Reasons #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 that the French Are Slimmer and Healthier

the French Paradox - why they're thinner with stronger hearts, despite their high fat diet... Why do the French have so fewer heart attacks? Plus, why are they so slim? Wine doesn't make you slim. After all, they eat plenty of fat. Olive oil. Whole milk. Butter. Cheese. Meat.
While, over here, in North America, everything is low-fat, no-fat and fake-fat. Yet, 66% of the population IS fat. While only 7% of French people have a belly. What do the French know that we don't?
Reason #1: Well, first thing they know is how big their stomachs are. Comparing both restaurant servings and cookbook portions, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and CNRS in Paris, found that the French eat a lot less than we do. They even found the same was true when comparing fast food joints in Pennsylvania and in Paris. Americans are eating about 25% - 72% more than the French.
As far as the size of single food portions goes, here are a few more examples of how much extra content we're getting over here:
Chocolate bar - 41% larger
Soft drink - 52% larger
Hot dog - 63% larger
Carton of yogurt - 82% larger
Let's face it. You go to a restaurant. You know a big bill is coming. They put more than you need in front of you. You're probably going to eat all of it. "Environment is stronger than willpower."
Most people, however, don't know you can actually ask for a "small" portion of food at a restaurant. Sometimes they call this the "kids" or "seniors" portion. You'll pay less for it, not only with your wallet, but also with your waistline and your hear - a smart move when they plop that heaping bowl of pasta in front of you. On the other hand, a big salad would probably be okay. It's mostly water. Pasta is mostly flour. See the difference? You can also ask for a doggie bag, too. No shame in that. Then you get another meal covered for the price of one.
Or you can split the food with someone else at the table. Widely acceptable in Asian restaurants - especially Indian where they serve the food in serving dishes, versus filling your plate for you. 
Yes, environment is stronger than willpower, 80% of the time. But you can use your willpower to SHAPE YOUR ENVIRONMENT. By doing things like I just described above.

Reasons #2: Just because the portions are larger here, doesn't mean the quality is the same.
For example, Chinese restaurants were shown to be offering the largest portions. Now, from what I understand, a Chinese restaurant here is very different than a Chinese restaurant inChina. In China they eat healthier, using very fresh vegetables and fish/meat (sometimes picked/killed that morning). Also, I doubt they are using as much MSG as we see here (if any). My point is that it's easy to bulk up a stir fry with more white
rice. It's very, very cheap, and can add a lot of volume. But there's not much nutritional benefit! Yet, white rice (unlike brown) turns into sugar in your bloodstream quickly. Then your liver turns it into fat. So they've upped the fattening calories without giving your body needed vitamins and minerals.
But, I digress; we're talking about the French, not Chinese restaurants... So, even though the French may be eating smaller portions, they
are also eating highly nourishing portions. The French, in fact, consume quite a lot of vegetables. Often, throughout Europe, two courses of a meal will be vegetables. Vegetables are low in calories and high in vitamins and minerals. In other words, veggies won't make you fat, but they'll sure help your health - especially your heart and circulatory system.
 
Reason #3 for the healthy French Paradox has to do with breads and grains. Despite the heart-clogging french sticks we see over here, the French actually consume mostly WHOLE GRAIN products. Far more than your typical North American. Whole grains break down into glucose and enter your bloodstream slower than refined white flour. This means they get burned off before they getstored as fat.
 
Reason #4: The French also consume about half as much milk as Americans do. "What? But doesn't milk do the body good?" No short answer to that one. But, one thing I can say, TOO MUCH milk is NOT good for you. Especially, the type of milk being served in our country. You know... milk that comes from cows fed genetically modified grains instead of grass. Cows that are pumped full of hormones to make more milk and antibiotics to prevent infection. Cows that never see the light of day.
Then we take that milk, extracted from a cow in unhygienic conditions and boil it to death. Of course, the E. coli potential of the raw milk is far too dangerous to serve to humans. However, this process makes the protein very difficult to digest. Next, we'll homogenize the milk, because people don't like seeing the cream float on the top. Of course, this homogenization process makes the fat very hard to digest.
 
Reason #5 the French are so darn healthy... Genetic modification, hormone injections, antibiotic drugging, pasteurization and homogenization isn't happening much in France. They're getting most of their milk from healthy cows - fresh from the utter. So those are four other reasons the French are healthier, thinner and suffering less heart attacks: More vegetables, more whole grains, less dairy and better dairy (Their milk is more often organic, non-pasteurized and non-homogenized.)

Reason #6: They eat plenty of fish. Fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Of course, the problem with fish these days is the mercury contamination in the water (not the fishes' fault). So you're safer getting a good source of filtered, pharmaceutical-grade fish oil supplement like the one I have at my clinic. In Europe, if you have a heart attack and survive, the cardiologist at the hospital will send you home with a prescription for pharmaceutical-grade fish oil. All the better, though, if you take it to PREVENT the heart attack from happening in the first place. Keeping your omega-3 oils up is critical and one of the reasons North Americans are having so much health trouble - not just with their heart, but also with
our brains (dementia, Alzheimer's) and joints (arthritis).
 
Reason #7 (this is a biggie) You got it, they eat less sugar. A lot less. About 1/8 the amount your typical North American consumes. Over here, sugar is the number one source of calories. Over there it isn't.
What's more, they consume a lot less fruit than we do. I don't have all the details on this statistic but I think I understand how this could improve our health.
Over here, we include juice under the category of "fruit." Juice is, essentially, a sugar drink. It's a better choice than white-sugar pop, of course, but it still has a lot of sugar. It takes about four squeezed oranges to fill up your typical glass of orange juice. This may sound good, at first. You're getting four oranges all at once. It would take too long to eat that many oranges. And this may be a good idea if you just finished a 40 minute run and need to boost your blood glucose levels. But for normal day-to-day activity it's not that great.
You see, the whole fruit has fibre in it which slows down the absorption of sugar - fruit juice doesn't. On top of that most people are not juicing fresh. It's often coming reconstituted and pasteurized.
Many people are easily putting down 6 cups a day between juice, pop and other sweetened beverages. All this does it kick our insulin levels to the limit and make us even hungrier. Plus, you're getting very little nutritional sustenance.
Fruit is healthy. You should be eating it. Whole is best. Mix juice 60/40 with water (water is the 60%). But make sure you're including vegetables with at least two of your meals. Fruit with breakfast and then a salad for lunch and cooked vegetables for dinner. Don't focus on avoiding the fruit, but focus on eating more vegetables. Snack on fruit and nuts instead of juice between meals. Drink water the rest of the time.
That should help you stay as thin, healthy and heart-attack free as the French.
 
by Dr. Karlo Mauro, N.D., drmauro@thenaturopath.ca
 
P.S. On the subject of heart health, on the back page of one of my newsletters that I mail out to current patients, contains a shocking bulletin about the type of care woman are receiving in hospitals (compared to men) after a heart attack or stroke. If you're not a woman, pass it on to one you care about! If you would like a copy of the bulletin from the newsletter, just send an email to care@thenaturopath.ca with the subject line: "Newsletter Bulletin: What Women Need to Know About Heart Attack and Stroke Care".

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DISCLAIMER: The contents of this email are not to be considered as medical advice. Always consult a doctor before beginning or changing any fitness, diet or lifestyle program to ensure it's suited to your constitution. All content copyright (C) 2008 Dr. Karlo Mauro, N.D., 13178 Tecumseh Road, Tecumseh, ON N8N 3T6, CANADA