French Paradox 2.0 page

[maxshralp]

What about all of their gluten consumption? If gluten=death then how come they are still relatively disease free in comparison to us? I'm pretty sure croissants are not soaked sprouted and fermented. any thoughts?

[peril]

They eat certainly wheat. However, your mistake is to think they eat a lot of it. The French eat a wide variety of food and are testament to the virtues of doing so rather than having the narrow diets favoured by anglophones. I think you'll find that they eat lots of good fats and avoid vegetable oils.

Also remember that they just do better healthwise than do anglophones. Doesn't mean they couldn't do better

[drssgchic]

European wheat also isn't the same as American wheat. We like our air-like WonderBread whereas they eat bread that requires less rise and therefore less gluten.

[activia]

Because Gluten isn't the biggest reason why we are all diseased, its just that it makes us more vulnerable, and when combined with our lifestyle it has disastrous results... By eliminating gluten it will make us be able to handle more of some of the other things we can't control. the french are also not perfect, they would probably benefit greatly by getting rid of gluten.

These are the reasons for all the recent increases in many diseases, there is no one thing its a combination:

Processed Foods - which are loaded with poor ingredients and engineered to make us want to eat more of them
Vegetable Oils - our Omega 6 is way out of whack
Low Activity - french typically walk everywhere
High Stress - Go Go Go
Micro-nutrient deficiencies (especially Iodine & Magnesium)
Increased contact to toxins
Increased Pharmaceutical Use- the drugs we take are causing our bodies to go out of balance in one way or another which causes a host of other problems..
Low Fat/Low Cholesterol - poor for brain health..which causes..well a host of problems
Increased Anti-biotic use - no more good gut-flora..
Feed lot animals - poor nutritional profile.. they have a lot more grass fed in other countries..
Poor farming practices - pesticide use/as well as using soil depleted of nutrients and then injecting with synthetic fertilizers
Lack of connecting to nature
Lack of emphasis on family life - we need to find meaning with the world around us.. the french have longer vacations, and take 2 hours to eat lunch together

[billp]

The French don't really have a staple diet. They are always eating different things. I don't know how they get their bread to taste so good. In Basle you have the horrid sold-stale overpriced Swiss bead, but you can walk ten minutes down Elsass Strasse into France and buy real baguettes, and cheap too. I don't know how they do it. Every time I ever tried to bake something similar it didn't work at all.

[Chaohinon]

I don't know exactly how much O6 the french might be eating, or to what extent they've replaced real fats with industrial PUFAs, but that would probably be your answer.

Also, notice how any traditional grain based food (pierogies, pasta, curry, etc.) tends to be balanced out with plenty of fat and protein, whereas americans are eating grains on top of grains on top of grains.

[Glamorama]

And all that raw cheese and yummy salted butter... Gawd I love French food.

[paleo-bunny]

The French don't eat wholegrains. They do eat lentils in moderation. French bread is very light and uses white flour - probably properly fermented. The French (excepting the younger generation) pay a lot of attention to tradition. They also eat a lot of saturated fat from animal sources and dairy - especially in the north. In the south a lot more olive oil is traditionally consumed instead of butter.

Seriously, I believe French cuisine is one of the closest cuisines to primal in the developed world, along with South-East Asian cuisine. It's based on quality meats, fish and shellfood, along with a good variety of fresh vegetables. The French do eat a lot of dairy, but that tends to come from pasture fed animals.

Also, the French do not snack ... they don't even drink much fluids between meals. They don't eat much sugar. They have the lowest consumption of fructose in Europe and I believe they still have the lowest rate of heart disease.

[paleo-bunny]

Just to clarify, I have French relatives (2 cousins who are half French), and my parents are francophiles, both semi-fluent in French. I spent a lot of time in France as a child on family holidays.

[deepglades]

There are plenty of articles sighting that French people are obese and unhealthy.

Here is one:
France's obesity crisis: All those croissants really do add up, after all - DailyFinance

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.