The French Paradox

There are three known factors contributing to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries):

1. Overactive platelet activity, which causes blood to stick and can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
2. High levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol. Free radicals can oxidize LDL cholesterol and contribute to the buildup of plaque in the arteries.
3. The third contributing factor to atherosclerosis is damage to endothelial cells.

Patients on a diet high in purple grapes had an almost tripling of the blood vessels’ ability to respond to the increased blood flow, and also showed a slower onset of LDL oxidation, meaning that it is less likely that the oxidation will contribute to atherosclerosis. The flavonoid (transresveratrol) in purple grapes is the key to the prevention of atherosclerosis. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds also contain flavonoids, as well as red wine. This research is often referred to as the French Paradox, which helps to explain the low incidence of heart disease in France, where red wine consumption is high.

While people in France eat almost three times as much saturated fat as Americans, the French have only one-third the risk of heart disease. The same heart disease prevention benefits appear to be related to the consumption of purple grapes, which contain the same flavonoids as red Wine (Circulation, October 1999, 100: 1050-1055), which increases the good HDL cholesterol.

Eating purple grapes or grape juice gives similar protection against heart disease without the alcohol content. Both purple grapes and grape juice contain the flavonoid, transresveratrol, which have cardio-protective benefits. The International Journal of Cancer (Nov. 2004), has found that the antioxidant resveratrol, also appears to have a protective effect against prostate cancer.

The French also eat three to four more servings of vegetables daily than Americans eat. Also, the French season their vegetables with heart-friendly olive oil and add herbs, nuts, and spices. They also take time in preparing their food, and relax and eat slowly to enjoy their meals. Americans, on the other hand, usually eat fast foods or prepare meals quickly and eat them just as fast. They don’t savor foods like the French people do and consequently don’t take the same care in the food preparation and presentation.

Whatever the reasons are, the French people have only had an 8-10% rise in obesity over the last decade compared to a 20-25% increase in obesity in the American population. Also, the French have considerably less heart disease and breast cancer compared to Americans. French people rarely eat prepackaged foods, which are filled with saturated fats, sugar, and sodium. They also usually saute or grill their fresh vegetables to bring out the natural sugars and nutrients contained in the vegetables.

The portions of meats that they eat are relatively small in comparison to the amount of ftesh vegetables that they consume. And even though they enjoy desserts with a high fat content, they usually only consume small portions of these tasty morsels. So, it is not only the wine that keeps the French people healthy, it’s their preparation and enjoyment of healthy, ftesh foods, and their relaxed manner of eating slow, leisurely meals. The French take time preparing and eating their meals, unlike their American counterparts who eat quickly and often have little knowledge of what they’ve actually eaten. Perhaps, it’s the Americans ‘ quick, stressful lifestyle and their inability to relax that causes heart disease and not the actual diet at all.

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