Vincent Bronson

Guide to French Diet Vincent Bronson

Forget low-fat, low-carb, low-taste, and low-calorie -- the French diet is full of flavor and high in satisfaction. Here's how eating la manière Française (the French way) can keep you slim and healthy. The French diet can be summed up in one sentence: eat small portions of high-quality foods less often. "American-sized servings are substantially larger than their Parisian counterparts," says Paul Rozin, PhD, a psychologist with the University of Pennsylvania. In one study, Rozin and colleagues found that a carton of yogurt in Philadelphia was 82% larger than a Paris yogurt; a soft drink was 52% larger, a hot dog 63% larger, and a candy bar 41% larger. Does size matter? Yes, say University of Pennsylvania researchers, who found that when given individual servings of snack foods, subjects tended to eat the same number of servings, no matter how big they were.