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Article: Red wine, croissants, coq au vin - how come she's so thin? The French Paradox has perplexed dieticians for decades. And why are Inuits so healthy and Israelis dropping like flies? Simon Rickwood on the world's dietary conundrums
- Article from:
- The Independent on Sunday (London, England)
- Article date:
- December 7, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 The Independent on Sunday. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Let us consider the great Obelix, for he is a prime example. How
could a Gaul who ate a family of wild boar for breakfast, drank
amphoras of wine for elevenses and gobbled down a slab of cheese for
lunch, still carry enormous Stonehenge-sized rocks for mile upon mile
and fight off legions of Roman centurions with one smite of his giant
hand?
OK, he fell into a cauldron of magic potion when he was a baby.
But he is also a perfect representation of the French Paradox. Let us
ask a similar question, without invention. How can the average
Frenchman, who is partial to more than the odd drop of vin de pays
and has a great lust for bread and cheese, maintain a happily beating
heart and still be ...