The French Don't Diet Plan

by Dr. William Clower

  Diet products actually drive up your sweet tooth even more than sugar! Your taste for sweetness is fed by foods that stimulate the sweet receptors on your tongue—sugar’s only one of them. In fact, chemical sweeteners brag about how much sweeter than sugar they are, and so fuel your cravings for unhealthy oversweetened foods! Beyond the fact that chemical sweeteners are all associated with health problems, diet products defeat your efforts to tame the tooth.

  Stealth Sugar Sources

  It’s been estimated that we eat an average of thirty-one teaspoons of sugars per day (Tufts University’s Health & Nutrition Letter, June 2004). This may sound like enough to choke a horse, and it is, but think about this:

  A single twelve-ounce can of soda contains from nine to eleven teaspoons.

  Two ounces of hard candy can contain eleven teaspoons.

  One cup of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal has more than four teaspoons.

  Sugar is hidden in a variety of forms: sucrose, invert sugar, maltose, maple syrup, glucose, dextrose, golden syrup, lactose, fructose, glucose syrup, brown sugar, fruit juices, sorbitol, mannitol, and zylitol.

  Why Tame the Tooth?

  I’m just going to pull from the huge databases at the National Institutes of Health regarding sugar consumption and show you what they say. Notice the rule that continues to resurface from the French approach. A little is beneficial. A lot is not.

  CANCER: “High intakes of sugar and refined carbohydrates and elevated blood glucose are strongly associated with the risk of cancer” (Silvera, 2005).

  SURVIVING CANCER: “There is evidence that high carbohydrate intake is associated with poorer survival after diagnosis for early breast cancer” (Krone, 2005).

  CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: “High blood glucose was associated with 1.8 to 3 times greater risk of death. The glycemic potential of carbohydrates is therefore relevant to both prevention and management of coronary disease” (Brand-Miller, 2004).

  KIDNEY STONES: “It is concluded that consumption of cola causes unfavorable changes in the risk factors associated with calcium oxalate stone formation and that therefore patients should possibly avoid this soft drink in their efforts to increase their fluid intake” (Rodgers, 1999; see also Weiss, 1992).

  DIABETES: Dr. Willett from the Harvard School of Public Health has given us the skinny on sweetened beverages. “Anyone who cares about their health or the health of their family would not consume these beverages.” And for good reason, too. Fifty-one thousand women examined over nine years in the Nurses’ Health Study II showed an 80 percent increased risk of type 2 diabetes when they consumed either sugar or high-fructose corn syrup drinks. How much? As little as one soda or sweetened fruit drink per day. One! By the way, this was not the case for 100 percent fruit drinks.

  OBESITY: Obviously too much sugar provides empty calories that lead to overweight, obesity, and diabetes, but think about the biggest sugar offender-high-fructose corn syrup. The problem with HFCS goes well beyond calories. As we’ve learned, this 100 percent fat-free sweetener doesn’t clear from the blood like natural sugar, and so it stimulates the liver to make fat and triglycerides. This is but one good reason why you should avoid anything sweetened with HFCS.

  Avoiding Added Sugar in the Real World

  What about sugar you add to your drinks? First of all, don’t worry about the extra twelve calories in a teaspoon of sugar. And especially don’t think you have to resort to chemicals in your coffee or tea.

  Try this. You know how the Sweet Tooth Test reflects your decreasing taste for sugary foods and drinks? Well, you can cause that to happen as well. You can drive down your taste for sugar in your drinks with a very simple experiment.

  If you normally take three teaspoons of sugar in your drink, pull it back to two teaspoons for a week. I want you to assess how it tastes to you—especially at first. The lack of sugar will jump right out at you. But stick with the decrease for a while, and keep paying attention to this level of sweetness through the week. Soon it will seem perfect again and you’ll have just changed what your body asks for. Congratulations!

  If you want, you can eliminate all the sugar in your coffee—and still love it. You just have to give yourself time to adapt your tastes. This steady process is how you regain control over your desires and cravings. You don’t have to choose unhealthy foods just because that’s what you happen to like right now. This is truly a path. It’s a journey from your current levels of food volume and food quality to a new, more productive level.

  You get there by changing what you ask of your body. You stay there by changing what your body asks of you.

  PEOPLE ON THE PATH

  Dear Will,

  By the time I began researching gastric bypass surgery, I was 5’3“and about 272 pounds. I have a small frame, so you can imagine how awkward and awful it felt to carry all that around. I was mentally exhausted from trying to lose weight and keep it off conventionally, and I wanted it to be over. So I had the surgery and, as predicted, off came lots of weight. If the story had ended there it would’ve been nice, but of course we know it didn’t. I had no tools whatsoever to deal with the underlying cause of my eating, and felt like I was completely unable to cope.

  When I came across your Web site and book, it was as if everything started to click at long last. I won’t say that things became easier right away, but I do like to think. I listen to my inner voice and knew instinctively when I learned about your philosophy that it was “right.”

  The area I feel most passionately about is regarding mindless, stress-filled eating. Oddly enough (or not so oddly to you, I presume), when I felt physically satisfied with what I’d eaten on your plan, it calmed me down so I could think things through. That had been a huge problem for me, the feeling of helplessness and panic that I might starve to death. At that point I was able to see the things you had written for myself, like the newfound sweets craving was actually backward, that I liked—or rather, needed—sweets only because I’d already been eating them all along. The joy of a cup of tea with real half-and-half, and especially the satisfaction of it, can’t be underestimated.

  I want to tell you how much I appreciate your insight and advice through this journey.

  —Anne G.

  Personal Responsibility

  The most amazing piece of architecture I’ve ever had the privilege to touch is the Pont du Gard near the southern French city of Nîmes. It’s a more than two-thousand-year-old Roman aqueduct with three levels of arches spanning thirty miles, and crossing the Gardon River without nails, rivets, or even mortar. Moreover, this stunning structure not only still stands, but carried water flawlessly for five hundred years after the fall of the Roman Empire.

  As we moved across on the lowest level, seventy-six feet above the river rocks below, I was amazed there was no fencing along the edge. You could fall right off; you could lose a child. My lawsuit brain screamed that this was a legal nightmare waiting to happen. After returning home, I asked a Lyon University law professor about this incredible liability. His answer surprised me.

  “And who would you sue?” he challenged. “The bridge? It’s been there for two thousand years.” He started pacing, shaking his head. “If you were worried about the edge before you crossed the bridge, why did you climb on in the first place? And your children? If you let your kids fall off a bridge of two centuries, you are responsible, sir, not the state, not the city, and certainly not the Romans.”

  As I considered the obviousness of his viewpoint over the next few days, I realized the same should also go for our weight and health. We must assume a greater responsibility for our actions and stop pointing fingers at the causes of our problems. Many people want to retreat to blaming genetics, or carbs, or fats, or fast-food restaurants to explain their girth. But we have to take the wheel of control again and handle our own issues ourselves.

  When you live this lifestyle with these healthy eating habits, you become empowered to handle your love handles yourself, by recognizing th
e reins you do have, right in your hands, and then taking charge of your situation. And your tool for accomplishing such a feat—sensual eating—is so delicious and awakening. You can do this, and you’re going to love it in the process.

  Sensual Eating: How to Taste

  In French Women Don’t Get Fat, Mireille Guiliano writes that the French don’t have our weight problems because they eat with all their senses. The appearance, texture, taste, and aroma are all important. This sounds very good for enjoying your food, but how does sensual eating translate into weight control? It does so by being a very effective tool to help you eat small, slow down, and prevent overconsumption. You may have also heard the term conscious eating, which represents the same basic idea.

  As you become more aware of taste, you’ll subconsciously choose healthier foods. How many times have you found yourself mindlessly snacking on something you didn’t even really like? This used to happen to me all the time with Big Gulp sodas so sweet they were dangerous, chocolates that tasted like wax, and chicken pressed into “nuggets.” But as soon as you train your tastes to appreciate what you’re putting in your mouth, the terrible quality of faux foods becomes obvious and you won’t even want them anymore.

  On the surface, it seems pretty simple—just take the time to pay attention to your senses. But it can actually be pretty challenging to remember to love your food in the hurry of a crazy day. The more you use these techniques, though, the better you’ll be at them and the more they’ll become a natural part of you.

  Pleasure is a skill that you will cultivate by learning to appreciate the smell, texture, and flavor of your food.

  Vision

  One of the barriers you’re going to find to sensual eating is actually vision. For example, when obese patients are blindfolded, they actually eat less food and appreciate it more. And even before you taste, notice the visual presentation. How ripe are the insides of the cut strawberries, how vibrant green is the steamed broccoli, and how golden is the pie crust? Notice. See what your food looks like before you actually eat it. You might even close your eyes when you’re tasting something wonderful so you’re not distracted by whatever you’re looking at.

  Flavor

  Become aware of the salty tastes that blend into the savory flavors. Experiment with the way dark chocolate melts perfectly into the flavors of a rich red wine. Let the chocolate melt in your mouth, and taste the wine for a couple of seconds before you swallow it. Next, try a little dark chocolate with a dried cherry. It’s fabulous. Notice how walnuts perfectly complement blue cheese (try a grape here, too!). And infuse your soups with ginger and experience how it completely lightens the flavor, as if you’d sprinkled it with the tart juice of summer lemons (see the recipe for Super Chicken Stock).

  Aroma

  Take note of the smell your food gives off in the pan and on your plate. Think about those aromas and try to pick out the ingredients they’re coming from. Linger with the associations they carry: the warmth of onions chattering away in butter; the cozy fragrance of bread from the oven; the holiday excitement of cinnamon, nutmeg, and anything at all!

  Texture

  Feel the graininess of the Bosc pear in your mouth and notice the crisp coating of crème brûlée. The best textures are mixed, like truffles with their thin chocolate crisp of a shell surrounding a Chambord-infused ganache. Fresh bread’s stiff crust and softer inner texture. Take small “tasting bites” so you can attend to the tactile nature of your food.

  Over time you’ll not only become better at sensual eating, but your palate will become sharper. So please don’t worry if you really try, but can’t quite tell the difference between mayonnaise and herbed mayonnaise, cheap chocolate and good chocolate, or cheese food and real cheese. You will.

  Expect your senses to come alive over weeks, not days. This is another reason you don’t want to waste a meal on faux food, because every time you do, you train your tastes in the wrong direction.

  Don’t Forget, Don’t Diet

  Freedom from dieting comes when you learn the life skills and healthy habits that control portions for you and increase the pleasure of eating while decreasing the volume at the same time. When you stop the diet mentality that frets over consuming x number of carbs or fats, you begin to taste—and love—your food again.

  That skill of tasting has nothing to do with dieting, and everything to do with a lifestyle that naturally produces optimal weight, healthy hearts, and longer lives. That’s because your taste buds come to recognize foods that are too overly sweetened, and they don’t taste good to you anymore. You put that processed food in your mouth and realize that you don’t even like the flavor.

  And this is exactly why sensual eating is so important to the entire French approach. When you eat with your senses, you end up choosing higher-quality food, taking more time, eating smaller quantities, enjoying it more, consuming less, getting the health properties of the food without rampant overconsumption, and losing weight in the bargain. These are just the wonderful benefits of loving your food again. At that point you are not on a diet, but have reset your body’s tastes for optimal health without even trying. Now you are in control, and naturally giving your body the healthful nutrients it needs. This is the key to low weight for life.

  CHEAT SHEET: SENSUAL EATING AND THE SWEET TOOTH

  Taste and you become better at tasting. Not only do you awaken your senses to the flavors passing your lips, you also recognize how wonderful healthful foods are, and how unappetizing the faux foods are. Practice the art of sensual eating and soon you avoid harmful oversweetened foods because they just don’t taste good anymore. And you choose healthful foods because you simply love the flavor.

  Whenever you eat, take just a few minutes to think about the following:

  The level of sweetness

  How it looks on your plate

  The aroma your food gives off

  How certain flavors show up early, and others later

  The texture in your mouth

  The Results You’re Looking For

  IMMEDIATELY

  You will notice food flavors and aromas and textures you never noticed before.

  You will understand how large your sweet tooth really is.

  WITHIN TWO WEEKS

  You will notice that your sweet tooth becomes more sensitive.

  Sensual eating will become second nature.

  WITHIN A MONTH

  You will choose foods low in sugar because that’s what you love.

  Your habits of sensual eating will be refined and you will expand the education of your tastes.

  HOMEWORK: TESTING YOUR TASTES AND PULLING THE TOOTH

  Begin testing your sweet tooth daily for the first week.

  Compare your first week’s average to your measurements in later weeks.

  Eat with your senses: notice the fragrance, texture, appearance, and taste of your food.

  Practice eating with your eyes closed.

  Judge the level of sweetness of ordinary foods.

  Notice how sensitive you become to sugar levels over time.

  PART TWO

  How the French Eat

  As the acknowledged gastronomic capital of France, Lyon is world famous for its thickets of traditional bouchon restaurants (bouchon literally means “wine cork”), as well as the brightest of cooking superstars, such as Paul Bocouse.

  It’s no wonder that the city with the best food in a country with the best food in the world spills more than one thousand restaurants onto its narrow cobblestone city streets. (Keep in mind that Lyon’s population is only about 500,000 people.) Just over the left bank of the Saône, just beyond the weekend art exhibits and old men selling roasted chestnuts from a metal kettle drum, you’ll find a nest of cafés and restaurants in the Old Lyon district. And there’s no lack of patrons eating silky St. Marcellin cheese, fatty foie gras, and succulent crème brûlée!

  Think about this for a minute. In America, we eat out more and more each year. In fact, our in
crease in energy consumption from restaurant foods has jumped a quantum 208 percent over the past twenty years. Experts quickly correlate the rise in “restaurant eating” itself to our escalating obesity rates. And yet in Lyon, a city known for rich food in the country known for rich food, there isn’t an obesity problem, despite a love affair with restaurants that serve cream sauces, desserts to die for, and all the rest. How can that be?

  The explanation isn’t just about what the French are eating. We have to think a little more broadly. These thin healthy people can freely linger over luscious foods because of how they’re eating them!

  A meal in France is a delicious process that, if you’re not familiar with it, can be quite a surprise. First of all, waiters aren’t working for tips, so don’t expect them to hurry you off your table … or hurry to serve you for that matter. Plus, no one expects you to blow in, eat in a rush, and run back out again. No one expects you to get your food “to go” so you can eat it at the red light!

  It is normale to sit and enjoy your food for a while. In fact, in one of our first forays into the Lyon streets, our children pleaded with us to stop at a pizza restaurant with street-side seating. So we sat. We looked about, sat some more, and wondered if we were in the “do not serve” section. It must have been ten full minutes before the waiter showed up! Can you imagine? We entertained ourselves by people watching: couples were openly kissing on the streets (we weren’t in Alabama anymore) and the diners around us were chatting away with food still on their plates, not in their mouths, or even in their hands. I wondered, Don’t these people have anything better to do than to sit around with their food all day? Later I realized—maybe they’re on to something.