Talk:French paradox

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Contents 1 French diet rich in saturated fats? 2 Structure? 3 Evidence? 4 Sources? 5 Exercise 6 Time Lag Hypothesis 7 Tags 8 Category 9 Usage of Per Capita Statistics

[edit] French diet rich in saturated fats?

I'm pretty dubious about the truth behind the French diet being rich in saturated fats (comparatively to other Western countries). I suspect that this belief arises from the mistaken idea that typical French meals are like haute cuisine or cuisine bourgeoise, whereas they are generally less fatty. David.Monniaux 20:25, 26 May 2004 (UTC)

My understanding is that some regions of France have a diet very very rich in saturated fats -- I want to say the south of France, but I'm not sure. If I can think of it, I'll do some research (one of Jeffrey Steingarten's books has a section about the Paradox in which he mentions the regional angle). --Neschek 17:58, 22 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Normandy (butter, cream) and the southwest (goose fat) come to mind. However, today, most people do not eat "traditional" heavy food that often. David.Monniaux 21:55, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

Certainly the South West, where goose fat is the primary fat, and the north where butter is dont really correspond to the "Meditterranean diet" of olive oil that was often assumed to be the cause of healthiness. But whether there is actually more fat than the British diet of chips is unclear... Justinc 19:28, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Structure?

Perhaps we should remove some of the detailed discussion of resveratrol and procyanidins from this article? It seems that the French Paradox is specifically the health of the French people despite their apparently unhealthy diet. As currently written, the article probably goes deeper into resveratrol and procyanidins than it should. These sections shoud probably be merged into Alcohol and cardiovascular disease, although the procyanidin concentration of French wines in particular seems important to the French Paradox. Thoughts? Baldeep 00:25, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Evidence?

Although per capita French consumption of wine (most of which is red) is decreasing, it still clearly remains among the highest in the world. Qualifying this fact with the word "purportedly" requires significant evidence to the contrary.

In addition, there is consensus in the medical community that saturated fat is a major factor in coronary heart disease. Summarily dismissing the French Paradox by refuting this fact requires much more than an undocumented assertion.David Justin 16:47, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sources?

This article needs more sources. Statements such as "Most researchers now believe that the most important ingredient is the alcohol itself." or "Other researchers believe it is the act of relaxing while drinking that causes longevity." are worthless without a source. Kickin' Da Speaker 17:39, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

The link to "mireilleguiliano" doesn't work.D021317c 11:03, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Exercise

Why does no-one mention exercise in this page? Surely it is a factor? Cls14 13:03, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Time Lag Hypothesis

Could someone expand on this? Surely this would only make sense if the =re weas a changing situation - for example diet changed relatively recently, before CHD "caught up". But if this situaion has been reported since 1819, and analysed thoroughly for last few decades, then I cannot understand how 'time lag' is a factor Rupert baines (talk) 13:55, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tags

It appears that the page has been adequately referenced and cleaned up since the time tags calling for those improvements were posted in December of last year.David Justin 21:07, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Category

Is it correct to categorize this article as a "paradox"? I think someone should change it. --Popperipopp 10:20, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

It is a widely used term for this situation - eg I found this article after a reference to French Paradox in The Economist. I suggest it stays. Rupert baines (talk) 13:52, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Usage of Per Capita Statistics

I stumbled upon this page today and am having issue with the second paragraph under the Alcohol in wine header. Everything I've read (including this article) makes it very clear that only moderate drinkers receive anything like a health benefit from alcohol. The thought is that the majority of French drinkers are in fact moderate drinkers.^{[citation needed]} Comparing per capita statistics to the US and any other country is absurd. Different cultures treat alcohol very differently. We in the US may consume 8.4L per person in a year. But 50% of the populace is consuming the other 50%'s share. I view this paragraph as original research and think it should be removed. marnues (talk) 09:47, 18 May 2008 (UTC)