A recent study serves to reinforce something I've thought ever since coming to live on the shores of the Mediterranean twenty years ago, how you eat is every bit as important as what you eat. Most Americans don't want to hear this because changing how we eat is more disruptive and requires more serious thought than just buying different products.
You’ve probably read about the so-called French Paradox: The French eat more cheese, cream, and butter than Americans, but suffer lower rates of heart disease. This has been driving materialistic researchers crazy for decades now. They got nuts looking for the silver bullet, that elusive secret element in the French diet that triggers some mysterious chemical reaction that neutralizes all those lipids in the blood. For a while, it was thought that resveratrol (an element in red wine) was responsible for the paradox, but the puzzle has never been solved.
The so-called Mediterranean Diet is also well-known for its healthful effects. Living in a region of Spain that has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, very near the French border, I quickly concluded that these benefits had more to do with how people eat than the specific ingredients of what they eat. Sure, olive oil is good for you, and vegetables are essential. But over here, you won’t see anyone walking down the street drinking a cup of coffee. Cars don't have cup holders, like they do in the States. You want a cup of coffee? Pull over and get one. Drive-thru restaurants? Not a chance. All-you-can-eat? Unheard of.
In Spain (and France), even if you’re just having a snack or an espresso, you go to a café, sit your ass down, and ENJOY IT. (The customary expression you'll hear from the waiter when he brings your food or someone who just walks by your table is "Buen provecho," which means, basically "enjoy it.") The only place I know of where you can get a coffee to go in Barcelona is Starbucks. It’s been years since I’ve seen a Styrofoam cup (a truly horrible invention, that). A glass of wine or a beer at lunch is no problemo here. I drink a beer at a business meeting in the U.S. and people look at me like I'm a Skid Row lush. Relax people!
Want to lose weight and feel better? Slow down. Eat with friends. Taste the food. Eat food worthy of being enjoyed. Have a drink every now and then. Make your life more worth living and you'll live longer. Paradox solved.
