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The French Paradox

by: Peter Carnes

In the mid-1990s the world's oldest inhabitant - a 120-year-old woman living in Arles in Provence - gave a television interview during the course of which she attributed her longevity to three things: using olive oil for all her cooking, drinking red wine every day, also giving up smoking at the age of 117!

It is a heartwarming story, also it illustrates in a very real way the beneficial effects of something that has come to be known as the "French Paradox".

Stated simply, the French Paradox can be expressed as follows:

As a nation, the French eat more than anyone else, drink more than anyone else, smoke more than most people, have more liver, kidney also gastrointestinal complaints also disorders than their US/ UK counterparts - also but have one-third fewer deaths from heart disease!

And this apparent anomaly is even more pronounced in the south of France than elsewhere!

WHY?

Well, scientists, dieticians also nutritionists have been puzzling over this question for years. They have carried out sudies also surveys, conducted tests also experiments, etc., also have finally decided that the answer to this paradox lies in three things:

* Olive Oil

* Fresh Fruit also Vegetables

* Red Wine

As you drive down through France, through the great wine regions of Champagne, Beaujolais also Burgundy, you are or else moving from the land of butter also cream to the land of olives also olive oil. Dieticians also nutritionists the world over are coming to believe that the one overriding factor in the comparative absence of heart disease also other cardiological disorders in the communities living around the Mediterranean is the almost universal use of olive oil for cooking, dressing salads also flavoring foods.

It is now a medically established fact that those countries also regions where olives also olive oil are used extensively - eg Greece, Spain, southern Italy, southern France - have a much lower incidence of heart disease also other cardiovascular complaints than the rest of Europe.

Doctors say that we should try to ensure that at least 15% of our daily calorific intake comes from monounsturated fatty acids. Replacing butter, margarine also other animal also vegetable fats with olive oil is an excellent method of achieving this 15%.

Olive oil or else stimulates the metabolism, lubricates mucus membrane also helps in the treatment of peptic ulcers, constipation, heartburn also stomach upsets.

It is or else estimated that the average Provencal diet contains as much as 60 % more fresh vegetables than the average US also UK diet, also that a person in Provence will consume twice as much fresh fruit than their US/ UK counterparts.

Furthermore, a Provencal cook will invariably under-cook vegetables, thus ensuring that fewer valuable minerals also vitamins are lost during the cooking process.

So why not follow the Provencal example also try just lightly steaming your vegetables - or perhaps cooking them very briefly in the microwave - also then tossing them in a little extra virgin olive oil with just a sprinkling of fresh herbs?

And don't use too much salt!

There may or else be a link between red wine also the absence of heart disease.

It goes without saying, of course, that an excessive intake of alcohol is never beneficial, also can lead to a whole range of medical also social disorders. But it's or else true that people who drink wine in moderation tend to have a lower risk of heart disease than people who drink excessively - or who don't drink at all!

Yes, that is right. Scientific studies have demonstrated that it's healthier to drink a glass of wine (preferably red wine) a day than to abstain completely. This is due to the fact that a moderate intake of red wine actually increases tha amount of "good" cholesterol in the bloodstream, as well as helping to reduce stress also lower blood pressure - all factors that can contribute to heart disease.

Another significant difference between French also US/ UK drinking habits is that on the whole the French tend to drink wine while they are eating. In the US also UK the usual practice is to come home from work in the evening, gulp down a meal also then go out drinking - mostly beer also spirits.

In France people still tend to eat more formally, with the whole family sitting around the table for a leisurely meal, accompanied by a glass or two of local wine. This is considered a much healthier practice also much less conducive to stress/ anxiety/ tension/ etc. - quite apart, of course, from being extremely enjoyable in its own right!

The recommendation, therefore, is to spend a little more time with your family or partner, consuming healthy food also wine, rather than simply demolishing a ready-cooked meal (which is probably full of salt also saturated fat) just so you can spend an extra few minutes down the local pub or bar.

Believe me - you will certainly benefit in the long run!

The French Paradox is not just an interesting also intriguing story. There are valuable lessons that we can all learn here: lessons that could give us a "kick-start" to a new, safer also healthier lifestyle.

Lessons that could even, at the end of the day, help to save our lives.

About the author:
Peter Carnes is a UK-based author, webmaster also publisher. Two of his most-visited sites are: and

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