The French Diet: Why French Women Don't Get Fat

by Michel Montignac

An international diet guru and nutrition expert introduces a practical, delicious, and deprivation-free approach to losing weight and keeping it off that debunks common dieting myths, features more than fifty recipes, offers fail-safe strategies for getting back on track, and provides practical advice on nutrition, dietary guidelines, metabolism, and more. Original. 100,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Food, Diets

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 13, 2005

Reviews

[Nicol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Another book by a European calling the Americans a bunch of fat asses. Which is fairly true. But really? A week of eating leek soup to kick-start a diet? A little austere for those of us who are excellent cooks. The main point she tries to convey is she had to unlearn her American eating habits during her stay in the States and return to the French way. Which is to say, moderation.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

French people don't eat this way, which is ironic as Michel Montignac was French. This is the same misguided number counting and ham-fisted nutritional science which has lead to the need for such a book to exist in the first place. I hate to speak ill of the dead — Montignac died of prostate cancer in 2010 — but a lot of the science presented here has been called into question. At the heart of his theory is the GI index, as if French people have regularly looked up the GI values of food for centuries before filling their plates. They don't count calories. They don't use science to eat in any way. This is the whole point of a French diet.

The problem of course isn't the science, as the scientific method has been responsible for, by now I’m sure, saving billions of lives, through vaccines, pasteurization, MRIs, cancer drugs, transplants, pace-makers … not to mention the extreme improvement of quality of life for billions and billions more. Air-conditioning was brought to us by science. So was the automobile (a mixed-bag to be sure, that one). Do you want to do without modern sanitization? Clean water? Surgeons washing their hands?

No, the problem isn’t science. The problem is the human body. The vast interdependent array of systems and subsystems produces if not chaos then maybe the next-door neighbor to chaos. The infinitely complex interactions are simply too much for the poor scientists to fully grasp. Nothing currently published as nutritional science should be taken as settled science. Yes, we know what happens when food breaks down through the process of digestion. We understand a lot of what is going on at a molecular level. But none of the explanation for what’s going on reliably predicts what happens when a person eats a donut, or when another person eats broccoli. Back to the GI index. It is now thought that different foods have different GI values for different people at different times. I could eat that donut and my insulin would spike. You could eat that donut and your body would thank you and you would remain slim and svelte. What we eat absolutely matters, so choose the broccoli when you can, but don’t let anyone tell you that they know in advance what that broccoli is going to do to you. There are just too many other factors that come into play.

Perhaps as AI develops, quantum computers come online, and Moore’s law is overtaken, maybe then we will be able to crunch the numbers — ALL the numbers. Maybe then we can truly know what that donut will do to you. We’re not there yet, though.

Enter the French diet. As I see it, there are two things that the French way of eating has going for it. First, it’s based on a deep tradition, one which has proven itself over centuries. Second, it’s based on quality and temperance. Eat delicious, high-quality food in small amounts. Reset the appetite to expect smaller amounts of what is often higher fat, high quality food. The devil of course is in the details, but those details remain outside of this particular book.

Try instead The Fat Fallacy by Dr. William Clower. That’s only one such book that springs to mind. There are many others.

[Aasinathena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me a proper and perfect scientific explanation for the GI of foods and what causes obesity.

Its a practical approach and I wish I can keep this as a handbook to keep by my side(as I'm an avid foodie-I look for new foods despite being it fatty or not,different cuisines,different foods,the list goes on!) before eat out.

But I'm sure that this book will help me towards a healthy weight and a healthy life style for me and my family.

[Joanne Greene · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good idea - some of the information I find too restrictive. But I like the idea of changing up the idea of a diet to an approach to food and eating. Not enough recipes and not enough vegetarian menus for lunch and dinner. But a good start for anyone who wants to "makeover" their diet into a more healthy way of eating and approaching food.

[Ilena Holder · Rating 1 out of 5]

A difficult diet plan for Americans to follow. The French women will eat a cup of yogurt for breakfast. Lunch is salad. That is pretty much it until supper when you can really dig into a feast when all your family assembles around the table. I read it and am still chunky. Oh well. Welcome to America!

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just keeping my eyes open to possibilities. The real reason French women don't get fat is because they walk for miles everywhere, every day. I take my car because I can.

[Janet Ludlam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book. We all know what to do when it comes to trying to keep our weight down but French Women practice it all the time .

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit my mom encouraged to have me read this because she loved it so much. I looked at it with skepticism because I felt this was another cliched stereotype book that we all as dieters have experienced the "been there read that" scenario. However my interested changed while reading this non-diet lifetyle book because it was riddled with the wisdom placed in the art of life, love, and the pleasure of eating in lieu of the American way of over indulgence leading to sinful guilt (can I say yo-yo diet fads). This has taught me how to find healthy foods that are in season, eat a variety and eat less, and better yet, enjoy the pleasures of chocolate and wine. I feel that I have started a lifestyle shift that will easily stick with me for a lifetime, and I have lost seven pounds without even thinking I have worked for it. I did not count calories, pounds, or points, never bothered to weigh my food, and gathered a heighten sense of enjoyment. I recommend this book to women of all ages. This book is a keeper.

[Kathryn]

I found it at a library sale for 50cents, otherwise I'm not sure I ever would have read it. It's interesting. It's somewhat ironically funny. I'm waiting for the book: How to keep teachers trim.

[Kathleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is awful. The author's simplicity and arrogance are absurd and an insult to anyone with a brain. PLEASE! Clearly she is in love with herself and her superiority over everyone. Must be super insecure. :)

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an interesting book. I have never dieted because I don't think diets work. I completely agree with what she teaches in this book about how a moderation, lots of water, exercise, and love of life are truly the best way to go.

[eve abreu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good read, with lots of good tips.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terrific recipes.

[Jacquie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Food for thought...This book really helped me understand the importance of eating quality vs quantity.

[Lesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I didn't read the cover very well.. I thought this was going to be a story, but it was a diet book. oh well..

[Amber Creswick · Rating 4 out of 5]

moderation is key

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this book. I skimmed some parts but overall thought that it had some interesting points and some good recipes too! A different approach to eating and enjoying life's pleasures.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quality control and portion control. How un-American!

[mira]

my last ditch effort to prove to myself that i don't need a gym membership

[betsy · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was one of the worst books i've ever read.

[Fthomas]

um, it was given to me by my mother, so the progress of this is slow going, i really am resisting knowing why i am fat......

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far it's Weight Watchers w/o the points counting and a leek soup. (Which is like WW veggie soup.)

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am curious.

[Erin Baker]

Has some really good recipes in here.

[Mary Foxe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, good advice, but not at all practical for people who very little money to buy fois grais etc.