOTE=jo;746651]One thing about real French bread - they don't have preservatives so the loaves don't keep as long. Traditionally you would buy bread every day from the local baker.[/QUOTE]
Yes - traditional French bread has exceeded its best by date around 8 hours after it is bought.
[QUOTE=magnolia1973;746642]Also, portion sizes are much smaller. We have a french bistro and bakery and the bakery desserts are small- 2 bites. The bistro serves small portions. Americans eat enormous portions. Cookies are the size of plates. Sandwich bread is enormous and more dense than baguettes.
I don't think wheat is awful per se, it's just that we eat such huge portions of it.... pasta- they give you 8 servings, bread at a sandwich shop is probably the equivalent of 4-6 slices it is sliced so thick, tortillas are ginormous, cookies at places are the equivalent of a half dozen cookies in a lot of cases....[/QUOTE]
Yes, I agree. Generally the French don't eat very much wheat at all. They do get proportions right. I could possibly cope with the amount of safely fermented wheat in the French diet, if I could wind back a couple of decades.
On the other hand I feel that French women have an unhealthy obsession with being thin...
Completely agree!!
It's a combination of small portions, variety of the diet, 3 set meals a day with usually no snacking, definitely NO sodas (as in NOT on a daily basis), and also the relationship to food is much different. We love our food. We enjoy mealtime and look forward to sharing that time with other ppl. We sit down, we chew, we chat, we relax. (most the time)
Quality is always more important than quantity.
I had never heard of refined fats an "whole grains" until I moved to the US.
It's not to say the French get is all right, but the bad part is definitely 'smaller' -- in quantity and frequency.
When my family come to visit they constantly comment on people always being busy eating or drinking -- no matter what they do: walk outside, ride their car, visit a museum, work, etc.
[QUOTE=deepglades;746592]There are plenty of articles sighting that French people are obese and unhealthy.
Here is one:
[url=http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/14/frances-obesity-crisis-all-those-croissants-really-do-add-up/]France's obesity crisis: All those croissants really do add up, after all - DailyFinance[/url]
From wikipedia:
"Obesity levels in France have doubled between 1995 and 2004 (to 11.3% of the population)"
"Obesity in France has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent years. It is now considered a political issue"
France is fat. Don't believe the hype.[/QUOTE]
While a doubling in ten years is certainly not good, they would have to double again to approach the rate of obesity in Colorado, which has the lowest rate in the US. I'm sure there's a lot to learn from the French about nutrition and public health.