Gregg's blog - Why Aren't The French Overweight?

I love France, I like the French countryside, I love the south of France, I have a particularly soft spot for Bordeaux and I have visited Paris many times.

Obviously, we are aware of luxurious French gastronomy. All of that butter, huge consumption of wine and they eat four times more bread than we do!

I’ve always been amazed at how much bread the French consume. Literally lunchtime and breakfast time everybody seems to be walking around with a baguette under their arm.

With all this wine, animal fat and bread the obvious question is why have the British got an obesity issue and the French haven’t?

I’ve made a real study of this. I’ve read a lot on this subject and I’ve observed with my own eyes.

The answer is actually ludicrously simple. Walk down any French street and compare it to a British Street. What is strikingly obvious is the lack of takeaway shops. What is also obvious in France are the number of food shops.

Observe French people at work or out in the streets and see how few snacks people seem to be consuming.

What is strikingly obvious in a direct comparison between France and Britain is how seriously the French take their food and particularly their meal times. For crying out loud half of France stops in the middle of the day to enjoy a proper meal.

It’s the focus on preparing proper food and the non-reliance on snacking and takeaways which is the major difference between these two countries. It’s therefore the obvious reason why in Britain we have an obesity issue and in France they don’t.

In Britain we rely heavily on takeaways and snacks. In France there is a much bigger focus on properly prepared meals.

I think the French example should teach us that it is possible for us to consume large quantities of food as long as it’s the right type of food.

We rely on so much fast food in this country because so many of us now haven’t been told how to cook and prepare our own meals.

We consider cooking to be incredibly labour intensive and many of us find the thought of cooking a little bit scary.

What GreggWallace.Health has been doing over a number of years very successfully is teaching people to cook. Showing people that simple healthy food can be quick to prepare and delicious.

Obviously French people aren’t consuming fine dining every day of their lives but they are spending much more time than us planning and preparing their meals.

You don’t have to diet to lose weight, that has never been a good option. What you have to do is make what you eat one of your priorities in life.

In order to be healthy and enjoy our food I’m embarrassed to say, we have to get a little more French and a little less British.