The French Paradox: a remarkably easy weight loss diet

French baguettes with full-fat butter, ham, camembert, mayonnaise, slices of egg and salad...a diet? Indeed. A very easy weight loss diet.

If you think about what French people typically enjoy it’s quite annoying to see the statistics prove that such a small percentage of French adults are obese.

"The French diet paradox is only a paradox if one assumes that dietary fat is the major cause of obesity and cardiovascular disease," said Paul Rozin, professor of psychology at Penn.

"However, recent studies suggest that the importance of fat intake as a risk factor has been greatly exaggerated. While the French eat more fat than Americans, they probably eat slightly fewer calories, which when compounded over years can amount to substantial differences in average weight.

FOOD is scared and should be savoured

The French hold food sacred. We are infamous for our insistence on quality. Sauces and seasonings must be perfect in taste, texture, aroma, viscosity and, above all, flavour. The careful preparation of the perfect sauce begins with natural, fresh and unprocessed ingredients.

We eat freshly-baked bread daily, fresh-from-the-market cheeses, organic meat and vegetables. We avoid artificial food like the plague, especially low-fat products, partially hydrogenated oils and that staple American beverage, the carbonated soft drink.

Instead of devouring a burger in three minutes flat, we enjoy our food. We discuss it, we compare recipes, we exchange cooking secrets…we savour our food.

So what if dinner takes three hours? How can it possibly take anything less?

Bigger is not always better…

"I couldn't see anyone eating with pleasure," says Mireille Guiliano, CEO of Clicquot Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Champagne Veuve Clicquot after a visit to the USA. "Food is one of the best pleasures in life.

We should not eat like we're robots or on autopilot. It's not like eating. It's like stuffing yourself."

When she is with friends in Paris, even if they are just eating sandwiches, "We sit down, take our time, look at the sandwich, and admire the bread or the butter on it. We eat slowly. We chew well. We stop between bites."

And 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.

Fat free diets will make you fat ...and ill

The French diet dictates high-quality food that satisfies the discerning appetite and prevents acute and chronic overeating.

The oils in nuts, avocados and olives contain antioxidants which help prevent heart disease It also promotes the absorption of cancer-fighting lycopenes and carotenes. Vitamins A and E, selenium and lecithin, found in eggs and butter, prevent cardiovascular disease by contributing to the clearance of cholesterol.

The Lyon Diet Heart Study showed that the higher fat Mediterranean-style diet resulted in only 14 heart-related deaths in their patient populations over four years of follow-up. Compare this to the lower fat, "prudent," American diet that yielded 44 deaths. The Papillon Program easy weight loss diet embraces the principles of the French Diet, and specifically those of the French Mediterranean Diet.

I have tried every diet, exercise program and weight loss group. I lost weight initially, but soon plateau-ed and gave up. Not this time. I simply can't believe the variety of food I can eat, how little I need, and how confident and serene I feel. Morgane le V, Vaiges, m.belponte@tiscali.fr

Discover the Papillon Program and the Secrets of the French easy weight loss Diet in your own home, at your own pace and in your own time.

Find out more about the French ability to stay svelte and sophisticated on their easy weight loss diet here.

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