* cababarant *

Monday, February 14, 2005

Yes Mireille, you are skinny, alright already!
Sacre bleu! I've had it up to the gills with news about this book: French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano. The gist is that she's a middle-aged French lady who studied in the U.S. once when she was twenty, and went back to France 20 pounds heavier because of her newfound love of cookies and brownies. She then lost the weight, thanks to help from her French doctor, and has never looked back. This book seems to be a new sensation in the press, with coverage by NYTimes, Vogue, etc.

Here's an excerpt from a New York Times review:

To that end, Frenchwomen eat small portions. They eat whatever they want - even chocolate - but certainly not every day. They use ultrafresh ingredients and avoid processed foods. They drink a lot of water, but never take wine without food.

Frenchwomen are never too busy to go food shopping several times a week or to make their own yogurt from scratch. They are never too cash-strapped to buy farm-fresh items from open-air markets. They never eat in front of the television or standing up. They eat slowly, savor every bite and make dining a ritual - using all five senses and enjoying multicourse meals on separate plates.

Okay, I will tell you right now that the entire "Frenchwomen" (is that a word?) population of France is not making their own yogurt. That is absurd. It's like saying every American is on Atkins (okay, a lot are, but not all of us!) Granted, I have not read the book, but from the above review, it seems like a lot of sweeping cultural stereotypes. There is a big missing factor in all this: many French women (and Europeans in general) smoke like chimneys. And yes, this is a weight suppressant. I will give Guiliano this much: Jeffrey Steingarten once wrote about the French Paradox: it is true that with a diet high in carbs and fat, that the French suffer less from heart disease than the average American. That said, we must take the role of genetics into consideration alongside the cultural implications of the differences in our lifestyle habits. Anyone who's gone to Europe will notice that Europeans seem thinner in general. Some, like the Dutch, have generally awful cuisine, worlds away from delicious French food. Yet they too are generally thinner than Americans. Now here is my theory: the biggest factor leading to American fat? The car. I wonder if anyone has done a study on New Yorkers and Europeans. Every time I've been to New York, it seems the fatness levels are not the same as, say, in the Midwest. Many New Yorkers walk, just like Europeans. Are we onto something here?

I need to start working on my own book. It's called The Diet of Frites. It's the story of how I moved to Holland for several months, ate frites with mayonnaise followed by ice cream or chocolate bonbons every day, and lost 20 pounds. The secret was walking. And no, I did not make my own yogurt.

posted by sheryl | 10:59 PM |

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