What really goes down well with wine? Cheese and bread, that's the typical French diet so how is it that the French are not overweight?
Our American diet has become very largely based on processed foods. We tend to eat snacks with fake fats like olestra and phony carbohydrates like aspartame and we eat a lot of it. Consuming food in France is about quality, not quantity. Their daily intake consists of butter and cheese, sometimes twice a day as well as natural unsaturated fats like olives and nuts. Here's the (big) secret, they eat in much smaller portions, little but often.
Another major factor as to why the French are not as overweight as Americans is that they do not drive everywhere. The average American is so dependent on their car. We tend to drive as much as we can. The average French person indirectly gets half an hour to an hour of exercise on a daily basis, instead of driving everywhere, the French walk, it's a way of life. They love to meet people and talk, hard to do that at 60 miles an hour on the freeway.
We Americans love to follow diet trends, the grapefruit diet, the brown rice diet, the cabbage diet, the master cleanse diet. Diet trends in France are almost non-existent. They eat well because it is customary and traditional. When they shop at the market, they pay no attention to carbohydrates or fats, they think fresh.
It goes without saying that the French love wine (which really is part of their culture). They don't shy off of it because it could be bad for your health. They drink a glass of wine with their lunch and dinner. In all reality most doctors now agree that light drinking is really good for your heart because of the natural antioxidants.
As Americans we get so caught up in multitasking, we eat while we watch the television. We eat while we're running out the door, late for work or an appointment. The French take a more traditional approach because they take their time to eat, and they even eat at the dinner table with the television off. It's a time to talk with other members of the family or friends. They relax when they eat which helps them feel full and content.
Here are some tips on how to have a French inspired eating lifestyle. Take smaller bites, a bite of food should be the size of your thumb, not as much as you can fit into your mouth. Slow down your eating if you have food in your mouth, put your fork down. Last but not least, savor your food and think about the way it tastes.
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