The Solution to Growing French Weight Problems … Be French!

The French are famous for their sumptuous crème brûlées, fresh baguettes, and lingering late-night meals.  Notably, all of these signature elements are dietary sins in our American dietary culture.

Proponents of low-fat eating positively cringe at France’s famous Poulet de Bresse à la Crème. Doctors advising the new low-carb craze wag their fingers at the daily baguettes. And all Americans scratch their heads at how late the French eat (not to mention the length of their meals—whatever would one do at the dinner table for two hours?).

Why? Because the French break all of our dietary rules, and yet the World Health Organization recently reported their obesity rate at 14%. Their heart disease rate is 3-fold less than that of Americans according to the Lyon Diet Heart Study, and their life expectancy rates are higher for both men and women. All this, while serving butter (not margarine) on their baguettes and eating full-fat cheeses (not low-fat processed cheese food products) at every meal.

My American misconceptions about the French diet cleared up after being awarded the Chateaubriand Fellowship to work as a neuroscientist at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences in Lyon. I moved with my family to a home in Meximieux, just outside Lyon, to live for about 2 years.

There were many cultural shocks in store for us, but the food was not one of them. We expected sumptuous, delicious, wonderful dishes and we were certainly not disappointed. But, based on our standard American dietary training, we felt the French should all be gigantic and heart-diseased, saved only by the clever healthcare tactic of keeping the cost of wine cheaper than Coca-Cola!

It took no time at all to see that our assumptions were just flat wrong. In fact, when my family and I returned home after two wonderful years of this giddy culinary seduction, everyone had lost a considerable amount of weight. “What about all that cholesterol?!” my pudgy friends preached from the dietary pulpit. A blood test on my return told my doctors that my cholesterol levels indicated an unusually low risk of heart disease, despite my dangerous love affair with French cheese, daily wine, chocolate, and that unique blending of dietary uncertainties, the buttery croissant.

After returning home, the problem became as clear as the solution was obvious. The French linger over foods that actually taste, well, delicious. Moreover, the pleasures of the palate leave them with low weight problems, less heart disease, and longer lives than Americans. So instead of choosing among our carnival of diet theories, schemes, and novelties, I developed The PATH to advise Americans on the lessons of the French table.

If we distill the rules of the French Diet into two basic sections, it would be what to eat, and then how to eat it.

What to eat

At the recent summit of dietary gurus, hosted by ABC’s Peter Jennings, the leaders of the low-fat, low-carb, Zone, and Weight Watchers diets all niggled over the exact ratio of fats to carbs to proteins that should comprise our diets.

But the thin, healthy French don’t do this. They apply one rule that is as powerful as it is simple: eat food. “Cheese food product” is not a food, nor are the hydrogenated oils of margarines—bacteria won’t even eat them! Low-carb bread? That’s an oxymoron! And can you imagine the mainstream French opting for egg substitute to enrich a Béchamel sauce?

No, all these invented products are designed to mimic food, but they are what I call “Faux Foods.”

If you would eat like the French, first make sure that the foods you choose are real, not Faux. Secondly, you must choose high-quality foods. Your body knows what to do with the apple in a Tarte Tatin but has never seen the chemicals in a fruit roll-up. Cheddar goldfish are not a dairy product, and gummy worms … who knows what that is?

The first rule of eating French? Eat real food.

How to eat it

The second rule is just as important and is vastly overlooked by the American community—that is the “how of eating.” As any French people would tell you, eating well is not just about the molecular composition of the food on your plate. It’s also about the manner and process of your eating. Put simply, the French dine—Americans feed.

• If you are eating low-carb, and you gobble like a ravenous animal, you will overeat.
• If you are eating low-fat, and you gobble like a ravenous animal, you will overeat.

It’s not about the food, it’s about your habits of eating.

The typically French habit of enjoying the meal at a leisurely pace is critically important for controlling weight problems. It takes some 15 minutes or so for the chemical signals from the gut to reach the brain and tell you when you are full. If you eat in 10 minutes, the body does not have time to signal to the brain that you are satisfied before you have already become stuffed! And stuffed, along with acid reflux, is a particularly American condition.

Thus, the second rule of eating like the French is to love your food enough to take your time with it.

Making the French Diet work for us in America

Perhaps the hardest part of applying these intuitive French rules of eating is not WHAT to eat—Americans are constantly being told which foods to avoid. The harder of the two is HOW to eat, because we habitually rush here and there to squeeze a bit more out of the workday.

Yet it is precisely our neglect of the importance of the meal, as opposed to the food, that results in the chronic consumption, overweight, and obesity problems that have become all too common.

By taking a little more time with our family and friends at the table, we will begin to enjoy the food and fellowship—and remarkably, we will end up eating less food overall. We will give our body the time it needs to tell us when we are satisfied, before we become stuffed.

So it’s quite simple really. Eat real food, and take the time to enjoy it. High-quality eating will lead to low-quantity eating. These two factors explain the French paradox and show us how we can apply to our American culture what the French have been doing right all along.   

Recipes

Chevre Chaud Appetizer

This appetizer is perfect in its simplicity and its deliciousness. It is a model for small eating as well, because you could down it in two bites if there were McChevre Nuggets at the drive thru. But why would you want to? I never want them to end, even when I smell the herbs from the chicken bubbling away for the next round of decadence.

The salad underneath balances the heavy nature of bacon and cheese, just as the gentle balsamic sweetness on the greens counters the savory flavor. Goat cheese can be too, well, goaty, but the baking of it accomplishes the same mellowing that happens with garlic and onions. It loses its edge and the flavor softens into a friendly creaminess. 

Ingredients for 2:

For the Bread and Cheese

• 2 creamy goat cheese slices, ~½ inch thick
• 2 slices baguette, toasted
• 4 slices of bacon, ~2 inches long

For the Salad and Dressing

• Salad leaves of your choice
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ½ tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp minced shallots
• Salt & pepper to taste

Put one slice of goat cheese on each toasted baguette round. Place 2 of the bacon pieces on each slice of cheese, and then place on a baking sheet. Broil on low until bacon is done.

Spread a slight bed of salad on a small plate. Mix oil, vinegar, mustard, and shallots in a small bowl. Salt & pepper to taste. Drizzle over salad and top with bread and cheese.

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash is a perfect fall soup, with plenty of heart-healthy carotenes. It’s great as an appetizer or a light lunch served with garlic-rubbed toast, and it keeps well in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp coriander
• About 2 ½ lbs butternut squash
• 3 – 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup half-n-half
• 4 pats butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese, grated

To start:

Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Peel away the outer skin, and then cut its meat into modest cubes.

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add and sauté onions. Add in the spices, squash pieces, and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat until you achieve a cheery little simmer.

Next:

Let it bubble away, covered, for about 20 minutes.

At this point the squash should be done. Take the pieces out with a slotted spoon and blend in a food processor until smooth. Add them back to the pan, then add in the half-n-half and butter.

Season it with salt and pepper. Taste and, depending on what you like, you could touch up the cinnamon flavor, too. Taste again.

At the table:

Top this soup with a bit of grated Parmesan. Add some good crunchy bread and it makes its own meal.

Dr. Clower is the author of The Fat Fallacy: The French Diet Secrets to Permanent Weight Loss ,The French Don’t Diet Plan, and Founder of The PATH Wellness Programs.

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