Make Your Meals a Little More French

Source: Tufts University
December 12, 2003

The French paradox - lower rates of heart disease in spite of a diet high in saturated fat - has puzzled American scientists over recent decades. The reason for this phenomenon has been the subject of considerable inquiry. Among the possible explanations for the French advantage are good genes, less stress, more exercise, and drinking more wine. The fashion-conscious French are leaner too. Suspecting that the French eat less than Americans, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania looked at portion sizes and eating behaviors in both countries. Their findings are published in Psychological Science.

What was done

The authors weighed the same or comparable menu items - such as hamburgers and chicken nuggets - from fast food chains and similar-style restaurants in Paris and Philadelphia. They also compared single serving sizes of products, such as cereal bars, yogurt, and bananas, in US and French supermarkets.

In addition, the investigators scrutinized the popular restaurant guides, Zagat's Surveys, in each city, looking for descriptions and other indications of portion size such as "buffet" and "all-you-can-eat" (suggesting larger portions), or "fixed-price" (which are controlled by the chef and thought by the authors to be smaller).

The researchers also considered the influence of home cooking and examined cookbooks of both cultures. They selected recipes for meat dishes like beef bourguignon and curried chicken, as well as starches, vegetable dishes, and a soup. They made sure that the weight or volumes of the main ingredients of the French instructions were equivalent to those of the American version before they undertook comparisons of the suggested serving sizes.

"Time spent eating" in each city was also measured. They selected fast food establishments in particular locations during the same month and time of day, and recorded how long customers stayed at their tables.

Smaller portions in Paris

In all cases (restaurants, supermarkets and cookbooks) the authors found smaller servings among the French institutions. On average, they reported, restaurant portions were 25% smaller in Paris. There were also more fixed-price menus there. Conversely, researchers noted that the Philadelphia guidebook mentioned portions more frequently and described them as "large" more often.

Single-serving sized items and the portions sizes recommended in cookbooks appeared to be smaller in France as well. The one exception were recipes for vegetables; French cookbooks yielded larger helpings of vegetable side dishes.

The average time noted for eating and sitting was about 22 minutes in France and only 14 in the U.S. The authors conclude that the French make less food go a longer way, and that they enhance, not diminish, their eating experience.

French food, French habits

These findings suggest that it's possible to be served less food (and perhaps fewer calories) and still be satisfied. Make meals a little more French by choosing smaller portions or sharing larger ones. If you feel compelled to eat a super-sized serving of anything, let it be vegetables. Finally, eat slowly, and allow yourself to consume the "food experience", as they do in France.

Source

• The ecology of eating: Smaller portion sizes in France than in the United States help explain the French paradox. P. Rozin, K. Kabnick, E. Pete,  et al., Psychol Sci, 2003, vol. 14, pp. 450--454

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