Fetbobbas Forum

The French Paradox
While people often cite the French Paradox as a reason to indulge in a high fat diet, the other side of the French Paradox is that the French eat roughly 40% more wheat than Americans do. Their tradition of very high wheat consumption dates back to at least the 1800s. The French are also "addicted" to antibiotics, they have no interest in exercise, are technically "undernourished", yet they have 1/3 the obesity, very low incidence of chronic diseases like CHD and diabetes, and they have very few problems metabolizing gluten. Finding gluten-free options in France is no easy task.

The French do not obsess about their health—they only obsess about the taste of their food. Up until now, there has been no explanation for why the French have the ability to stay healthy on a Western diet rich in meats, baguettes and pastries. It's a mystery. Even Dr. Davis has no idea how to explain why French "modern" wheat is so tolerable. Meanwhile many Americans cannot touch the same wheat without triggering inflammation and weight gain.

What nobody seems to have noticed is that the French diet is engineered to inhibit the absorption of iron and scavenge its free radicals. Tea, coffee, cocoa, wine phenolics/tannins, eggs, chocolate and cheese are all well known to inhibit non-heme iron. The fondue, cream sauce or cheese course at the end of the meal inhibits heme and non-heme iron. Various forms of cooking transform some heme iron into non-heme iron. Wine does contain iron, and alcohol does improve iron absorption, however red wine phenolics reduce lipid peroxidation, and can inhibit iron absorption, especially when the alcohol is cooked off. The darker and higher the heme content of the meat, the more tannins and phenolics we crave to pair them with. Hollandaise sauce, red wine reductions, chocolate, cheese, spices like rosemary—they all inhibit iron absorption. It's not intentional—tastebuds crave these kinds of food combinations.

Secondly, the French do not fortify their foods. Their baking standards require that their white flour be pure. As much as a chocolate croissant might seem devoid of nutrition, chocolate makes up for the loss of nutrients in refined flour—trading wheat bran for a cacao paste.

Chocolate is an excellent source of iron-scavening phytates, polyphenols, and high in micronutrients like manganese and copper. French children traditionally ate bread or croissants dipped in bowls of hot chocolate for breakfast, and pain au chocolat as weekend treats.

The French do have high incidence of colon cancer, which may be an indication that their relatively low fiber diet, addition to antibiotics (or both) may not be ideal.

Vem ska man tror på, tro på, tro på?  :confused3: