{"id":2593,"date":"2010-10-12T18:28:12","date_gmt":"2010-10-13T01:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bspcn.com\/?p=2593"},"modified":"2010-10-12T18:28:12","modified_gmt":"2010-10-13T01:28:12","slug":"5-explanations-for-the-french-paradox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/2010\/10\/12\/5-explanations-for-the-french-paradox\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Explanations For the French Paradox"},"content":{"rendered":"
Written by Dave Lieberman<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Flickr user stuckincustoms<\/a><\/p>\n If you’ve never heard the term “French paradox”, it’s used to refer to the concept that French people, who are as a rule slim and svelte, seem to eat whatever they want: tons of white bread, cheese, butter, bacon, and far too much dessert for their own good. Everything from flavonoids in red wine to climate has been used to explain it.<\/p>\n Well, I just spent three weeks or so in France, and in that time I managed to drop a pants size. I wasn’t exactly watching what I eat (“Four cheeses, dripping with milkfat? Don’t mind if I do!”), and I drank like a small fish between the amazing wine and my own private Waterloo of pastis, so what happened?<\/p>\n 1. Not snacking between meals.<\/strong><\/p>\n French people don’t do it. Sure, they might sneak a cr\u00eape or a waffle here and there, and no baguette makes it home from the boulangerie without the protruding end being ripped off and consumed, but the concept of stopping at a fast-food restaurant for a “Fourthmeal” is totally alien to the French.<\/p>\n 2. Espresso.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Filtered coffee is nearly unheard of in France. Order un caf\u00e9 and you will get a cup containing a single shot of espresso, with a packet of sugar and either a small biscuit or a tiny piece of chocolate posed on the saucer. Coffee in the morning, coffee mid-morning, coffee after lunch, maybe coffee mid-afternoon and coffee after dinner: four or five espressos at least go down the average Frenchman in the course of a twenty-four hour period. At that rate the metabolism must be whirring like a hummingbird.<\/p>\n 3. Gas that costs $7.80 a US gallon.<\/strong><\/p>\n That’s not a typo. Converted from liters to US gallons and from euros to US dollars, the price of gasoline is anywhere from $7 to $8 a gallon. At that price it is cheaper to take public transportation, even between cities. French people, particularly city dwellers, do a LOT of walking. In addition, Paris and Lyon have widespread bicycle rental facilities; you swipe your transit card and you can rent a bike for a short period of time (free for the first hour in Lyon).<\/p>\n 4. Not eating processed crap.<\/strong><\/p>\n