Put Your Fork Down, America
From Science Daily, a Cornell study asks why the French don't get as fat as Americans:
It's the French paradox redux: Why don't the French get as fat as Americans, considering all the baguettes, wine, cheese, pate and pastries they eat?Because they use internal cues -- such as no longer feeling hungry -- to stop eating, reports a new Cornell study. Americans, on the other hand, tend to use external cues -- such as whether their plate is clean, they have run out of their beverage or the TV show they're watching is over.
"Furthermore, we have found that the heavier a person is -- French or American -- the more they rely on external cues to tell them to stop eating and the less they rely on whether they felt full," said senior author Brian Wansink, the John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab in the Department of Applied Economics and Management, now on leave to serve as executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion until January 2009.
A terrific little book to change this sort of thinking is Diets Don't Work, by Bob Schwartz: Essentially, how to only eat when you're physically hungry, not emotionally hungry.
I think the Cornell researcher gets it only partly right. First of all, French portion size is much, much smaller, and the food is better and tastier. In America, you often get a tough, tasteless side of beef. In France, you get a small, delicious piece of steak. You're satisfied by the taste, so you don't have to keep eating and eating.
Even frozen food is tasty, and not because it's filled with weird chemicals and taste enhancers, but because it has butter and fat. I sometimes get microwaveable French TV dinners when I'm in France and on deadline, just in case things get to crazy for me to do more than walk to the refrigerator. You get a small piece of fish, with butter sauce...delicious.
Also, when they talk about "all the pastries" the French eat, the French aren't gorging on pastries all the time. And if they do have a pastry, it's the size of a small hockey puck, and so rich you can't really finish the whole thing. Here's another photo I took through the window of a closed patissérie. Note the size of grapes and berries for scale.
And French people aren't wolfing down whole baguettes, and then sucking down huge dinners. First of all, they eat meals; they aren't snacking constantly. (It's considered rude to walk around chowing something down.) Meals are to be enjoyed slowly, while seated. And baguettes are served cut up, to go with the meal.
Here's a snack I ordered at an ordinary little cafe, after shopping. Note the size of the knife for scale. And note that I ate about half a piece of bread, and without great paranoia of using butter.
Not exactly the snack size you get at Starbucks, huh? And no, I didn't finish my little snack...because I asked my stomach how it was doing, and it said, "Fine, thanks! That'll tide me over 'til dinner!" Not, "Cram it all in, baby!"
I didn't always eat this way. I was raised to be a member of the "Clean Plate Club." Very unhealthy and unsensual eating. But, being a thinking girl, I considered this mode of eating, and read Schwartz' book, and trained myself to eat only when I was hungry. And then I started going to France, and learned to only put high-quality food in me. And when you have good food, with fat in it, you don't want to cram down piles of it. A little is very sastisfying. One piece of French chocolate, as opposed to a one-pound Hershey bar.
Here, in America, people mistakenly eat these fat-free or low-fat diets that I believe cause them to binge. Fat, which fills you up and satisfies you, is replaced with sugar and empty carb calories, and you eat that fat-free cake, and 20 minutes later, you're hungry like you just crossed the dessert and haven't eaten for days. Gary Taubes, author of Good Calories, Bad Calories, has the science on why this type of eating is wrong, and has exactly the opposite effect that all the people starving themselves, and counting calories down to the half, hope it will.
Pictures of food=torture.
Tomare Utsu Zo at February 28, 2008 7:19 AM
Consider it patissérie-boarding. Glad to oblige.
Amy Alkon at February 28, 2008 7:21 AM
My daughters only eat fast food once a week, when they're with their father, whose life consists of nothing but fast food. But he's diabetic, and skinny as a rail, so he sees nothing at all wrong with it. I make dinner from scratch almost every night, and use venison or wild turkey more often than not(it helps having a boyfriend who hunts!). I saute the venison in a little butter, with garlic powder and cracked black pepper. Yum! o_O
Flynne at February 28, 2008 7:55 AM
My best china is about 90 years old. The serving bowl meant for 8 is the same size as the individual bowls in the sets on sale now. The muffin tins and pie plates from my Grandma are much smaller than the ones sold now. Portions didn't use to be so big in the US.
Last year we took the kids to the Arch here in St. Louis. The cars you ride in are about the size of an old telephone booth, with 5 seats. No one would design such small spaces now for our super-sized bodies.
Ruth at February 28, 2008 7:59 AM
I believe that portion size here really is our biggest challenge. When we eat out at a restaurant, I often get asked, "Was there something wrong with your meal?" because I didn't eat all or often even most of it. Fortunately, when we eat out, I do take my time to enjoy what I'm eating and we try to pick nicer restaurants with better quality food. (Aside: Much to the horror of my parents who, even though they are quite comfortable money wise, still pick cheap, chain diners. It takes some effort to overcome the parental brainwashing!)
When we eat at home, there's always 75 more things that need to get done, so I end up dashing through my plate. Being conscious of how I fill it is the key. And I try to take the time to make a decent, if quick, real meal.
moreta at February 28, 2008 8:06 AM
That's why I really like tapas bars. You get to taste a bunch of stuff and satiate different cravings...and the food is always flavorful.
They recommend 3 tapas per person but BF and I split 4 b/w the two of us and it was plenty. A little garlicky chicken, goat cheese melted over crushed tomatoes, boiled red skin potatoes with a drizzle of sauce and we split a small empanada. It was delicious and we couldn't clear our plates - yet we didn't eat all that much. Just enough protein, fat and carbs to satisfy.
This was followed by a wonderful stroll through the Museum of Fine Arts (Wednesday nights are free!) and a private tour with a Harvard art history doctorate student in the Ancient Greece section!
Gretchen at February 28, 2008 8:49 AM
I'm enjoying some homemade french onion soup even as we speak (well, okay, even as I type this!) The little restaurant downstairs in the building where I work is fabulous, everything is made from scratch. Oh and you all saw that picture of the raspberry tart in one of Amy's previous entries, and how I was salivating over it? The chef downstairs must've read my entry, because today, there was one sitting on top of the dessert case! So of course, I had to get a slice. Thanks, Benny! o_O
Flynne at February 28, 2008 9:17 AM
Just to whine a little today ... I CAN NOT STAND IT when a bigger person says to me 'how do you stay so skinny' like i have a magic leprechaun in my pocket that zaps away my fat. I am not super skinny, just healthy, but I am pretty short (5'2") and petite.
For me it is a very awkward question, especially depending on who asks. I don't want to hurt someone's feelings, and if it's a client I don't want to lose their business. I usually lie and say I must have high metabolism or that breastfeeding sucked the weight off of me (which it did help a lot), instead of saying I get off my lazy ass and walk and don't gorge myself on nasty food.
dena at February 28, 2008 9:47 AM
In the past two years, I've entirely changed my views on food and eating thanks to Gary Taubes' book (and interviews), and Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and its follow-up, In Defense of Food. Both men have the same essential message: don't worry, just eat food. You know, real food, butter, meat, grains, eggs, veggies--the stuff humans have evolved with over millenia, not the omega-3 calcium enriched with folic acid and flavanols package of Oreos or Red Baron pizza. Pollan takes it one step further: if any "food product" is promoted by a nutrtionist or makes any health claims (Fat free!) avoid it like the plague. In fact, the plague just might be better for you; lord knows margarine, in its limited existence, has probably done more damage to our bodies.
Rebecca at February 28, 2008 9:55 AM
I enjoyed "Good calories, Bad Calories." Here's a NYT article by Taubes, What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?.
Jeff at February 28, 2008 10:07 AM
I'm not exactly domestic, so I buy organic frozen vegetables, run hot water over them in the sink, strain them, and douse them with olive oil and sea salt when I don't have much food in the house.
My version of fast food.
I also eat pizza after my deadline. One slice from a fantastic pizza place near me. An assistant who temped for me when my assistant was away once brought me back two. Crazy. Who has the stomach for that much food?
Amy Alkon at February 28, 2008 10:10 AM
I think there's a big difference between eating a slice or two of a fresh, hand-tossed pizza made with real food (there's a place in my town that makes a divine hand-made red onion, walnut and gorgonzola pizza), and consuming those mystery disks of unpronounceable chemicals found in your average Weight Watchers package.
Rebecca at February 28, 2008 10:31 AM
At 30, I'm still struggling with how to eat properly. I realize I'm an adult and should be able to control myself, but it's difficult changing a lifetime of lousy eating. I'm not fat (on the high side of normal, according to weight charts), but I'm finding it difficult to not eat crap and control portions. This comes from being raised by Depression-era parents who thought throwing away food was a sin, and children got the same same portions adults did. My mother still thinks that at 5'4" and 220 lbs,, she is just fine.
Monica at February 28, 2008 10:46 AM
"Both men have the same essential message: don't worry, just eat food. You know, real food, butter, meat, grains, eggs, veggies--the stuff humans have evolved with over millenia, not the omega-3 calcium enriched with folic acid and flavanols package of Oreos or Red Baron pizza."
And, at least in Michael Pollan's case (haven't read Taubes), food was grown or produced locally in a sustainable way. That was the part of Onminvore's Dilemma that really changed my thinking. There's a big difference, in a ecological sense, between your organic produce from Whole Foods (or even my beloved Trader Joe's!) that's flown in from Argentina and the produce you buy from a farmer's market. I think The Omnivore's Dilemma should be mandatory reading!
pollan at February 28, 2008 11:20 AM
"Who has the stomach for that much food?"
I do. I put a little extra time in at the gym and watch what I eat all week so I can throw back two or three slices of spinach pizza. My affair with pizza borders on obsessive. It's my downfall. My Achilles heel. My crack. People tell me that if they think of pizza they immediately think of me.
Surprisingly, I'm NOT actually the shape of a pizza. I'm sure that I will have to cut back in a few years.
I also eat all day long. Stuff like fruit, hummus, carrots or a bowl of Kashi cereal. I eat before I get too hungry and keep my metabolism moving.
Gretchen at February 28, 2008 11:20 AM
"I also eat all day long. Stuff like fruit, hummus, carrots or a bowl of Kashi cereal. I eat before I get too hungry and keep my metabolism moving."
I find this works best for me, too. I'm not sure about keeping the metabolism moving, but I find that that if I go too long without food, I'll just bury my face in a bag of shredded cheese. Not attractive.
Monica at February 28, 2008 11:26 AM
A friend who's an epidemiologist pointed out that there are differences in human bodies, so the "More protein, please!" approach may not work for everyone, but it works fantastically for little old Ashkenazi-descended me.
Amy Alkon at February 28, 2008 12:21 PM
I can't say I'm the best eater around, but I was raised with and still stick to the notion of "real" food. I put real milk, butter, eggs, cheese, and everything else into what I cook, even if it's just something like mac n' cheese. The only hard part about this is telling people (when they ask me) what's in it, and getting some reply that insinuates that I've just fed them something that's going to be horrible for their weight.
The other thing is that we're limited to budget on the kinds of foods we buy. But then, we're just fine shopping at the local grocery store-- he says that the lunch I make for him, consisting of one sandwich and a small serving of dried fruits, is totally filling for him. (He's always surprised at this, too, since whenever he goes to Subway or some similar spot, he always needs a foot long or large or something.) If that's the case-- he's happy and full-- then I've got no complaints. And if organic or whatever prices go down or show up in the store (like bananas, which pop up quite frequently on the cheap side), I'll buy them.
Jean Moczy at February 28, 2008 12:22 PM
Kinda on Gretch's side here. It seems more likely that primitive man was snacking through the day as he came across edible morsels more than he sitting down in quaint French cafes to eat fatty meals and languorously ponder Camus with friends.
Of course, he was a frickin' primitive. And he never had anything as good as pizza.
Crid at February 28, 2008 1:04 PM
people mistakenly eat these fat-free or low-fat diets that I believe cause them to binge.
I agree! Plus low-fat diets make your hair and nails dry out and split, and will give your face that shrivelled, dessicated look. What's scary are the people who have young kids on low-fat diets; young bodies and brains NEED fat to develop properly.
I find that I also do better weight- and craving-wise by limiting my processed carbs, but YMMV.
deja pseu at February 28, 2008 1:11 PM
Primitive man moved a lot, and primitive man did not have carbohydrates to eat (save for the occasional berry), as carbs came in with advent of agriculture.
Amy Alkon at February 28, 2008 1:42 PM
Oh, speaking of idiots, let's add in the people who avoid milk and feed their children soy. And they wonder why eight-year-olds have pit hair and a B cup. And those are just the boys. Kidding. Sort of.
Amy Alkon at February 28, 2008 1:43 PM
In five months, I've lost 30 lbs. and counting. I'm now in better health and shape at 34 than I was at 24.
Funny - I once used to mindlessly follow the "low-fat/non-fat" diet trend and fool myself into thinking I was eating healthy.
I used to consider an entire day of avoiding meat and fat foods like sour cream, butter, etc. was considered a healthy day of eating.
Yet by the time I was 29 years old, I was up to 210 lbs...when I was 20, I was 155. I now weigh 180..down from 182 from last week Thursday.
And I've been an active, exercising person THE ENTIRE TIME. I've ALWAYS worked out 4-5 times a week.
I haven't changed my workouts, just my diet.
Now, if it says "lean" "low-fat" or "non-fat" I simply translate that into "non-nutritious, non-nourishing and not for me."
Dave from Hawaii at February 28, 2008 2:25 PM
Oh...and I ALWAYS eat until I'm full, and I no longer crave sugar, junk food or my former addiction, french fries.
Funny enough, the light bulb REALLY came on for me when I visited Scotland and Ireland last October. I joined in with the svelte, healthy looking Brits that ate bacon, sausage, eggs, black pudding and mushrooms cooked in bacon grease and butter as the standard breakfast every single day.
The "French Paradox" is an oxymoron...because there is no "Paradox."
It REALLY is as simple as "eat fat to lose fat."
Dave from Hawaii at February 28, 2008 2:29 PM
Check out this article. Amy, you have something when you talk about eating the real thing instead of the diet version of things, our bodies might even be able to tell the difference...subconsciously.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1650860,00.html
Also, I think lack of sleep has something to do with
Americans overeating as well. I'm always hungrier when I'm exhausted.
anne at February 28, 2008 2:42 PM
Actually Anne, a lack of sleep can also mean you are not eating healthy either - when you don't eat the right foods, your body does not produce the right balance of enzymes, hormones and other chemicals...including the hormones that regulate your sleep cycle.
Prior to changing my diets, I had insomnia at least once a week. Now I sleep soundly every night, and I never wake up groggy and exhausted anymore, just well rested and ready to start the day the moment my eyes open.
Dave from Hawaii at February 28, 2008 2:48 PM
I've gotten a lot of excellent information from this conversation. It's especially interesting since I've struggled with my weight my entire life, and only in the past year have become "normal."
I know that the portion size thing is truly the key; additionally, cooking with the aforementioned "real" food takes away from the intake of high fructose corn syrup (which I won't eat) and other unpronounceable chemicals.
However, I do steer clear of animal products, just because it works for me. I don't make anyone else drink soy milk or steer clear of animal products; I cook with meat, butter, eggs, and anything else, for guests, my boyfriend, and anyone else that's interested. I make an extra effort to keep my diet balanced, and I do use soy based stuff to supplement my lack of animal protein and dairy. If I had children (now that'll be the day!) I would cook the same food as I do for everyone else, and I recognize the integral part animal products play in childhood/adolescent development.
Just please don't think that all vegan-types are self-righteous neo-nazis. I am not.
Jessica at February 28, 2008 4:32 PM
A question, though, for anyone that knows.. In France, is the meat generally free of hormones? The reason I ask is because I buy meat from an independent rancher in west Texas - he doesn't use hormones, and the animals are pasture-fed - and my boyfriend has lost weight (although apparently it tastes better, too, according to him).
I've read that one of the reasons girls in America are approaching puberty at younger and younger ages with each decade is because of the hormones prevalent in meat and dairy products.
Jessica at February 28, 2008 4:38 PM
I am definitely a member of the clean plate club. My dad enforced it; he got it from his parents who grew up during the Great Depression.
I'm slowly getting over it. My diet sucks too. I had pizza for dinner 3 times last week.
Of course, my cholesterol is 140, with a lot of the good type, and my pulse and blood pressure are on the high side of normal. For that I can thank genetics.
Of course, I work out religiously, and have all of about 10% body fat, so I can afford to eat whatever I want to. I remember in High School I calculated my required caloric intake to be about 3600 calories a day. I don't think a whole lot has changed.
jody at February 28, 2008 4:42 PM
Two things Jessica: hormones in meat and dairy may certainly play a role in early puberty...but I think the bigger culprit is the estrogenic isoflavones found in SOY -- which has become ubiquitous in the American food supply.
Here's some reading for you.
Also, despite your thoughts on getting protein from soy, you need to research the topic and not accept the "conventional wisdom" that Soy is "health food" or a healthy alternative.
Finally, as a vegan, you do know about the very real dangers of vitamin B12 deficiency that are the inevitable consequence of being on a vegan diet for a sustained period of time.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20030618/vegetarian-diet-b12-deficiency
Finally, with regards to organic, pasture raised meat, the answer is quite simple: Ruminants natural diet is free range, wild growing grass. Most commercial/industrially farmed meats are raised on grains - soy, corn etc. Since they are not eating there natural foods, they become unhealthy, and the meat they provide for the mass market is void of the nutrition that naturally raised animals have in abundance.
Dave from Hawaii at February 28, 2008 4:53 PM
I'm happy to second, third, or fourth the idea that reasonable portions of high quality food is the way to eat. Fortunately for me, I love to cook and am good at it, which helps a lot with eating well - planning meals and buying and preparing food aren't a chore (most nights). My one additional pseudo-rule is to do my best to avoid highly glycemic foods (e.g., sugar, white rice, white bread, fruit juice) most of the time. Not all the time, though - I think denial also gets people into eating trouble.
I also tend to avoid carbohydrate-rich foods at dinner; I read somewhere that there's not much need to put that sort of fuel in your body at night. Made sense to me, but I haven't explored it further.
justin case at February 28, 2008 7:57 PM
And, at least in Michael Pollan's case (haven't read Taubes), food was grown or produced locally in a sustainable way.
The idea of fresh, local and sustainable is great for wealthy foodies in good climates. One can do it fairly easily here in San Francisco. But I don't think we can actually feed the world without industrial agriculture. I believe that organic/sustainable/etc. farms have lower yields; we can't all eat that way, right?
justin case at February 28, 2008 8:03 PM
Uh, I guess it's time for me to stop noshing on those chocolate toffee almonds that I bought at the market tonight.
I thought that they were really health food because the brand name was "Orchard Valley Harvest"...
Amy, don't miss out on the while you are in France. It is grass fed and delicious.
nancy at February 28, 2008 11:12 PM
Thank you, Dave. My research has not been as thorough as it should be; however, I do feel better than I've ever felt before (and I'm sure this is due to a combination of things).
I get my B12 from kale and other dark green vegetables.
I do not accept conventional wisdom that if it says "soy" it's healthy - I use beans and legumes in general, soybeans among them, to supplement protein, along with a variety of nuts. I'm very particular about which soy based products I use. The reason I drink soy milk or almond milk is because I am lactose intolerant.
I do appreciate your answers, though, a lot.
Jessica at February 29, 2008 6:08 AM
Amy, I am curious about your eating experiences in France - do you mostly eat in restaurants, or also with French friends in their homes?
I ask b/c, with a French spouse, we spend a lot of our time over there eating with family & friends in their homes. My own experience (YMMV) has been that there is a *huge* emphasis on cleaning one's plate, and what's worse (for me at least) is that most of my husband's relatives insist on serving everyone themselves, so they control the portion size that ends up on my plate. It may just be my in-laws though - they are pretty blue-collar, and my husband's 90-year-old grandmother always follows up the clean-plate exhortations with stories about having to eat cats during the Occupation in Paris.
That said, I agree 100% that the food in general there is much healthier and better, even when it's rich and slathered in sauce. And despite having to eat bigger portions than I'd prefer, I usually end up losing weight while there just b/c of the type of food and all the walking.
BerthaMinerva at February 29, 2008 7:51 AM
Jessica, understand that you are still at risk for B12 deficiency.
This is from the vegetarian society's own website:
"The only reliable unfortified sources of vitamin B12 are meat, dairy products and eggs.
There has been considerable research into possible plant food sources of B12. Fermented soya products, seaweeds and algae have all been proposed as possible sources of B12. However, analysis of fermented soya products, including tempeh, miso, shoyu and tamari, found no significant B12.
Spirulina, an algae available as a dietary supplement in tablet form, and nori, a seaweed, have both appeared to contain significant amounts of B12 after analysis. However, it is thought that this is due to the presence of compounds structurally similar to B12, known as B12 analogues. These cannot be utilised to satisfy dietary needs. Assay methods used to detect B12 are unable to differentiate between B12 and it's analogues, Analysis of possible B12 sources may give false positive results due to the presence of these analogues."
In short, the human body was designed/created and/or evolved (Whatever you believe) to consume, digest, metabolize and use animal protein and fats. This is why we all have the dental structure for tearing flesh, and why our stomachs produce hydrochloric acid - physiological features that are only found in carnivores and omnivores in every other species found in nature.
In short, the human body needs to eat meat and fat from animal sources.
If you are a vegetarian solely because you are an "animal lover" that can't abide with the thought of participating in the natural cycle of life and the human beings natural place in the food chain, you should at least derive the proteins, fats and essential vitamins that can only gotten from animal sources from eggs and wholesome dairy. It costs more, but free range eggs are natures "perfect" health food.
If you are relying on deep green vegetables as your sole source of essential vitamins like B12, it is simply a matter of time before you do develop the problems associated with vitamin B12 deficiency.
Dave from Hawaii at February 29, 2008 1:32 PM
How is our dental structure designed to tear flesh? Have you tried this yourself, on a dead antelope?
Humans are omnivores, like a few other primates, and I think even these other primates have bigger canine teeth than we do.
Chrissy at March 2, 2008 7:46 AM
It seems likely our brains evolved to be what they are because early man started eating meat. And once our brains evolved, voila! We invented silverware!
Amy Alkon at March 2, 2008 8:11 AM
I agree with Amy, evolution and silverware! The studies I've read indicate that we evolved physically as omnivorous scavengers - but we quickly evolved beyond that to use tools to hunt (and cut up!)our own meat. Is that intellectual evolution just as important - or more so - than the physical evolution? DEFINITELY. We are at the top of the food chain for a reason.
My only complaint - and yes, the biggest reason I don't eat meat, though I may go back to it eventually (especially since I've found an independent rancher) - is that we've surely also evolved sufficiently to be able to consistently be humane in the use of animals. As in, I wish that death was consistently instant for the animals we eat and that animals we use for items like dairy were reasonably well treated. I'm sure I'll get flak for this, and I'm sorry if this concern is irritating to anyone here. I don't mean that I think anyone else should give up meat!!
Finally, I think hunting is the absolute best of all worlds, in most cases - I have hunted axis deer in central Texas, and those animals get to live relatively happily until a reasonable humane and close-to-instant death occurs.
Jessica at March 4, 2008 8:02 AM
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