By Ripples Turquand

“The meal truly elevates every single flavor, deserving a slow and luxurious means to relishing every single bite.” – Ashley Schneider, writer for Vogue

Graciously walking down a boulevard with a buttery pastry in hand after an afternoon glass of red wine, this woman maintains a clear complexion and effortlessly elegant figure. This is the Parisian expression, abiding by a simple balance: a stroll with some sauvignon blanc.

This balance has perplexed American women who limit themselves from daily indulgences, using grueling gym routines to offset a “cheat day.” Referred to as “the only Western country well known for the butter in its pastry crust and the thin citizens who consume it” by Vogue, the French Paradox term was coined.

The French Paradox illustrates how French women, despite having a diet rich in saturated fats, such as toast with jam or an afternoon pastry, appear to contradict evidence connecting saturated fats with coronary heart disease. Saturated fats commonly appear in foods Americans consume daily: whole milk, butter, and beef tallow. The American Heart Association warns that “saturated fats can raise your ‘bad’ cholesterol and put you at higher risk for heart disease.” But don’t be alarmed – these fats are good in moderation.

A 2025 systematic review (Bakht et al.) hypothesized that “If the association between saturated fat and [coronary heart disease] is valid, then it would be expected that the French would have a higher incidence of [coronary heart disease] than countries with lower saturated fat consumption.” However, in 36 studies, many participants showed positive changes, concluding that moderate red wine consumption may improve lipid profiles by increasing “good” cholesterol, thereby offsetting the effects of high saturated fat intake.

This review notes that the wine’s polyphenol content is ultimately responsible for the body’s cardioprotective actions process when red wine is consumed responsibly. Lipids are organic compounds that include fats, oils, cholesterol, and other waxy substances essential for storing energy, building cell membranes, and producing hormones. Polyphenols are a diverse group of plant-derived antioxidants that help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in our bodies. These mechanisms may help explain the paradoxically lower coronary heart disease rates despite higher saturated fat intake.

So, red wine oddly offsets all the negative effects of saturated fats in a French woman’s diet. However, LOOK readers, healthy lifestyle factors also affect the outcome of these effects.

In addition to a glass of red wine at lunch, the French woman is meticulous about what she puts in her dishes. For those of you reading who’ve traveled to Europe, quality over quantity is the absolute key to a European diet – especially in France. Local markets are a weekly, even daily, staple where finding the freshest berries and spinach is a non-negotiable.

My aunt Katherine Ertlé, who lived in Paris for a year and still travels there all the time, notes how “when I was buying fresh fruits or vegetables at the local market, they would always ask me when it was to be eaten or how it was to be prepared. Buying a melon for today was different from buying a melon to be eaten tomorrow… You select your ingredients with purpose based on what you are preparing and when.”

Her mother-in-law, Marie Ertlé, a true Parisian lady through and through, puts it even more bluntly: “when I arrived [in the U.S.], I noticed the bad quality of the food that people eat; all this processed food with additives, processed ingredients, and colorants.” In France, “we tend to do everything from scratch with good ingredients… contributing to a much healthier way of eating and to also curb obesity.” I love Marie’s honesty. Sometimes a little straight talk is exactly what we need to change our eating habits.

We need to be honest with ourselves and our plates, as a 2025 study on breakfast portion sizes found. Researchers looked at how we estimate portions, how full we expect to feel, and how the rest of our day’s eating patterns change, concluding that people are pretty good at judging how filling a breakfast will be just by looking at it. The researchers found that our minds play tricks on us, leading to compensation and other negative habits.

These recent studies highlighted the role of cognitive activity in pre-determining the fullness at the end of a meal. Simply put, our brain decides how full we’ll feel before we even pick up the fork. This is where the concept of expected satiety comes in: the unconscious feeling that you’re going to be hungry after a meal, often driving us to load up our plates more than we really need.

Appetite regulation and the way we “approach a meal” can quietly push us to eat more than our bodies actually need. But a little awareness (and a little European-style intention) goes a long way toward better portion control and fewer sneaky snacks later in the day.

In America, we are conditioned to acting fast – quick deadlines at work, 10-minute class walks on SMU’s campus, chugging the first cup of coffee in the morning to kickstart our body’s high-drive. Almost everything we Americans do is rushed instead of savored. And it’s not an entirely negative concept – getting things done quickly keeps us prompt and motivated. But when it comes to food, take some advice from the French ladies.

When you intentionally consume fresh foods and eat meals where you recognize and can pronounce every ingredient, you are fully in control of your mind-to-mouth connection.

Their food is straightforward, just like their attitude towards eating – no sabotages, just quality ingredients. That honesty extends to the dinner table – the foie gras is rich and fatty, and butter brings joy. These women stay balanced without deprivation, a mindset that turns eating into an honest reflection of who they are.

So, in a sense, the phrase “you are what you eat” rings true for French women: honest and unapologetically human.