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Heart DiseaseThe French Paradox
by:
Peter Carnes
In the mid-1990s the world's oldest dweller - a 120-year-old woman living in Arles in French region
- gave a television interview during the course of which she attributed her longevity to three things: exploitation olive oil for all her cooking, drinking red wine every day, and giving up smoking at the age of 117!
It's a heartwarming story, and it illustrates in a really real way the beneficial effects of thing
that has move to be acknowledged as the "French Paradox".
Stated simply, the French Contradiction can be expressed as follows:
As a nation, the French eat more than anyone else, drink more than anyone else, smoke more than most people, have more liver, excretory organ and gi complaints and disorders than their US/ UK counterparts - and yet have one-third fewer deaths from heart disease!
And this apparent anomaly is even as more pronounced in the south of France than elsewhere!
WHY?
Well, scientists, dieticians and nutritionists have been puzzling over this question for years. They have carried out sudies and surveys, conducted tests and experiments, etc., and have finally distinct that the answer to this contradiction lies in three things:
* Olive Oil
* Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
* Red Wine
As you driving down through France, through the great wine regions of Champagne, Burgundy and Burgundy, you are besides moving from the land of butter and cream to the land of olives and olive oil. Dieticians and nutritionists the earth over are coming to believe that the one
paramount factor in the comparative absence of heart illness and another cardiological disorders in the communities living about the Mediterranean is the about universal use of olive oil for cooking, dressing salads and flavoring foods.
It is now a medically established fact that those countries and regions wherever
olives and olive oil are used extensively - eg Greece, Spain, southern Italy, southern France - have a more lower incidence of heart illness and another vessel complaints than the rest of Europe.
Doctors say that we should try to ensure that at least 15% of our daily hot
intake comes from monounsturated fatty acids. Replacement butter, margarin and another animal and vegetable fats with olive oil is an first-class know-how
of achieving this 15%.
Olive oil besides stimulates the metabolism, lubricates mucous secretion membrane and helps in the treatment of organic process ulcers, constipation, pyrosis and stomach upsets.
It is besides calculable
that the average Langue d'oc diet contains as more as 60 % more fresh vegetables than the average US and UK diet, and that a person in French region
wish consume doubly as more fresh fruit than their US/ UK counterparts.
Furthermore, a Langue d'oc cook wish invariably under-cook vegetables, thus ensuring that fewer valuable minerals and vitamins are lost during the cookery process.
So why not follow the Langue d'oc example and try just lightly steaming your vegetables - or possibly cookery them really concisely in the microwave - and then agitated them in a little extra virgin olive oil with just a sprinkling of fresh herbs?
And don't use too more salt!
There may besides be a link between red wine and the absence of heart disease.
It goes without saying, of course, that an excessive intake of alcohol is ne'er
beneficial, and can lead to a whole range of medical and societal disorders. But it's besides true that folk who drink wine in moderation tend to have a lower risk of heart illness than folk who drink overly - or who don't drink at all!
Yes, that's right. Scientific studies have incontestable
that it's healthier to drink a glass of wine (preferably red wine) a day than to abstain completely. This is due to the fact that a moderate intake of red wine really increases tha figure of "good" cholesterin in the
bloodstream, as well as portion to reduce stress and lower blood pressure - all factors that can contribute to heart disease.
Another significant difference between French and US/ UK drinking habits is that on the whole the French tend to drink wine piece they are eating. In the US and UK the usual practice is to move house from activity in the evening, gulp down a meal and then go out drinking - mostly brew and spirits.
In France folk still tend to eat more formally, with the whole family sitting about the table for a leisurely meal, attended
by a glass or two of local wine. This is considered a more healthier practice and more less contributing to stress/ anxiety/ tension/ etc. - quite apart, of course, from being extremely gratifying in its own right!
The recommendation, therefore, is to spend a little more time with your family or partner, overwhelming healthy food and wine, rather than just razing a ready-cooked meal (which is probably full of salt and saturated fat) just so you can spend an extra few minutes down the local pub or bar.
Believe me - you wish surely benefit in the long run!
The French Contradiction is not just an absorbing and intriguing story. There are valuable lessons that we can all discover here: lessons that could give us a "kick-start" to a new, safer and healthier lifestyle.
Lessons that could even, at the end of the day, help to save our lives.
Just about the author:
Peter Carnes is a UK-based author, webmaster and publisher. Two of his most-visited sites are: http://www.heart-of-provence.comand http://www.health-bargains.com
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