the French Women's Diet: newest diet craze?

[Gifted Gourmet]

article from USA Today

that, she says, is the difference between the way the French and Americans view food. And it explains in part why Americans struggle more with their weight than the French do. Perhaps it's time for the French women's diet.... French women eat with all five senses, Guiliano says, allowing less to seem like more. When she is with friends in Paris, even if they are just eating sandwiches, "we sit down, take our time, look at the sandwich, admire the bread or the butter on it. We eat slowly. We chew well. We stop between bites."

It appears to have an effect. French women have long had a reputation for being svelte and stylish despite their love of good food and wine. American tourists in Paris are often struck by the fact that most of the French women they see on the street are slender and graceful.

Think this, although not particularly newsworthy and certainly heavily discussed here on eGullet, has some value and interest for you?

A nicely written article .. worth the time it takes to chew over the details ...

[stephenc]

It's called smoking.

[bleudauvergne]

What? How many times must we repeat that eating with all five senses is not exclusive to the French?

The article starts with:

When French-born Mireille Guiliano was walking through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport a few weeks ago, she looked at all the people who were eating and tried to find some who were enjoying their food.

What she observed were people gulping down hamburgers and fries while typing on their laptops, talking on their cell phones or reading the newspaper.

"I couldn't see anyone eating with pleasure," says Guiliano, 58, CEO of Clicquot Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Champagne Veuve Clicquot.

Let me try to envision this. Picture yourself in an Airport. Ooops, having trouble with the idea of anyone eating with pleasure in this scenario. Except once my (French) husband enjoyed a krispy cream donut at the airport in New Jersey. I'm sorry but even French airports have crappy food....

[Rehovot]

"[The French] eat a wide variety of fresh foods, including plenty of fruits and vegetables, but not a lot at one sitting, [neuroscientist Will Clower] says. They value quality over quantity. "'People here would buy a 5-pound burrito if it cost 99 cents even if it was tasteless, but the French would never do that.'"

Right. Then explain to me what all those people are doing in leQuick (wrong name, maybe, but French burger chain). Most of them don't have American accents.

Granted, American mass media is probably responsible, at some level, for the appeal of such a burger chain as leQuick...but making gross generalizations about the way nations eat doesn't really explain anything new.

Most of what's said in this article is pure common sense. For example, Giuliano's doctor told her to "walk everywhere," and, voila. The skinny Parisian women you see are that way because, chances are, they don't own a car.

Interesting piece. Of course, being the CEO of Veuve Cliquot doesn't hurt finding the best, freshest ingredients, good wine, etc., etc. A bit harder to do that on welfare.

[Susan G]

French women eat with all five senses.............hearing?

My entrees stay pretty quiet. Am I doing something wrong?

[EdS]

French women eat with all five senses.............hearing?

My entrees stay pretty quiet.  Am I doing something wrong?

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More oil. Higher heat.

[Susan G]

I meant the portion delivered to me on a plate in the dining room............by that time, even the bacon's gone silent!

[marie-louise]

In addition to his excellent book, Will Clower also has a website. http://www.fatfallacy.com/TourWL/FirstSteps.html

My husband & I did his "Path" last summer. Amazingly, we didn't lose much weight, but we both found it helpful to understand how eating slower-and in courses-helped us to eat less. (Clearly, we need to learn to eat a little less of our wonderful food...) I'm glad to see him getting some publicity, as his book is not the typical quick-fix, restrictive sort of "diet" that Americans love to embrace. Basically, he says only eat full-fat dairy products, eat a little bit of chocolate every day, don't eat "anything that doesn't spoil in a few days"-no preservatives, but mainly, understand when you are satisfied and stop eating at that point. Also, focus on your food when you are eating-don't eat and drive, etc.

He's got great ideas-this is as close to an eGullet diet as anything I've seen.

Edited January 4, 2005 by marie-louise (log)

[madziast]

Basically, he says only eat full-fat dairy products, eat a little bit of chocolate every day, don't eat "anything that doesn't spoil in a few days"-no preservatives

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i'm on a good track then

seriously though, sounds like a reasonable guy. will investigate the website, thanks marie-louise

[bleudauvergne]

I meant the portion delivered to me on a plate in the dining room............by that time, even the bacon's gone silent! 

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Ah, yes. One sound that is very satisfying is the sound of teeth clicking together while chewing. If you obscessively chew long enough it does happen.

[Daniel Rogov]

Ah, but the sense of sound does indeed come into our dining pleasure and that in several ways:

1. The sensation of sound that is generated as we chew - the difference between chewing something crispy (e.g. crisply fried bacon or soft calamari) or the "sound" of the sauces and juices generated as we chew. As Henry Miller once put it "the satisfying sound of the crunch")

2. The gentle sound of knife and fork, not to be ignored at all of course as a source of pre-eating pleasure of a particular morsel

3. The sound of a wine being poured, of the (hopefully polite) sipping noises we make as we taste and drink those wines.

4. The sound of food in a skillet, on a griddle...or, sometimes as it is served to us in a piping hot casserole dish

5. The sound of a dessert as it is flambeed (there is indeed a sound, listen next time and you'll hear it)

6. Not directly related to the food but most definitely to our dining pleasure, the the discussion at our table as we dine (not only the words but the surface of sound as well) and of course the background sounds in the restaurant itself.

Sound can also import badly on our dining - too loud music, the person sitting near us who chews noisily, too loud conversation, exaggerated noises from the kitchen or restaurant itself.

Definitely one of the senses to be considered in the dining experience

[Ling]

It's called smoking.

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It says in the article that Americans smoke almost as much as the French do.

[hathor]

I've been told the way to engage the sense of sound at a meal, is to click glasses with your dining parnter. Works for me.

[peppyre]

I actually looked at the book on Sunday while I was cashing in my Birthday present, flipped through and decided against it. That's how I eat each and every day. In fact, I've gotten better (worse, depending on how you look at it) in the last few months and have actually continued to lose weight. There is something to be said for smaller portions and cheese. Lots and lots of cheese.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Sound can also import badly on our dining - too loud music, the person sitting near us who chews noisily, too loud conversation, exaggerated noises from the kitchen or restaurant itself.

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and those damnable cell phones ...

[lovebenton0]

Auditory accompaniment of the food one eats can impact some diners positively or negatively, making the food either a pleasure or a disagreeable experience. Some people are quite sensitive to the crunching sounds of say a raw carrot or a crunchy chip. Or the squish or pop of a liquid filled bite, say a grape or cherry tomato, or a crusty filled pastry. So, yes, I would have to agree, as one who is mostly deaf, the sound of some foods need to be prepared for so as not to be startling, or in a positive way to be enjoyed. Anticipating that sound, knowing the pleasure of the accompanying taste and aroma of the food is a sensory activity.

[Cusina]

Did anyone else think it was ironic that the ads at the bottom of the article were for the South Beach Diet?

Judith, thanks for that reminder. I definitely take the auditory for granted in my meals. I also know that I eat way too fast. I attribute that habit to my small children and their impatience, but perhaps it is more than that. I work hard on making our meals and choosing our wines, I should slow down and enjoy them more.

Have there been any real studies done that control for variables comparing the French and American lifestyles and effects on obesity rates? Or is it all pure speculation?

[hathor]

Have there been any real studies done that control for variables comparing the French and American lifestyles and effects on obesity rates? Or is it all pure speculation?

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/quote]

Funny you should ask that. This was in today's NYTimes: Diet and Lose Weight? Scientists say Prove it!

[FaustianBargain]

wow..yet ANOTHER article involving french women, american women and food. what IS their obsession with french women, *I* want to know...really..what the fuck is wrong with these people? did trees die for printing stuff like this?

women scare me. true.

p.s. oh wait. she just wrote a book. French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure. what a clever, subtle title! i CANNOT wait to get it. the throbbing, tearing suspense is killing me.

[FrenchWench]

Ahhh...American media once again at it's 'best'

I wonder...would such an article ever appear on the pages of a French newspaper? And if by chance it did, would the French discuss it in a forum or over a bottle of wine at a corner cafe? Something to contemplate.

[redglass]

I can see the french saying "ah oui, de fet americains....ha ha ha". A few things to consider that don't have to do with food: yes, smoking will keep your weight down. Will also kill you. (Although according to today's NYT, that doesn't seem to bother some people). Also, the french on the whole do a lot more walking that the average american- just as the average new yorker or urban dweller without a car will. If every french woman used a car like the average american woman, maybe the results would be different?

[fou de Bassan]

As the daughter-in-law of one of those french women, I have to say that I think the thing to keep in mind is that the French are very body conscious. My MIL keeps an eye on 'sa ligne'. If her clothes feel too snug she cuts back on her portion size, stops most sweets and takes an extra turn around the block. They do tend to eat way more vegetables than the average American does, I believe. Also before summer and bathing suit season, my MIL and SIL live pretty much on salads, small amounts of meat, fresh fruit and bread. The way they put it is they can look good on the beach or have dessert. They prefer to look good on the beach.

[cigalechanta]

What I see in Paris are women eating lightly and moving their food about on the plate, whereas in France Profonde, the women are heavier but more sensual about their food..

Edited February 7, 2005 by cigalechanta (log)

[chefzadi]

Ahhh...American media once again at it's 'best' 

I wonder...would such an article ever appear on the pages of a French newspaper?  And if by chance it did, would the French discuss it in a forum or over a bottle of wine at a corner cafe?  Something to contemplate.

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If anything the French love to talk as much drink coffee and smoke. I know exactly what they would say. But I can't expose the pettiness of the citizens of my birthplace.

[cigalechanta]

NO!!!