While doing my regular fitness reading, I came across this article. I wanted to post it here because, like a lot of people out there, I love to have a little wine with my meal and I absolutely love to cook with all kinds of sauces (with all kinds of butter and cream in them). My friends joke around that it must be my French heritage, but the French culture does not suffer from obesity problems like we do in America. Why is that? Find the answers in this article by Evelyn Tribole...
Eating Tips from Overseas
by Evelyn Tribole, RD
The French are not only leaner than Americans; they also love their food and wine. How is this possible? Turns out that although the French linger over their meals for a significantly longer period of time than the average American does, they actually eat less and emphasize the food "experience" over, well, stuffing food in their face, according to Mireille Guiliano, author of the best seller French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure
While Guiliano admits up front that she is no scientist, she has a refreshing angle that nutrition researchers have just begun to explore. Early evidence suggests that Americans could learn a thing or two not only from France — whose people have lower rates of heart disease than Americans despite the high-fat content of their cuisine — but from other countries as well.
Psychologist and biologist Paul Rozin, PhD, and his University of Pennsylvania team examined, in the first cross-cultural study of its kind, how food functions in people's lives and minds. They looked at four countries: the United States, Japan, Belgium and France. The findings? Americans worry more than anyone else about the fattening effects of food, and in the meantime forget to savor what they eat, which leaves them dissatisfied. The French, on the other hand, are the most pleasure-oriented and least health-oriented when it comes to diet, focusing more on the quality of the food and the enjoyment of the experience. Rozin and his colleagues suspect that our attitudes toward food — chiefly, how much we stress about or enjoy it — may be an important contributor to overall health. They suggest that Americans' obsession with healthful foods may actually be counterproductive, producing a substantial reduction in our quality of life.
But the French haven't cornered the market when it comes to having a healthy relationship with food. We can learn some important lessons from many other cultures, says Christine Smith, PhD, a social psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Here, with her help, I've compiled a list of eight of them:
Slow down! We move way too fast for our own health, rushing around until we realize that we have to eat and then popping into a fast-food drive-through to slam down a meal. We can learn a lot from European and South American cultures, where businesses close for lunch, followed by an afternoon nap. According to Rozin, even when the French eat on the go, they still eat more slowly than Americans do, taking twice as long even when dining at McDonald's. Pacing yourself in life and in your eating allows you to enjoy both more!
Forget food bargains. Americans really love value, but buying bigger portions only results in eating more. Many countries, including France, do not have supermarkets with supersized products. Rather, people shop for food on a daily basis at smaller markets, emphasizing freshness and flavor over bulk-quantity bargains.
Ditch self-denial. Sure, the Swiss eat their world-famous chocolate, the French eat their cream-laden dishes, and the Italians eat their pasta. Yet none of these countries have the weight problems that plague us in the U.S. Why? It's not about the food but about our attitudes toward it. Rigidly denying ourselves modest portions of edibles that we love can trigger unhealthy bingeing.
Get off the couch. Europeans watch a lot less television than Americans do; when they want a little entertainment, they go to the movies, check out a museum or otherwise leave the house! There's no better way to work off a meal than to walk it off.
Nix the fat-talk. Queries of "Do I look fat?" and "Is this food fattening?" are part of a Western phenomenon that American women engage in as a perverse form of bonding. But such comments only lead to more food and body problems, so cut it out!
Think about more than thinness. In some African cultures, a bigger body is better — and even they don't have the obesity problems we have in diet-obsessed America. And consider this: If you obsess about your body, you don't have the energy or cognitive capacity to do other, much more productive things.
Sever the food-shame connection. In France, Italy, Jamaica and some South American countries, food and morality are never talked about in the same breath the way they are here. After all, guilt takes all the joy out of dining, and when you're not satisfied, you're more apt to repeat or continue the eating experience (hungry or not) in an effort to find the enjoyment you seek. Enjoy food with family and friends. In countries like Japan and Spain, people tend to gather together for shared meals. Communal eating, which necessitates conversation, slows the speed and amplifies the enjoyment of eating. Plus, you're less likely to chow down impulsively when in the company of others.
