Paradox Found: French Diet Success on This Side of the Atlantic

Pittsburgh, Penn. (PRWEB) August 3, 2005 -

– Has someone just solved the famed French Paradox? First articulated in the 1970’s by Dr. Serge Renaud, the French Paradox is the idea that the French can flaunt our nutrition rules, without suffering from obesity or heart disease. In fact, their famous love affair with full fat cheeses, chocolates, and “empty alcohol calories” in their wine has left them healthier than any country in Europe, according to the International Obesity Task Force.

Americans, meanwhile, just scratch their heads, accept that the French Paradox is real and somehow doesn’t apply to them. But Dr. Will Clower, author of The Fat Fallacy and The French Don’t Diet (Crown 2006), now has evidence showing that even Americans can get the French results, right here at home.

Clower’s eight-week program, called The PATH Curriculum, was offered to the hospital staff at the Vail Valley Medical Center in Vail, Colorado early this summer. By coaching them to eat wonderfully rich foods, but to do so with the careful French eating habits, the PATH Curriculum was able to produce an average drop in total cholesterol of 13.3 mg/dL just two weeks after completion of the program.

And, like those skinny French, a full 75% of participants in this preliminary study lost weight, averaging a 4 pound loss through the program. “What makes this program completely different from other conventional approaches,” urges Clower, “is that we use the success of another culture, in this case the French, as a model. We know it works because they have low weight, healthy hearts, and live longer lives.”

Clower’s mantra? “Do what they do, and you’ll get their results.” Fair enough, but what are they doing? Participants in The PATH Curriculum are first required to give up “Faux Foods” – processed food products and sodas laden with chemicals and preservatives. Then they are coached for three weeks on the healthy eating habits that limit between meal snacking and control portion sizes. Finally they learn daily activities and techniques to prevent stress-induced overconsumption.

Whether or not Clower has solved the French Paradox for Americans, his program is gaining traction as a popular corporate wellness initiative and as a for-credit course at the University level. He is gearing up for a series of follow-up studies at Medical Centers around the country.

For more information on The PATH Curriculum, contact Dr. Clower by phone: 800-994-PATH

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