Last night Lloyd and I ate at a fun French restaurant in our
neighborhood that offers over ten types of les moules (mussels). You’ll notice in the before and after
pictures, we also ate pommes frites (French fries) – absolutely mouthwatering
when dipped in the mussels broth. Any
time we indulge in this treat, it brings to mind the “French Paradox” – the juxtaposition
between France’s
rich diet and its people’s fit physiques.
Many
suspect it comes down to calories; the French simply eat smaller portions and
stop when they are full.

Another cultural conundrum explored recently is the “Japanese
Paradox.” The people of Japan have
similar blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels as Americans, but have the
lowest incidence of heart attacks in the world.
Researchers suspected it might be genetics, but that was ruled out in a recent study
because heart disease among Japanese men who live in Japan is much lower than Japanese
men who live in western cultures.

Researchers pinpointed the likely cause to be diet-related –
fish consumption specifically. The
Japanese eat seafood up to eight times each week, and their blood levels of
fish-based omega-3s show it. Among Japanese
men studied, even those with the lowest amount of omega-3s in their blood had
levels higher than the average for Western men. This sky-high supply of omega-3s was
associated with lower levels of build-up in the Japanese men’s arteries.