Well, my girl and I traveled to France a few month ago, as well as Italy and Switzerland. One thing that struck me was how good the French eat. They smother their bread in copious amounts of butter. They do eat a lot of cheese. They enjoy their red meat. They love their desserts, and..they smoke..a lot lol. Yet, even with all this, they are able to maintain a somewhat healthy figure, and boast one of the highest life expectancies in the world.

I've researched all of this, and the general conclusion made by scientists and researchers is that they eat smaller portions, they stress less (probably from all the cigarettes), they drink more wine than Americans, they walk more, and the food they is fresh and natural, which I have seen to be true. In the US, where I'm originally from, there seems to be more fast food restaurants than markets. If you go to a super market, you're often given the option of poor quality produce and food out of a can.

With all the propaganda about not smoking, eating extremely small portions, even by European standards, staying away from anything that tastes good, the French have been doing the opposite, whilst maintaining proper meal portions, for hundreds of years, which the US has arguably strayed from in the last 50-60 years, and living longer.

People who move to France, as well as many other European countries, have reported improved health and lifestyle.

I personally wouldn't correlate smoking with high life expectancy as it can cause more problems than the stress-release is worth. Albeit from that I think that the only thing we can say is that the universal truth seem to be really true: Everything in small portions is good, everything. If you don't exaggerate almost everything is healthy to an extent.

Yeah but...I hear French girls have hairy armpits. Ya gotta weigh that against the whole improved-health-and-lifestyle thing. Tough call.

The big thing is the walking - exercise and a good diet can work wonders. I've lost around 20 pounds by simply eating less fatty foods and exercising for an hour a day. Also, nicotine (I think) works to make the body lose weight.

Or because of their four-day work week? I mean, if I had three days off for every four of work I'd be chilled out too.

Christ do the French smoke a-lot, lucky bastards.

You are right in some cases, but I do urge you and everyone to research beyond what you've been told or what you've heard or read from many of the organizations that simply put out false or incomplete information. Doctors, and I'm a medical providers myself, will tell you, and rightly so, that smoking is bad for the lungs, which it is. If I have to be concerned about anything, it isn't so much lung cancer as it is empheysema, smoking induced bronchitis, ect. I wont go in to deep here, don't take my word for it, but research it, you may be surprised actually.

Walking is great, and it is true that many Europeans, especially in the big cities, walk a lot, but they also don't eat in excess. Nicotine acts like an amphetamine, in that it suppresses appetite. Interestingly, many French women wont stop smoking, not because they're addicted, but because they want to keep their figure.

Judging by infant mortality rates, I'd say their preventive care is better than in the U.S. as well.

TheRippaMan brings up a good point about walking; we Americans drive everywhere, and not necessarily because we're lazy, but because the majority of our towns/cities aren't designed for pedestrians/organized transit.

That may be part of the answer. When I was in Argentina and Canada, people would often ask me if I was sick or anorexic because I could never finish what I was served (too much food). Also I've noticed that yogurts and desserts imported from Germany are huge compared to their French rivals.

Mot, Fille.

Mais, filles franciases sont plutot sixy.

Ah French. You're such a beautiful language.