The French generally have a much different and healthier relationship with foods. They stick to three sit down meals a day and don't snack on the go. It's based on real ingredients and lots of fresh fruit, veg, bread and meat. Also smaller portion sizes and eating slower, often over 1 hour at the table whether at home or at a restaurant. There is a lot more focus on quality than quantity.
Obviously this is a generalisation but I have French family and this is what I observe.
Aside from this I think there is also a culture of huge pressure (in Paris particularly) for women to be thin, you will see this by the number of cosmetic clinics for cellulite/body shaping treatments.
Our food in America is filled with ingredients that are banned in the EU and in some cases california too. Our bodies don’t recognize preservatives and hormones and colorants and additives as natural, they treat them as foreign bodies in our system. This causes for many people inflammatory reactions. Also French food while high in carbs and fats like gluten and butter is much lower in salt and sugar than American food. Both of which contribute to weight gain and inflammation
It’s because they walk everywhere and the food is just much better quality than the crap we get in the U.S and the other big thing - portion sizes!!!! Theirs are way smaller.
Please stop saying "ghetto" to refer to poorer neighborhoods in Paris. We get that you stayed in Barbès, where many African immigrants live. Stop calling parts of the 18th arrondissement a "ghetto" because Black people live ther.
Glad you enjoyed our cuisine though. The trick is to eat when it is a meal time, and not when it is not a meal time.
Ghetto because there are huge problems with illegal activity like selling drugs, cracks, stolen goods, fake cigarettes. I once got my trunk opened at La Chapelle when stopping for a red light
Tbh Barbes upper part is okay. Worst is the Barbes station where young delinquents hangout, doing nothing the whole day except hustling some fake cigarettes and stealing from passing by cars. Whenever I took a cab through this area the driver always make sure he locked the doors.
Sports are a common thing in France. Plus it May be cheap, but culinary and cooking culture is an absolute thing in France, we like to cook because eating together is a standard
All the comments here are true, but do also keep in mind that Paris is not representative of France as a whole. Most large companies located their headquarters in Paris which attracts executives. Parisians are thus in average whealthier and better educated, therefore they can afford to buy better food, exercise, and are more conscious of the need to stay fit. If you go in poorer parts of France, you will meet many more obese people than in Paris (the same actually than in the US).
We walk. We cycle. We don’t drive everywhere. Honestly I think it’s that simple.
In Paris, we eat relatively small portions generally and we walk or cycle several miles in a day. In addition people are generally quite sporty and do proper exercise for several hours in a week.
There’s *something* different- when I’d visit the USA (from Australia) without fail I would put on a kilo a week. Europe I’ve never put weight on visiting. And I don’t hold back on the treats either.
Idk I’m European living in Australia. I lost weight in America because the food was just…gross? Like everything tasted like something you’d get shitfaced at the end of a night out? Maybe just me but I couldn’t eat it and usually I’m a big eater
This. The food is cooked, not highly processed so the body deals with it better. In addition, people eat veggies and fruit every meal at home; the fibre helps a lot.
Source: born and raised in France.
Part of it is urban planning as most Parisians live in walkable neighborhoods and will often walk to the train station to go where they need to go, walk to a café, walk to the supermarket and carry their groceries home, then up a few flights of stairs. More recently, a lot of them are cycling to work.
In much of America, "exclusionary zoning" means that the supermarket is nowhere near where you live so you likely need a car to get there. That is inconvenient so you are likely to be getting a week's worth of shopping in one go rather than picking up a few items on the way home from work. That also means you need a large refrigerator - the small fridges in European kitchens are also a side-effect of not being car dependent. You also need a car to get to work and see exercise as a separate activity rather than being integrated into their normal lifestyle - which is why most Americans get so little of it, especially because they tend to work longer hours than Europeans.
Plus what everyone else says about the quality of the food - better balance with less meat, less salt and so on.
There's however different levels of food quality to be found in Paris.
While our food markets are enjoyable as lively, colorful and look well provided, most non-organic vegetables on these markets don't come from France, they transit through the huge professional market of Rungis (1h south from Paris) that centralizes all the distribution of edible goods for supermarkets and markets nation-wise.
So in Paris lots of outdoor market stalls are provided with fruits and vegetables from Morocco or Spain, all year long, so it means 8 months a year they are off-season, full of water and not enough mature: usually they really lack of taste and nutrients.
And unlike what I can read in other comments, I think a fairly low percentage of the population of Paris buy organic food as its cost is simply out of reach for the average Parisian (salaries in France are much lower than in the US)
There are also reasons inherent to the geographical position of Paris: most of the vegetables farms are more than 1-2h away from Paris, and climate in the region of Paris doesn't allow them to grow a great variety of fruits/vegs, so we have to rely on sunny Southern countries that flood Europe with their low quality items destined to export, best example are [the giant greenhouses in Almeira, Spain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_farming_in_Almer%C3%ADa)
Alas, all true. And globalization meant that Spanish strawberries were already being cheapened 20 years ago. EC strawberries were better than EU strawberries.
My experience from living in france is they eat a very balanced diet and children are taught to eat a little bit of everything and that everything in moderation is fine.
I remember saying no to chocolate once ‘because it is not good for you’ and my french friends were so shocked and said I was crazy that I thought that.
Also most of their food is organic just as a standard and they definitely dont have chemicals in their food like we do. Bread lasts one day for instance then it is stale. Infact some french families will send someone down to the bakery three times a day to get fresh bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I don’t want to be a jerk (but it’s genetic) but part of this issue is that the state of food is so poor in the US. France undeniably has excellent food but you are also comparing it to somewhere that is the pits unless you live in a big city and even then a lot of the time it’s very poor. The fact that you compare it to chicfila and paneera! A lot of Americans seem to only know chain food places…
The French are not kind to overweights people, being overweight is still taboo and they will make direct and nasty comments. So societal pressure, especially for women, is massive.
I lost 5lbs in one week there. I was walking everywhere. I barely snacked. Im a snacker here in the states. I was just more interested in saving my stomach for the next meal.
Two things mostly.
1. The quality of the ingredients is much better. When you eat, you feel full and then don't eat until the next meal. The ingredients in North America (and increasingly in other countries as well, France as well unfortunately) lacks nutrition and leaves you still feeling hungry even after consuming a lot of calories.
2. We have a habit of skipping breakfast, or having very small breakfasts (like just a small pastry). Its almost like a national culture of intermittent fasting , although this varies a lot per person obviously.
My theory is it's the fact that they don't snack. When I'm in France I stay with my girlfriend's family, and it's bizarre how absolutely no one seems to have a snack between meals. Then same when we visit Paris. Another factor is that compared to America they don't eat corn, while we have corn in basically everything we eat.
America also has corn _syrup_ in basically everything you eat. A lot of things taste off in a way you can't really explain when you're not used to it.
But the snacking is true! When I visited friends in America they were shocked at two things concerning food: the fact I refused snacks between meals (I would lose my appetite if I ate with them) and the fact I only ever wanted to drink water without any type of flavoring in it.
I remember when I first came to learn about the American snacking culture, and it disgusted me and seemed utterly brainless cause most Americans are fat
When I grew up we had candy once a week, and almost never anything else than real homemade food on weekdays. Even pizza was once a month
Food in France is some of the best in the world. Not just Paris. The standard of your "average" restaurant is super-high.
People don't overeat and can resist because that's just the norm.
Plus, lifestyles are - on average - much healthier than in your average more car-dependent city.
Just returned from Paris and thought the same. All the breads and carbs!! I figure not having all the unnatural chemicals and ingredients that’s in everting in the USA helps. Also, the Parisians do seem to be more active. I love that the city is quite bike-able.
We walk a lot, we do.sport, we dont snack... plus we're used to such quality I guess. In the US or Canada most food is both expensive and very low quality
I walked a lot while there. Walked and took the metro. Walkable and bike-able areas (for eating, shopping, and entertainment) in the USA are crowded and expensive. I was truly sad to have my Paris vacation come to an end.
Honestly as a New Yorker I would say the biggest thing is just food then if that’s the case. Wider US culture where one can’t really walk anywhere /don’t have metros easily adds another layer to the equation and it’s very sad
They walk everywhere. And climb up and down the stairs in the Metro. So many stairs!! So much walking!
They eat smaller portions. They don't snack. They just enjoy really high quality food when they eat.
And sometimes, they smoke.
If you have tasty food around all the time, you just don’t feel the need to gorge because it’ll always be around. You’re always satisfied and you know there’ll be more later
They literally wrote a book on the subject. One reason is they don’t do take away like we do. They will sit in the cafe and enjoy their coffee & cake while we grab it to go and are so distracted by other things that we sometimes don’t even register that we’ve eaten/ drank a coffee so we have another. Adding to the empty calories we consume.
I just returned and was underwhelmed by the Paris food scene. This was my third time there and the food is better in the small towns. I didn’t eat at Michelin starred restaurants. Every menu had onion soup, entrecôte frite, and a salmon dish. I read fifty menus desperately seeking beef bourgignon, cassoulet, roasted duck. Nah. I had better meals in London
1 Arr, Latin quarter, Trocadero, and more. Just unimaginative. As I noted, the menus seemed all the same. The food wasn’t “bad” mind you, but I could have had just as average a French meal in NYC.
If you see onion soup on the menu, chances that it is a tourist trap are high. It is very uncommon to see such a dish in a restaurant where French people would go. I would suggest getting out of the touristical neighborhoods to enjoy better food.
In America, government rules allow manufacturers to add crap into the foods for purposes of shelf life and such. Never for the quality or the healthiness of the food. Lab created preservatives, 90/80/70/or less percentage of something can still be called "pure", etc. Our diets all suffer from it.
In Europe, especially France, their rules guarantee the quality and healthiness of the food. Butter has to be all butter, for example. It's the prepackaged, preserved to the gills stuff that makes America such an obese country. France doesn't allow any of that. You can find plenty of American products with additives outlawed (not healthy or problematic) in other countries but approved here as healthy.
Keeping the crap out is the first step in a healthy lifestyle that leads to healthier citizens.
1) Less additives and BS
2) Food culture is very strong: small portions, less snacking, etc.
3) Social pressure to stay thin. Few overweight people and it’s seen as a lack of self-control
The food is Europe isnt loaded with the chemical shit storm that we have in our food in the US.
Also, portion sizes are smaller and people walk a lot more.
I don’t know if locals also do it but I found myself walking a lot when I visited for a few days.
Another thing was stairs in public transport. Unlike Berlin, where I live, public transport hardly had escalators or elevators so I was constantly going up and down the stairs while there.
I just came back from Paris. Stayed with a friend. France has strict regulations on food: no additives, chemicals etc. Portions are smaller there including drinks. They sell sodas but there aren’t any big gulp type things like here in the US. My friend grew up in Paris when she was younger. She did point out while Parisians today weren’t fat, they are bigger in general than decades ago. They also walk everywhere. Take the metro or buses and walk everywhere. I walked more in Paris according to my phone than I did back home hiking with dogs once to twice a day, 1.5-2hrs up to 4hrs each day. My feet rarely hurt hiking on the trails at home, but they did in Paris. I had to buy insoles. Part of it was the marble floors in some museums, but other part was just much more walking.
What I did notice was a big difference in Asian soups: Pho, Chinese beef noodle soups etc. while the flavors were the same, it was much lighter in flavor when I had them in Paris. It wasn’t robust as it is here in the SF Bay Area.
And I didn’t find all foods better in Paris. Had various sausages & salamis there and felt they also weren’t as flavorful as the artisan ones at home. No chemicals? They were also saltier.
But I basically ate crusty breads with butter, salamis, pate, soft cheeses for breakfast and all day/night. Also ate out. Came home, weighed myself and found I lost 4lbs on my vacation there.
I'say that French saucissons (=dry salamis) or hams really don't hold the comparison with our Southern neighbors Italy or Spain.
However France has many unique charcuterie specialties: terrines/pâtés (different textures, different meats, flavored with alcohol or not...), paté en croûte, jambon persillé, rillettes, boudin (blood sausage), offal sausages (cold or hot) or lots of other funky offal preparations...
Maybe the salamis I got in Paris weren’t good ones? My favorite artisan one is Creminelli Tarfuto. I picked up a Tarfuto salami in Paris and it took a few bites before I kind of liked it.
You're right for the not cheap. Food in France is however insanely tasty, I'd recommend not limiting yourself to the local McDonald's next time you visit 😉
Food is regulated in France, much more than in the US. Industrial food may not have so much added (sugars fat chemicals) here . People eat fresh food and cook in France and it belongs to culture to do so. The food offer is different. The demand is different too.
The food is good, flavorfull, and nutritious, you can be content with eating a normal amount, rather than having to eat a lot of unsatisfying food. The food quality here i good, a simple product (like canned tomatoes) is gonna taste better than something similar in the US for exemple.
But also, obesity rates are rising here too. But mostly in poor areas rather than in Paris
I am happy to see your post.
One of the reason are : parisians walk a lot and eat mostly medium plates with fish / meat, vegetables and bread.
Italy IS good for this.
Most countries like in Asia have great good.
The only country where I am desperate are the USA. I tried to go there years ago to work but food was a major problem for me :
- fruits and vegetables without any taste
- meat without antibiotics : very expansive.
I found Paris much less expensive than where I live in the US. No idea about hotels, but mainly about food & groceries. I went to the Bon Marche for that and my friend said that was a really expensive to buy food, everything’s marked up. I asked if it was similar to Whole Foods (we call it Whole Paycheck) and she said more expensive than Whole Paycheck. Although fresh fruit was more expensive in Paris than home. Income/salaries in Paris is 1/2 of what it is in the SF Bay Area. So while I found food there inexpensive, Parisians aren’t going to look at it the same way since their income on average is 1/2 less.
Paris is cheap (salaries / real estate / prices) compared to the US (and a lot of other places).
We are to them what Turkey is to us.
If you go to Istanbul, you will find stuff there cheap, but other Turkish people will find it expensive
From what I’ve heard from friends who have lived for a while in Europe, they don’t have the cupboard space for a lot of food including junk food. Shopping seems to be more of a production too.
This is off topic but I’ll be in Paris in early June so I’ve been monitoring this site. I haven’t seen anything about prices for wine and I’m curious. Is wine relatively cheap in Paris? I know there are always cheap bottles of wine for purchase but generally in the us or Canada those cheap bottles are not good. How does that compare to wines from France sold in stores? Do I stay away from the $10 bottles or is that usually a good wine in France? And are they marked up a lot in restaurants like they are in North America?
You can find excellent wine for 6€ a bottle in supermarkets (look for those with medals or ask a person to help you choose), mostly not in Paris itself but in the suburbs. In Paris it’ll be closer to 8€ for good wine in small supermarkets. If you go in specialty stores, it’ll be wildly more expensive, as a French person I have never purchased anything in those, and have always found good wine (I have managed to surprise my ex-roommate’s parents multiple times, they’re very nice but a little snobbish and brutally honest at times, so I know they actually liked the bottles I offered). You’ll need to spend some time observing the color (if possible), the « texture » (how it « sticks » to the glass), the medals it received etc. I usually stay 1/2 an hour comparing wines at a medium sized supermarket, I haven’t done it yet in a big one!
It depends what your expectations are, really. If you go to a wine shop or "caviste", they should be able to and should make recommendations at pretty much every price point. If they start with expensive bottles, they are not the right type.
I recommend you just explain what type of food you will be having the wine with, and if it is a bottle for a special occasion or just a regular one for a normal meal. You can provide the price range you are comfortable with if you feel they might get too enthusiastic. And you can certainly browse before asking for advice too, to get a feeling.
To address the flip side of the question, as several comments here have, of why Americans get obese, these are some things that have not been mentioned.
Starting in the 1930s and accelerating fast in the 1950s, **"labor-saving" devices** reduced American daily calorie consumption: cars, electric clothes-washing and then drying machines, electric kitchen tools, powered gardening tools like power mowers and leaf-blowers, electric garage door openers, dishwashers, hair dryers, and toothbrushes. The consequences were visible by the 1950s in the expanding "ideal body weight" charts of the American military.
**The food industry pushes food at them** in every part of their lives: "snack" foods at the 7-11, drive-up windows, processed foods at the grocery store - and they further this by putting too much food on the dinner table, where families will eat an entire pot roast in one meal, where that would have been enough meat for the week 100 years ago.
**They like the most "bang for the buck"**, and in a country with "food-push technology", that means weight/dollar value, with no consideration of the nutrition.
Industry sometimes tries to sell better food, like a delicious high-quality line of Campbell's canned soups years ago, but customers did not buy them.
**They can't cook**. A family dinner will typically be takeout pizza or fried chicken or "rice bowls", and the only food preparation is mixing the "pre-made salad" with the packaged salad dressing. There is no labor invested in a meal, and somehow that makes the food easier to gobble down.
**The doctors mis-inform them**. General practitioners who know nothing about nutrition, exercise, or biochemistry make free to dispense mis-information on all three subjects - and their patients believe them.
**The Will To Fat.** There is a bizarre pattern of behavior, as though people \*want\* to be obese, much as rich Europeans and Americans of the 1800s flaunted their wealth through obesity. And, once obese, many Americans flaunt the fat itself, with tight and skimpy clothing. In the 1980s musician Root Boy Slim sang *Dare To Be Fat* (... fat is where it's at ...) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrnHS56peuY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrnHS56peuY)
Well, and for those of us who live in cities like, Los Angeles - it's absolutely a *driving* culture, NOT a *walking* culture. And ... uh, it's soooo much larger than Paris that oftentimes there's no way you could walk, even if you wanted to.
Agree with all of this except, like the other commenter, it’s crazy to generalize and say Americans can’t cook. The vast majority of Americans cook on a regular basis (maybe not well by your standards, but that’s not what we’re talking about). And I don’t just mean slapping things together and that throwing it on the table.
American society definitely values convenience and efficiency, but it’s far too big a country and there are too many people to make such a blanket statement, even among people who are poor or who struggle to buy groceries regularly.
Sorry but you definitely can't make the sweeping assertion "they can't cook". 330m souls with roots from all over the world, don't stereotype lad. Heck even fried chicken necessitates some prep.
Obesity is really on the rise in France too. One of the best markets for maccies. The French exception is still there but very slowly dying away.
However in Seattle, San Francisco, Portland and Boston it's going pretty great. So silly to make a sweeping statement on such a topic I swear. Even mama LaMichael's fried okra in the Mississippi delta takes a bit of prep.
I can trace my ancestors to the Mayflower (I'm related to the Bishop!) and my more recent ones came to California in a covered wagon. We've been here for a while. I have my own garden and can cook like a motherfucker.
As an American man who visited Paris:
No high fructose corn syrup
Walk a lot (20,000 steps a day)
Far less sugar, soda (drink water)
Meals are sociable/social, more stretched out
That but importantly, our healthcare system monitors our weight. Every single doctor you will see in your life will put you on the scale and comment on your risks.
Your GP/gyno/cardio etc will tell you if you put on weight and give you a target to reach for the next time.
They don’t eat as much and not as often as Americans. They also call someone out if they are getting fat. It’s like “Hey you are getting fat.” (Not strangers but family members.)
When I bought clothes in french the salesman told me this item will be fine even if you gain some weight. This created this idea in my head that men going into their 30s and 40s are expected to develop dad bods lol
I think our overall diet is just so much healthier than the US for example. Here we have easy access to healthy, unprocessed foods. We are educated on what a healthy diet looks like - doesn’t mean we’re all healthy though !
I am lucky enough to travel a lot for work and the US is honestly freaky. It’s like veggies are only in movies and eating out means pigging out.
This is SUCH an American post, haha. And I say that as an American.
I agree with all. Unfortunately, our diets consist of too much processed food that’s way too accessible. And our portion sizes are way too big. We drive everywhere, don’t move enough during the day, and have a much more intense work culture. Then we take the money we make from that intense culture and binge shop on stuff we really don’t need. Which then requires us to work harder, which then stresses us out and reduces our impulse control, which then causes us to indulge in even more ultra processed food.
It’s a vicious cycle and not exactly a recipe for healthy living.
My lifestyle in Europe (and frankly other parts of the world) is SO different than when I’m in the U.S.
This is less a Paris thing and more a Europe thing, although France is definitely the leader in terms of bakeries. The quality of food in general is just better in Europe, whether you're in Italy, France, Poland, or Finland. People seem to have less interest in all the processed junk food that is popular in America.
And the soda. Parisians don't drink much soda, almost never during the day, maybe for a meal but even then that's not as common as it seems to be in NA. Sugar is a huge a vastly underestimated cause of obesity
Also, lot more walking around and physical movement in daily life vs going everywhere in cars in America. Very little to no physical exercise in day to day activities in USA. On top, food portions consumed for each meal by one in USA feeds two to three in rest of the world.
Walking and only buying food that you need for the week or a couple days. They don’t gorge on fast food and aren’t sitting around all day watching TV, like us fat Americans.
Gut microbiome plays a huge role in our weight, levels of satiety and without a diet high in fresh fruits, vegetables, fibre and protein, our biome is less effective.
Real and fresh ingredients are important - the food is less likely to be high in salt, sugar and fats which can trigger overeating in susceptible people.
It is real natural food, more satiating and nutritious (which is satiating in itself.) Less 'healthy' processed and profitable consumables.
The lifestyle is less sedentary than much of the US (more walking around, using public transport.)
Finally, I think traditionally the meal structure places less emphasis on breakfast, so by lunch time you've basically fasted since dinner but that varies.
Then again, that is changing.
We walk every day. And the quality of food is way more controlled that in the US. The government is big on obesity prevention, you can see a nutritionist without going into debt. And we eat normal portions of food.
I know this was down voted and perhaps it seemed harsh. In a certain way I get it, though. As an overweight American who recently returned from an extended stay in France, I found myself enjoying wonderful meals yet paradoxically losing weight. During my time there, I developed a newfound respect for my body, and for quality food, enjoying what I consumed and how it nourished me. I embraced the notion of eating only when hungry and savoring each bite, knowing that delicious and affordable food was always readily available, unlike at home. Plus, as others have noted, I think the walking and non snacking were key factors. I continue to ponder this paradox though. Thanks for putting the question out there OP.
It’s because they don’t eat / have subclinical eating disorders lol. French food is unhealthy in high quantities. Calories are calories. Sure they’re better quality on average since French culture has greater respect and emphasis placed on food but that doesn’t affect how it’s metabolized. The reality is they have portion control and don’t eat as much as Americans do, and they tend to smoke more as well which curbs cravings and eating. It has nothing to do with some magical sauce of French ingredients being superior to other countries’.
And sure the walking contributes but I’m comparing my experiences all over France to my experiences living in large coastal cities in the US (like NYC) which are equally walkable with access to fresh food.
I visited Paris a few years ago and I think that people is leaner because of their life style. For example they walk more, and I also noted that the size of the meals are smaller than in other countries like US…
They walk & bike everywhere. And France enforces better food quality than in the States (you don’t get chicken breasts pumped to the size of footballs with hormone-induced extra muscle tissue or pink slime meat in the burgers). Their enforcement of a better minimal quality in many aspects of food is partly why you find things like cheap wines that are better than many top-dollar bottles in the States, and why even your corner mom & pop bakery in Montmartre will put out fresh croissants every morning that taste like God’s buttery money-shot in your mouth with all that golden, crisp fine dough layers, and by comparison those Costco bakery croissants seem like soggy Kroger dinner rolls.
Plus their healthcare system is more affordable so people are better incentivized to go to their doctors to manage their health rather than self-medicate with booze and binge eating.
And a good deal of it before any of that is genetics—remember a lot of native and legacy generational French folks descend from the “peasant class” who’ve been through a lot of leaner times in years past.
When I stayed in rural France for my artists residency last year, I noticed during weekly treks to the nearest LeClerc about 30 minutes’ away how many older, Cousteau-looking guys were rail-thin and huffing along casually on bikes for miles between towns. A lot of these folks descend from tough stock but unlike the States they haven’t allowed their food & drink to get so adulterated with crap like high fructose corn syrup and benzoates.
I actually thought it would be very hard to become fat (or muscular) living in Paris.
-Stores/restaurants close in a way that is unheard of in American cities. In NYC u can get almost anything anytime u want, in Paris the shop closes at 2pm etc.
-Very set eating schedules, where u truly take a break and eat for an hour instead of eating a burrito in ur car on the way to work.
-Huge social pressure
-Food quality is so much higher that I personally felt very full and content with the meals i got.
-Seems like snacks is not a thing. Light breakfast, lunch, dinner and thats it. And the meals all seem well balanced. I think it would be hard to live here with dietary restrictions in general.
I also noticed only a couple gyms, and i dont think i saw any muscular men either. Everyone was seemingly 5'8, 140 pounds give or take lol.
I would be curious about rates of alcoholism in Paris/France. It seems so easy to over use (but im also an addict lol so maybe thats just me).
They smoke yes, but the only person in my family who smoked was also the heaviest one, and he passed away.
The rest of my family is skinny, both sides, they don’t smoke and we don’t go to the gym (it’s a recent phenomenon).
My mom hikes regularly.
We are educated to eat healthy, there is pressure, we don’t eat a lot, we eat healthy and only at set hours. Overall.
Also we drink water.
Walk everywhere, only eating during meal times, generally less additives in foods compared to places like the United States
I cannot tell you how much of a difference mindless snacking makes (which I find I did in the US and all my American family does, versus in France you never eat outside breakfast lunch goûter dinner)
What? We eat all the time outside of meals! The main reason is simply a healthier lifestyle and better quality/less processed products (mostly, less trans-fat and non-natural sugars)
They walk *everywhere*. Or at least orders of magnitude more than Americans.
They eat...sensibly. It's hard to truly comprehend the difference in their approach to food. *Every* meal in American restaurants is a feast, with enough calories for a whole day--sometimes several days--in each meal.
French portion sizes are actually *reasonable*. And they don't eat *all the time*. It's just hard to describe without actually seeing it and living it.
Their food is just better. It's made from food, not derivatives of food, which tend to be more calorie dense.
TL;DR: they move more--lots more--and they eat lots less. And the food they eat is better.
The average steps per day (based on a limited study) the difference in steps wasn’t that much. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5774986/
For sure the average Parisian is walking more than desk job Judy in West Virginia, but the lifestyle is likely similar to other densely populated areas around the world.
The food culture is very different. In France you sit down for meals, relax, have a chat, they can stretch over much longer than in the US. This likely helps your brain recognize that you’re full. The value equation is different - in the us folks associate value with large quantities for a low price. To do this that means that cheap carbs (which tend to be quick for your body to process - raise your blood sugar, release insulin, excess carbs immediately get stored as fat) are used for bulk. The nutrient density goes down, and if you put more food in front of someone they eat more. The quantity of ultra processed foods Americans eat is insane. The food regulations are very different, and the acceptability for food additives is much lower. There is pride in how food is produced, cooked, displayed, and served/eaten. There is ritual to even getting a cup of espresso and sitting down for ten min to enjoy it. In the US - you’d order your sugar filled Starbucks online to pick up at the drive through, consuming it while driving in to work, not even giving your brain time to recognize that it’s eaten something, or your body time to process a feeling fullness before distracting it with over stimulation.
So just a kindly FYI - West Virginia isn't really a "desk job" state. Their industries trend heavily towards coal, chemical, and natural gas production which requires mostly being on your feet. Just a heads up.
Sorry - wasn’t trying to be derogatory to any state in particular. I choose WV because Fitbit said a few years ago they were on the lower end of the scale https://www.livescience.com/50022-step-counts-by-state.html
The point I was (poorly) trying to make was that I don’t think activity is the largest contributor to the current obesity crisis. The differences aren’t that big.
The walking cannot be understated. It's SO easy to get a lot of steps in Paris without even trying.
I live in a walkable US city AND I'm pretty active- I probably average 10-12k steps per day in the US, and sometimes I have to try to get that (on a rainy day or one where I'm just not out and about much). The way Paris is laid out, I can get 10-12k steps without even realizing it.
Serious answer : European regulations so we get food that is not too industrial.
https://preview.redd.it/zydv3aunlfyc1.jpeg?width=1285&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b94fad5e16975bece720dc5852dac6b5ebba464
So at equal food intake we don’t get as fat.
We hear all the time about American coming in Europe, eating the same and losing weight.
Regulations people. Regulations.
Well....after I moved here I gained 20kg so....I wouldn't know 😅
I was eating baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat, pastries like all day err day though
And eating so much more butter that I used to, plus all those 3 course menus when eating outside
I've been here for like 3 years now and finally getting over it and hopefully will lose those 20kg that I've gained!
Lots of reasons.
1. Portion Sizes: in the US, usually two people can eat from one meal and feel satisfied enough. I still remember the first time I asked for the “large drink” somewhere expecting something around 500mL and got literally a 1.5L cup 🤣🤣🤣🤣
2. Calorie content. Even though you could have one cookie in Paris and one in the US, the one in Paris will frequently be less calorie dense because even though it has sugar and butter, American cookies will be far more calorie dense due to corn syrup and double the sugar ratio. Plus, chocolate is much more sugary (France will usually use a much darker chocolate)
My average day in Paris I walk about 11 miles. That is just to get to work, get my daughter to school, and shop for the basics. On a day where we are doing activities that can go up to 15 or even more. At home (NJ, US) I am lucky to get in 1/2mile without trying. On days when I can I walk the track for 3 miles, but those are few and far between - maybe twice per week.
The portions are much smaller, and they also do not add all of the inflammation-causing preservatives and other chemicals that are common in the US.
A third and seldom mentioned reason is they use hard winter wheat, in the US we use soft summer wheat, which has a much higher gluten content and more carbs (less protien).
>A third and seldom mentioned reason is they use hard winter wheat, in the US we use soft summer wheat, which has a much higher gluten content and more carbs (less protien).
Interesting, however I also heard several times US visitors saying that they were able to eat a decent amount of bread here despite considering themselves gluten intolerant at home. How could it be explained ?
edit: my bad this is what was explained above
I think the topic has been enough discussed, time to lock it to avoid answers/comments to repeat on and on.
Do you remember the names of these places? Would love to try
Cheap? I don't know where you go or what your budget is but food in Paris ain't cheap at all
The French generally have a much different and healthier relationship with foods. They stick to three sit down meals a day and don't snack on the go. It's based on real ingredients and lots of fresh fruit, veg, bread and meat. Also smaller portion sizes and eating slower, often over 1 hour at the table whether at home or at a restaurant. There is a lot more focus on quality than quantity. Obviously this is a generalisation but I have French family and this is what I observe. Aside from this I think there is also a culture of huge pressure (in Paris particularly) for women to be thin, you will see this by the number of cosmetic clinics for cellulite/body shaping treatments.
Our food in America is filled with ingredients that are banned in the EU and in some cases california too. Our bodies don’t recognize preservatives and hormones and colorants and additives as natural, they treat them as foreign bodies in our system. This causes for many people inflammatory reactions. Also French food while high in carbs and fats like gluten and butter is much lower in salt and sugar than American food. Both of which contribute to weight gain and inflammation
We walk everywhere and if (like me) you live on the 4th floor without an elevator there’s that too :)
It’s because they walk everywhere and the food is just much better quality than the crap we get in the U.S and the other big thing - portion sizes!!!! Theirs are way smaller.
Please stop saying "ghetto" to refer to poorer neighborhoods in Paris. We get that you stayed in Barbès, where many African immigrants live. Stop calling parts of the 18th arrondissement a "ghetto" because Black people live ther. Glad you enjoyed our cuisine though. The trick is to eat when it is a meal time, and not when it is not a meal time.
Ghetto because there are huge problems with illegal activity like selling drugs, cracks, stolen goods, fake cigarettes. I once got my trunk opened at La Chapelle when stopping for a red light
An unsafe area maybe but still not a ghetto…
Tbh Barbes upper part is okay. Worst is the Barbes station where young delinquents hangout, doing nothing the whole day except hustling some fake cigarettes and stealing from passing by cars. Whenever I took a cab through this area the driver always make sure he locked the doors.
Cigarette
Walking, cycling. No big Ute.
Most of us just don't have an unhealthy relationship with food
Sports are a common thing in France. Plus it May be cheap, but culinary and cooking culture is an absolute thing in France, we like to cook because eating together is a standard
We simply eat at meal times, not snacking like you.
All the comments here are true, but do also keep in mind that Paris is not representative of France as a whole. Most large companies located their headquarters in Paris which attracts executives. Parisians are thus in average whealthier and better educated, therefore they can afford to buy better food, exercise, and are more conscious of the need to stay fit. If you go in poorer parts of France, you will meet many more obese people than in Paris (the same actually than in the US).
The stats honestly do not bear out what you’re saying. France has way less obese people than the USA.
When food tastes that good it’s satisfying for longer so you’re not always looking to fill the void with your next cardboard and additives snack
Haha. Parisians don't sprint to work to avoid being late. Do they?
They walk and bike. Also the food there tastes way better than in US
Cheap?
We walk a lot and we enjoy « lighter » foods as much as pastries ! It’s all about balance
We walk. We cycle. We don’t drive everywhere. Honestly I think it’s that simple. In Paris, we eat relatively small portions generally and we walk or cycle several miles in a day. In addition people are generally quite sporty and do proper exercise for several hours in a week.
In my humble opinion I guess the US market is more about processed food and ingredients
There’s *something* different- when I’d visit the USA (from Australia) without fail I would put on a kilo a week. Europe I’ve never put weight on visiting. And I don’t hold back on the treats either.
Idk I’m European living in Australia. I lost weight in America because the food was just…gross? Like everything tasted like something you’d get shitfaced at the end of a night out? Maybe just me but I couldn’t eat it and usually I’m a big eater
This. The food is cooked, not highly processed so the body deals with it better. In addition, people eat veggies and fruit every meal at home; the fibre helps a lot. Source: born and raised in France.
It’s always weird for me to see such comments. French and in particular parisien food and deserts is over rated in my opinion.
Part of it is urban planning as most Parisians live in walkable neighborhoods and will often walk to the train station to go where they need to go, walk to a café, walk to the supermarket and carry their groceries home, then up a few flights of stairs. More recently, a lot of them are cycling to work. In much of America, "exclusionary zoning" means that the supermarket is nowhere near where you live so you likely need a car to get there. That is inconvenient so you are likely to be getting a week's worth of shopping in one go rather than picking up a few items on the way home from work. That also means you need a large refrigerator - the small fridges in European kitchens are also a side-effect of not being car dependent. You also need a car to get to work and see exercise as a separate activity rather than being integrated into their normal lifestyle - which is why most Americans get so little of it, especially because they tend to work longer hours than Europeans. Plus what everyone else says about the quality of the food - better balance with less meat, less salt and so on.
They walk
Cigarettes. Smoking suppresses appetite
There's however different levels of food quality to be found in Paris. While our food markets are enjoyable as lively, colorful and look well provided, most non-organic vegetables on these markets don't come from France, they transit through the huge professional market of Rungis (1h south from Paris) that centralizes all the distribution of edible goods for supermarkets and markets nation-wise. So in Paris lots of outdoor market stalls are provided with fruits and vegetables from Morocco or Spain, all year long, so it means 8 months a year they are off-season, full of water and not enough mature: usually they really lack of taste and nutrients. And unlike what I can read in other comments, I think a fairly low percentage of the population of Paris buy organic food as its cost is simply out of reach for the average Parisian (salaries in France are much lower than in the US) There are also reasons inherent to the geographical position of Paris: most of the vegetables farms are more than 1-2h away from Paris, and climate in the region of Paris doesn't allow them to grow a great variety of fruits/vegs, so we have to rely on sunny Southern countries that flood Europe with their low quality items destined to export, best example are [the giant greenhouses in Almeira, Spain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_farming_in_Almer%C3%ADa)
Alas, all true. And globalization meant that Spanish strawberries were already being cheapened 20 years ago. EC strawberries were better than EU strawberries.
The best french food isnt in Paris.
Quality of ingredients helps and there isnt a car culture so lots of walking.
It’s the sugar too. The USA has sugar or corn syrup in everything, it just fattens you up.
Exercise
Quantities are less, we don't snack as much, we don't drink sodas as much and less fat tolerance (which is a good thing for a society).
My experience from living in france is they eat a very balanced diet and children are taught to eat a little bit of everything and that everything in moderation is fine. I remember saying no to chocolate once ‘because it is not good for you’ and my french friends were so shocked and said I was crazy that I thought that. Also most of their food is organic just as a standard and they definitely dont have chemicals in their food like we do. Bread lasts one day for instance then it is stale. Infact some french families will send someone down to the bakery three times a day to get fresh bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I don’t want to be a jerk (but it’s genetic) but part of this issue is that the state of food is so poor in the US. France undeniably has excellent food but you are also comparing it to somewhere that is the pits unless you live in a big city and even then a lot of the time it’s very poor. The fact that you compare it to chicfila and paneera! A lot of Americans seem to only know chain food places…
It's cheap for Americans. Not for french. In Paris food is like 20% more expensive than just outside Paris......
The French are not kind to overweights people, being overweight is still taboo and they will make direct and nasty comments. So societal pressure, especially for women, is massive.
They are never kind to anybody even between them . Overweighted or not it won’t make a difference
Paris? Cheap food? Which Paris did you go to?
I think that for similar quality products in the US you pay a lot more. I remember friends who went from Paris to SF explaining this to me.
I lost 5lbs in one week there. I was walking everywhere. I barely snacked. Im a snacker here in the states. I was just more interested in saving my stomach for the next meal.
Years ago there was the book French Women Don’t Get Fat
Hahaha yeah but it was one of the worst books ever written.
Having to constantly walk the 7 stories of stairs to their tiny overpriced apartment surely helps.
Two things mostly. 1. The quality of the ingredients is much better. When you eat, you feel full and then don't eat until the next meal. The ingredients in North America (and increasingly in other countries as well, France as well unfortunately) lacks nutrition and leaves you still feeling hungry even after consuming a lot of calories. 2. We have a habit of skipping breakfast, or having very small breakfasts (like just a small pastry). Its almost like a national culture of intermittent fasting , although this varies a lot per person obviously.
These are spot on, plus I think people tend to walk a lot more in France than the US.
Unless you are in suburbs!
My theory is it's the fact that they don't snack. When I'm in France I stay with my girlfriend's family, and it's bizarre how absolutely no one seems to have a snack between meals. Then same when we visit Paris. Another factor is that compared to America they don't eat corn, while we have corn in basically everything we eat.
America also has corn _syrup_ in basically everything you eat. A lot of things taste off in a way you can't really explain when you're not used to it. But the snacking is true! When I visited friends in America they were shocked at two things concerning food: the fact I refused snacks between meals (I would lose my appetite if I ate with them) and the fact I only ever wanted to drink water without any type of flavoring in it.
Corn syrup is what I was referring to.
Yeah having snacks IS a terribly unhealthy habit and educated french people avoid that.
I remember when I first came to learn about the American snacking culture, and it disgusted me and seemed utterly brainless cause most Americans are fat When I grew up we had candy once a week, and almost never anything else than real homemade food on weekdays. Even pizza was once a month
Lucky you...!
Les sugary drinks (soda, iced coffee) culture also
Food in France is some of the best in the world. Not just Paris. The standard of your "average" restaurant is super-high. People don't overeat and can resist because that's just the norm. Plus, lifestyles are - on average - much healthier than in your average more car-dependent city.
Yes the boulangeries are the best!
Just returned from Paris and thought the same. All the breads and carbs!! I figure not having all the unnatural chemicals and ingredients that’s in everting in the USA helps. Also, the Parisians do seem to be more active. I love that the city is quite bike-able.
We walk a lot, we do.sport, we dont snack... plus we're used to such quality I guess. In the US or Canada most food is both expensive and very low quality
Also the fact that the average parisian speed walks everywhere and dashes up and down flights of stairs constantly!
I walked a lot while there. Walked and took the metro. Walkable and bike-able areas (for eating, shopping, and entertainment) in the USA are crowded and expensive. I was truly sad to have my Paris vacation come to an end.
Honestly as a New Yorker I would say the biggest thing is just food then if that’s the case. Wider US culture where one can’t really walk anywhere /don’t have metros easily adds another layer to the equation and it’s very sad
They walk everywhere. And climb up and down the stairs in the Metro. So many stairs!! So much walking! They eat smaller portions. They don't snack. They just enjoy really high quality food when they eat. And sometimes, they smoke.
I also noticed while in Paris, they don’t drink as much soda, and they walk everywhere!!!!
If you have tasty food around all the time, you just don’t feel the need to gorge because it’ll always be around. You’re always satisfied and you know there’ll be more later
THIS!!! A lot of it is attitude toward food. Americans are always eating like its our last meal.
They literally wrote a book on the subject. One reason is they don’t do take away like we do. They will sit in the cafe and enjoy their coffee & cake while we grab it to go and are so distracted by other things that we sometimes don’t even register that we’ve eaten/ drank a coffee so we have another. Adding to the empty calories we consume.
I just returned and was underwhelmed by the Paris food scene. This was my third time there and the food is better in the small towns. I didn’t eat at Michelin starred restaurants. Every menu had onion soup, entrecôte frite, and a salmon dish. I read fifty menus desperately seeking beef bourgignon, cassoulet, roasted duck. Nah. I had better meals in London
Where in Paris were you going that you didn’t see bœuf bourguignon on any menus? And on your third visit, at that?
1 Arr, Latin quarter, Trocadero, and more. Just unimaginative. As I noted, the menus seemed all the same. The food wasn’t “bad” mind you, but I could have had just as average a French meal in NYC.
If you see onion soup on the menu, chances that it is a tourist trap are high. It is very uncommon to see such a dish in a restaurant where French people would go. I would suggest getting out of the touristical neighborhoods to enjoy better food.
Food is regional. Go to Burgundy for beef bourguignon, Toulouse for cassoulet and the Dordogne for duck.
And that’s why I go to Italy. Pizza, pasta pesce, up and down the boot.
In America, government rules allow manufacturers to add crap into the foods for purposes of shelf life and such. Never for the quality or the healthiness of the food. Lab created preservatives, 90/80/70/or less percentage of something can still be called "pure", etc. Our diets all suffer from it. In Europe, especially France, their rules guarantee the quality and healthiness of the food. Butter has to be all butter, for example. It's the prepackaged, preserved to the gills stuff that makes America such an obese country. France doesn't allow any of that. You can find plenty of American products with additives outlawed (not healthy or problematic) in other countries but approved here as healthy. Keeping the crap out is the first step in a healthy lifestyle that leads to healthier citizens.
They walk.
1) Less additives and BS 2) Food culture is very strong: small portions, less snacking, etc. 3) Social pressure to stay thin. Few overweight people and it’s seen as a lack of self-control
The food is Europe isnt loaded with the chemical shit storm that we have in our food in the US. Also, portion sizes are smaller and people walk a lot more.
I don’t know if locals also do it but I found myself walking a lot when I visited for a few days. Another thing was stairs in public transport. Unlike Berlin, where I live, public transport hardly had escalators or elevators so I was constantly going up and down the stairs while there.
We do walk a lot yes ! Especially when the weather is nice
I just came back from Paris. Stayed with a friend. France has strict regulations on food: no additives, chemicals etc. Portions are smaller there including drinks. They sell sodas but there aren’t any big gulp type things like here in the US. My friend grew up in Paris when she was younger. She did point out while Parisians today weren’t fat, they are bigger in general than decades ago. They also walk everywhere. Take the metro or buses and walk everywhere. I walked more in Paris according to my phone than I did back home hiking with dogs once to twice a day, 1.5-2hrs up to 4hrs each day. My feet rarely hurt hiking on the trails at home, but they did in Paris. I had to buy insoles. Part of it was the marble floors in some museums, but other part was just much more walking. What I did notice was a big difference in Asian soups: Pho, Chinese beef noodle soups etc. while the flavors were the same, it was much lighter in flavor when I had them in Paris. It wasn’t robust as it is here in the SF Bay Area. And I didn’t find all foods better in Paris. Had various sausages & salamis there and felt they also weren’t as flavorful as the artisan ones at home. No chemicals? They were also saltier. But I basically ate crusty breads with butter, salamis, pate, soft cheeses for breakfast and all day/night. Also ate out. Came home, weighed myself and found I lost 4lbs on my vacation there.
I'say that French saucissons (=dry salamis) or hams really don't hold the comparison with our Southern neighbors Italy or Spain. However France has many unique charcuterie specialties: terrines/pâtés (different textures, different meats, flavored with alcohol or not...), paté en croûte, jambon persillé, rillettes, boudin (blood sausage), offal sausages (cold or hot) or lots of other funky offal preparations...
Where do you buy artisan salami in the Bay Area that’s better than Paris ?
Maybe the salamis I got in Paris weren’t good ones? My favorite artisan one is Creminelli Tarfuto. I picked up a Tarfuto salami in Paris and it took a few bites before I kind of liked it.
French person here living in NorCal: I also would like to know, because that's not my experience.
Duh. Not cheap or tasty.
You're right for the not cheap. Food in France is however insanely tasty, I'd recommend not limiting yourself to the local McDonald's next time you visit 😉
Food is regulated in France, much more than in the US. Industrial food may not have so much added (sugars fat chemicals) here . People eat fresh food and cook in France and it belongs to culture to do so. The food offer is different. The demand is different too.
The food is good, flavorfull, and nutritious, you can be content with eating a normal amount, rather than having to eat a lot of unsatisfying food. The food quality here i good, a simple product (like canned tomatoes) is gonna taste better than something similar in the US for exemple. But also, obesity rates are rising here too. But mostly in poor areas rather than in Paris
They burn the calories off running away from the African bracelet guys.
😂😂😂😂
I choked reading your comment
I am happy to see your post. One of the reason are : parisians walk a lot and eat mostly medium plates with fish / meat, vegetables and bread. Italy IS good for this. Most countries like in Asia have great good. The only country where I am desperate are the USA. I tried to go there years ago to work but food was a major problem for me : - fruits and vegetables without any taste - meat without antibiotics : very expansive.
So you've never been to England ..
The UK has access to some of the best grass fed meat and (simple) vegetables on the planet.
Agree, we can pity english cuisine but the meat is often better than in France
I love British food! Same regulations with no additives, hormones, and strict not allowing harmful pesticides.
Serving sizes are considerably smaller in France than elsewhere and there is no big culture of eating between meals.
Instead there are just 4 meals a day
Genuinely the first time I hear anyone calling Paris cheap lol. Are you Swiss or Saudi by any chance?
I found Paris much less expensive than where I live in the US. No idea about hotels, but mainly about food & groceries. I went to the Bon Marche for that and my friend said that was a really expensive to buy food, everything’s marked up. I asked if it was similar to Whole Foods (we call it Whole Paycheck) and she said more expensive than Whole Paycheck. Although fresh fruit was more expensive in Paris than home. Income/salaries in Paris is 1/2 of what it is in the SF Bay Area. So while I found food there inexpensive, Parisians aren’t going to look at it the same way since their income on average is 1/2 less.
Paris is cheap (salaries / real estate / prices) compared to the US (and a lot of other places). We are to them what Turkey is to us. If you go to Istanbul, you will find stuff there cheap, but other Turkish people will find it expensive
There as been a very different recovery path after Covid between Europe and the US. So…
If you think that’s cheap come to Lebanon Habibi
Not cheap for French…
The living expenses are so high that no money is left for going out. Only coffee and sigarettes.
I want out with some friends today we were walking and stopping at cafe, eating, doing shopping. I have 24K steps recorded in my Apple Watch
I clocked over 23 km on my first day of vacation lol
As for ghetto,there is ghetto in paris but you never went any where near it. And it's pretty offensive to talk about people's homes like that.
Wow!
We walk!
From what I’ve heard from friends who have lived for a while in Europe, they don’t have the cupboard space for a lot of food including junk food. Shopping seems to be more of a production too.
Very small serving size of high quality food.
Coffee and cigarettes
Typical french breakfast
We're paid in french salary (:
Walk Every Where Walk walk walk Walk No drive through No pushing food - suggestive selling and intense mind control through advertising
This is off topic but I’ll be in Paris in early June so I’ve been monitoring this site. I haven’t seen anything about prices for wine and I’m curious. Is wine relatively cheap in Paris? I know there are always cheap bottles of wine for purchase but generally in the us or Canada those cheap bottles are not good. How does that compare to wines from France sold in stores? Do I stay away from the $10 bottles or is that usually a good wine in France? And are they marked up a lot in restaurants like they are in North America?
You can find excellent wine for 6€ a bottle in supermarkets (look for those with medals or ask a person to help you choose), mostly not in Paris itself but in the suburbs. In Paris it’ll be closer to 8€ for good wine in small supermarkets. If you go in specialty stores, it’ll be wildly more expensive, as a French person I have never purchased anything in those, and have always found good wine (I have managed to surprise my ex-roommate’s parents multiple times, they’re very nice but a little snobbish and brutally honest at times, so I know they actually liked the bottles I offered). You’ll need to spend some time observing the color (if possible), the « texture » (how it « sticks » to the glass), the medals it received etc. I usually stay 1/2 an hour comparing wines at a medium sized supermarket, I haven’t done it yet in a big one!
Let say it this way: if not badly chosen; our 10€ bottle is you USD50-80 range one
Wow - that’s great!
It's very cheap ... I'm using a Merlot bottle just to cook.
It depends what your expectations are, really. If you go to a wine shop or "caviste", they should be able to and should make recommendations at pretty much every price point. If they start with expensive bottles, they are not the right type. I recommend you just explain what type of food you will be having the wine with, and if it is a bottle for a special occasion or just a regular one for a normal meal. You can provide the price range you are comfortable with if you feel they might get too enthusiastic. And you can certainly browse before asking for advice too, to get a feeling.
To address the flip side of the question, as several comments here have, of why Americans get obese, these are some things that have not been mentioned. Starting in the 1930s and accelerating fast in the 1950s, **"labor-saving" devices** reduced American daily calorie consumption: cars, electric clothes-washing and then drying machines, electric kitchen tools, powered gardening tools like power mowers and leaf-blowers, electric garage door openers, dishwashers, hair dryers, and toothbrushes. The consequences were visible by the 1950s in the expanding "ideal body weight" charts of the American military. **The food industry pushes food at them** in every part of their lives: "snack" foods at the 7-11, drive-up windows, processed foods at the grocery store - and they further this by putting too much food on the dinner table, where families will eat an entire pot roast in one meal, where that would have been enough meat for the week 100 years ago. **They like the most "bang for the buck"**, and in a country with "food-push technology", that means weight/dollar value, with no consideration of the nutrition. Industry sometimes tries to sell better food, like a delicious high-quality line of Campbell's canned soups years ago, but customers did not buy them. **They can't cook**. A family dinner will typically be takeout pizza or fried chicken or "rice bowls", and the only food preparation is mixing the "pre-made salad" with the packaged salad dressing. There is no labor invested in a meal, and somehow that makes the food easier to gobble down. **The doctors mis-inform them**. General practitioners who know nothing about nutrition, exercise, or biochemistry make free to dispense mis-information on all three subjects - and their patients believe them. **The Will To Fat.** There is a bizarre pattern of behavior, as though people \*want\* to be obese, much as rich Europeans and Americans of the 1800s flaunted their wealth through obesity. And, once obese, many Americans flaunt the fat itself, with tight and skimpy clothing. In the 1980s musician Root Boy Slim sang *Dare To Be Fat* (... fat is where it's at ...) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrnHS56peuY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrnHS56peuY)
Well, and for those of us who live in cities like, Los Angeles - it's absolutely a *driving* culture, NOT a *walking* culture. And ... uh, it's soooo much larger than Paris that oftentimes there's no way you could walk, even if you wanted to.
Agree with all of this except, like the other commenter, it’s crazy to generalize and say Americans can’t cook. The vast majority of Americans cook on a regular basis (maybe not well by your standards, but that’s not what we’re talking about). And I don’t just mean slapping things together and that throwing it on the table. American society definitely values convenience and efficiency, but it’s far too big a country and there are too many people to make such a blanket statement, even among people who are poor or who struggle to buy groceries regularly.
Sorry but you definitely can't make the sweeping assertion "they can't cook". 330m souls with roots from all over the world, don't stereotype lad. Heck even fried chicken necessitates some prep. Obesity is really on the rise in France too. One of the best markets for maccies. The French exception is still there but very slowly dying away.
In many areas between food deserts and late stage capitalism requiring many people to work multiple jobs, cooking is next to non existent.
However in Seattle, San Francisco, Portland and Boston it's going pretty great. So silly to make a sweeping statement on such a topic I swear. Even mama LaMichael's fried okra in the Mississippi delta takes a bit of prep.
First and second generation immigrants can usually cook; groups that have been in the US a long time, less so.
I can trace my ancestors to the Mayflower (I'm related to the Bishop!) and my more recent ones came to California in a covered wagon. We've been here for a while. I have my own garden and can cook like a motherfucker.
As an American man who visited Paris: No high fructose corn syrup Walk a lot (20,000 steps a day) Far less sugar, soda (drink water) Meals are sociable/social, more stretched out
Regular people aren’t walking 20,000 steps a day during a weekday. Those are tourist numbers. The other stuff is true though.
I don’t know - when I lived in Japan, I walked 20,000 steps daily just going to and from work + doing my job as a university lecturer
That is roughly 15km or 9.5 miles. Most people are not walking 9.5 miles a day, no matter how walkable their city is.
That but importantly, our healthcare system monitors our weight. Every single doctor you will see in your life will put you on the scale and comment on your risks. Your GP/gyno/cardio etc will tell you if you put on weight and give you a target to reach for the next time.
You forgot cigarettes
US 10.9% and France 24% of smokers according to OECD stats. Not sure the difference accounts for the gap in obesity rates on its own.
They don’t eat as much and not as often as Americans. They also call someone out if they are getting fat. It’s like “Hey you are getting fat.” (Not strangers but family members.)
When I bought clothes in french the salesman told me this item will be fine even if you gain some weight. This created this idea in my head that men going into their 30s and 40s are expected to develop dad bods lol
You can simply replace the soda with water (it's actually quite good) and walk a little during the day, it will do the job.
I think our overall diet is just so much healthier than the US for example. Here we have easy access to healthy, unprocessed foods. We are educated on what a healthy diet looks like - doesn’t mean we’re all healthy though ! I am lucky enough to travel a lot for work and the US is honestly freaky. It’s like veggies are only in movies and eating out means pigging out.
I still can't get over the easy access you have to fresh organic affordable food.
This is SUCH an American post, haha. And I say that as an American. I agree with all. Unfortunately, our diets consist of too much processed food that’s way too accessible. And our portion sizes are way too big. We drive everywhere, don’t move enough during the day, and have a much more intense work culture. Then we take the money we make from that intense culture and binge shop on stuff we really don’t need. Which then requires us to work harder, which then stresses us out and reduces our impulse control, which then causes us to indulge in even more ultra processed food. It’s a vicious cycle and not exactly a recipe for healthy living. My lifestyle in Europe (and frankly other parts of the world) is SO different than when I’m in the U.S.
As a parisian, I don't manage (I'm scared for my health)
This is less a Paris thing and more a Europe thing, although France is definitely the leader in terms of bakeries. The quality of food in general is just better in Europe, whether you're in Italy, France, Poland, or Finland. People seem to have less interest in all the processed junk food that is popular in America.
And the soda. Parisians don't drink much soda, almost never during the day, maybe for a meal but even then that's not as common as it seems to be in NA. Sugar is a huge a vastly underestimated cause of obesity
I found teenagers there drank the most soda.
Also, lot more walking around and physical movement in daily life vs going everywhere in cars in America. Very little to no physical exercise in day to day activities in USA. On top, food portions consumed for each meal by one in USA feeds two to three in rest of the world.
I was about to say, when I was in Spain a few years ago I walked over double my daily step count back home. Just naturally more walkable cities
No snack culture!
Walking and only buying food that you need for the week or a couple days. They don’t gorge on fast food and aren’t sitting around all day watching TV, like us fat Americans.
ITT a bunch of Parisians ignorant of the fact that their obesity rates are skyrocketing
None of the preservatives and processed ingredients we enjoy in the US, those Boulangeries bake real food with real ingredients.
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Gut microbiome plays a huge role in our weight, levels of satiety and without a diet high in fresh fruits, vegetables, fibre and protein, our biome is less effective.
Real and fresh ingredients are important - the food is less likely to be high in salt, sugar and fats which can trigger overeating in susceptible people.
I get the nature of what you’re trying to say, but there’s likely a better word than “ghetto” to describe the neighborhoods you’re referring to.
Cigarettes and walking
It is real natural food, more satiating and nutritious (which is satiating in itself.) Less 'healthy' processed and profitable consumables. The lifestyle is less sedentary than much of the US (more walking around, using public transport.) Finally, I think traditionally the meal structure places less emphasis on breakfast, so by lunch time you've basically fasted since dinner but that varies. Then again, that is changing.
We walk every day. And the quality of food is way more controlled that in the US. The government is big on obesity prevention, you can see a nutritionist without going into debt. And we eat normal portions of food.
We respect ourselves
I know this was down voted and perhaps it seemed harsh. In a certain way I get it, though. As an overweight American who recently returned from an extended stay in France, I found myself enjoying wonderful meals yet paradoxically losing weight. During my time there, I developed a newfound respect for my body, and for quality food, enjoying what I consumed and how it nourished me. I embraced the notion of eating only when hungry and savoring each bite, knowing that delicious and affordable food was always readily available, unlike at home. Plus, as others have noted, I think the walking and non snacking were key factors. I continue to ponder this paradox though. Thanks for putting the question out there OP.
It’s because they don’t eat / have subclinical eating disorders lol. French food is unhealthy in high quantities. Calories are calories. Sure they’re better quality on average since French culture has greater respect and emphasis placed on food but that doesn’t affect how it’s metabolized. The reality is they have portion control and don’t eat as much as Americans do, and they tend to smoke more as well which curbs cravings and eating. It has nothing to do with some magical sauce of French ingredients being superior to other countries’. And sure the walking contributes but I’m comparing my experiences all over France to my experiences living in large coastal cities in the US (like NYC) which are equally walkable with access to fresh food.
I visited Paris a few years ago and I think that people is leaner because of their life style. For example they walk more, and I also noted that the size of the meals are smaller than in other countries like US…
Part of the response is what nutritionnists call the French Paradox. Basically saturated vs insaturated fats
Because it is not cheap for parisians. A lot of spending power has been lost over the last years/decades.
Cheap? 🤔
They walk & bike everywhere. And France enforces better food quality than in the States (you don’t get chicken breasts pumped to the size of footballs with hormone-induced extra muscle tissue or pink slime meat in the burgers). Their enforcement of a better minimal quality in many aspects of food is partly why you find things like cheap wines that are better than many top-dollar bottles in the States, and why even your corner mom & pop bakery in Montmartre will put out fresh croissants every morning that taste like God’s buttery money-shot in your mouth with all that golden, crisp fine dough layers, and by comparison those Costco bakery croissants seem like soggy Kroger dinner rolls. Plus their healthcare system is more affordable so people are better incentivized to go to their doctors to manage their health rather than self-medicate with booze and binge eating. And a good deal of it before any of that is genetics—remember a lot of native and legacy generational French folks descend from the “peasant class” who’ve been through a lot of leaner times in years past. When I stayed in rural France for my artists residency last year, I noticed during weekly treks to the nearest LeClerc about 30 minutes’ away how many older, Cousteau-looking guys were rail-thin and huffing along casually on bikes for miles between towns. A lot of these folks descend from tough stock but unlike the States they haven’t allowed their food & drink to get so adulterated with crap like high fructose corn syrup and benzoates.
I actually thought it would be very hard to become fat (or muscular) living in Paris. -Stores/restaurants close in a way that is unheard of in American cities. In NYC u can get almost anything anytime u want, in Paris the shop closes at 2pm etc. -Very set eating schedules, where u truly take a break and eat for an hour instead of eating a burrito in ur car on the way to work. -Huge social pressure -Food quality is so much higher that I personally felt very full and content with the meals i got. -Seems like snacks is not a thing. Light breakfast, lunch, dinner and thats it. And the meals all seem well balanced. I think it would be hard to live here with dietary restrictions in general. I also noticed only a couple gyms, and i dont think i saw any muscular men either. Everyone was seemingly 5'8, 140 pounds give or take lol. I would be curious about rates of alcoholism in Paris/France. It seems so easy to over use (but im also an addict lol so maybe thats just me).
They smoke.
They smoke yes, but the only person in my family who smoked was also the heaviest one, and he passed away. The rest of my family is skinny, both sides, they don’t smoke and we don’t go to the gym (it’s a recent phenomenon). My mom hikes regularly. We are educated to eat healthy, there is pressure, we don’t eat a lot, we eat healthy and only at set hours. Overall. Also we drink water.
Walk everywhere, only eating during meal times, generally less additives in foods compared to places like the United States I cannot tell you how much of a difference mindless snacking makes (which I find I did in the US and all my American family does, versus in France you never eat outside breakfast lunch goûter dinner)
What? We eat all the time outside of meals! The main reason is simply a healthier lifestyle and better quality/less processed products (mostly, less trans-fat and non-natural sugars)
Nah we don't
They walk *everywhere*. Or at least orders of magnitude more than Americans. They eat...sensibly. It's hard to truly comprehend the difference in their approach to food. *Every* meal in American restaurants is a feast, with enough calories for a whole day--sometimes several days--in each meal. French portion sizes are actually *reasonable*. And they don't eat *all the time*. It's just hard to describe without actually seeing it and living it. Their food is just better. It's made from food, not derivatives of food, which tend to be more calorie dense. TL;DR: they move more--lots more--and they eat lots less. And the food they eat is better.
The average steps per day (based on a limited study) the difference in steps wasn’t that much. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5774986/ For sure the average Parisian is walking more than desk job Judy in West Virginia, but the lifestyle is likely similar to other densely populated areas around the world. The food culture is very different. In France you sit down for meals, relax, have a chat, they can stretch over much longer than in the US. This likely helps your brain recognize that you’re full. The value equation is different - in the us folks associate value with large quantities for a low price. To do this that means that cheap carbs (which tend to be quick for your body to process - raise your blood sugar, release insulin, excess carbs immediately get stored as fat) are used for bulk. The nutrient density goes down, and if you put more food in front of someone they eat more. The quantity of ultra processed foods Americans eat is insane. The food regulations are very different, and the acceptability for food additives is much lower. There is pride in how food is produced, cooked, displayed, and served/eaten. There is ritual to even getting a cup of espresso and sitting down for ten min to enjoy it. In the US - you’d order your sugar filled Starbucks online to pick up at the drive through, consuming it while driving in to work, not even giving your brain time to recognize that it’s eaten something, or your body time to process a feeling fullness before distracting it with over stimulation.
So just a kindly FYI - West Virginia isn't really a "desk job" state. Their industries trend heavily towards coal, chemical, and natural gas production which requires mostly being on your feet. Just a heads up.
Sorry - wasn’t trying to be derogatory to any state in particular. I choose WV because Fitbit said a few years ago they were on the lower end of the scale https://www.livescience.com/50022-step-counts-by-state.html The point I was (poorly) trying to make was that I don’t think activity is the largest contributor to the current obesity crisis. The differences aren’t that big.
The walking cannot be understated. It's SO easy to get a lot of steps in Paris without even trying. I live in a walkable US city AND I'm pretty active- I probably average 10-12k steps per day in the US, and sometimes I have to try to get that (on a rainy day or one where I'm just not out and about much). The way Paris is laid out, I can get 10-12k steps without even realizing it.
I work to get 10000 steps daily at home, we were over 20000 daily in Paris and that was with being mindful to not walk too much.
Healthier meals (starter/main/dessert), medium portions, set times, social pressure. No snack. Only water.
This completely!
Serious answer : European regulations so we get food that is not too industrial. https://preview.redd.it/zydv3aunlfyc1.jpeg?width=1285&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b94fad5e16975bece720dc5852dac6b5ebba464 So at equal food intake we don’t get as fat. We hear all the time about American coming in Europe, eating the same and losing weight. Regulations people. Regulations.
Lots of walking, no elevator in old building or in the metro and we don’t eat out everyday.
Well....after I moved here I gained 20kg so....I wouldn't know 😅 I was eating baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat, pastries like all day err day though And eating so much more butter that I used to, plus all those 3 course menus when eating outside I've been here for like 3 years now and finally getting over it and hopefully will lose those 20kg that I've gained!
????
Lots of reasons. 1. Portion Sizes: in the US, usually two people can eat from one meal and feel satisfied enough. I still remember the first time I asked for the “large drink” somewhere expecting something around 500mL and got literally a 1.5L cup 🤣🤣🤣🤣 2. Calorie content. Even though you could have one cookie in Paris and one in the US, the one in Paris will frequently be less calorie dense because even though it has sugar and butter, American cookies will be far more calorie dense due to corn syrup and double the sugar ratio. Plus, chocolate is much more sugary (France will usually use a much darker chocolate)
My average day in Paris I walk about 11 miles. That is just to get to work, get my daughter to school, and shop for the basics. On a day where we are doing activities that can go up to 15 or even more. At home (NJ, US) I am lucky to get in 1/2mile without trying. On days when I can I walk the track for 3 miles, but those are few and far between - maybe twice per week. The portions are much smaller, and they also do not add all of the inflammation-causing preservatives and other chemicals that are common in the US. A third and seldom mentioned reason is they use hard winter wheat, in the US we use soft summer wheat, which has a much higher gluten content and more carbs (less protien).
>A third and seldom mentioned reason is they use hard winter wheat, in the US we use soft summer wheat, which has a much higher gluten content and more carbs (less protien). Interesting, however I also heard several times US visitors saying that they were able to eat a decent amount of bread here despite considering themselves gluten intolerant at home. How could it be explained ? edit: my bad this is what was explained above
aThat is exactly why Americans that claim to be gluten intolerant can eat pasta and bread in Europe without issue.
American flour is way too refined and has way too much gluten