
 |
|
May 13, 2013
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
July 14, 2006
/ 18 Tamuz, 5766
Food snobs or food slobs?
By
Lori Borgman
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
First, a publishing house dishes up the best seller, "French Women Don't Get Fat." Then comes a second course titled, "Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat." (Touche! Take that you thin but aging French women.)
Now comes another entree, "Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too."
All right, already. They've thrown down the gauntlet, and it's not a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
So now we know that French, Japanese and Mediterranean women all stay slim. We're happy for you. Really. And that leaves those who aren't French, Japanese and Mediterranean where?
You say you come from a German line? Sorry to hear that my stout friend. Have some more sauerbraten.
Third generation Italian? Help yourself to some more manicotti.
While the authors of these "we're slim and you're not" books revel in their heritage, they say it is not about a call to ethnicity as much as it is a call to moderation. Smaller portions at slower paces.
One suggestion is to linger over the dining experience by putting your cutlery down between bites. I have been trying this with mixed success.
I take a bite, then place my eating utensils back on the table and put my hands in my lap.
"Were you going to say something?" asks the husband.
"No," I respond.
"Then are you getting up from the table? Because if you are, would you bring back the butter?"
"I'm not going anywhere," I say.
"Then what are you doing?"
"I am simply savoring my food, taking time to engage all of my senses. I am experiencing the aroma, the texture, the taste and the visual appeal."
"You are eating a bowl of Cheerios," he says, thereby zapping all traces of Frenchness from my morning bowl of fiber.
Apparently the key to slim is not just about stretching out each bite, but stretching out the entire meal. The French typically take two hours for lunch. Yes, lunch. This must be one of the perks of socialism, because for most of us lunch is five minutes standing at a counter, a sandwich in the car, or wolfing down something at the computer with one hand and keyboarding with the other.
The French also frequently finish a meal with wine. I don't drink enough wine to clear that hurdle where a half glass doesn't put me to sleep, but perhaps this is the way to get to the two-hour mark: 10 minutes eating, an hour and 50 minutes napping with my face in my plate.
The author touting a Mediterranean way of eating suggests utilizing the "three-bite rule" when indulging in something rich and fattening. Why bother cooking something, dirtying dishes and cleaning up for three little bites. I'd rather skip the entire process. (We may be getting somewhere.)
The author of Japanese descent promotes "hara hache bunmi," which means, "Eat until you are 80 percent full." She also stocks her pantry with staples like fish flakes and radishes. Not being a fan of either, that 80 percent cutoff would be well within reach.
A survey by the French government found 75 percent of the French eat meals prepared at home at the family table. A hefty number of Americans grab takeout, eat in front of the television or under the glow of the golden arches. Our differences are both stark and measurable.
On the other hand, Mireille Guilano, the author of French Women Don't Get Fat, says in her bio that her favorite pastimes are breakfast, lunch and dinner. Maybe we have a little something in common after all.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Lori Borgman is the author of , most recently, "Pass the Faith, Please" (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) and I Was a Better Mother Before I Had Kids To comment, please click here. To visit her website click here.
ARCHIVES
© 2006, Lori Borgman
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|