Just wondering. Thanks Parfym.
I would be wondering about this same question regarding Italy, but that comes in the fall. Thanks to all survivors....in spite of all the temptations

Hi Parfym,
As I understand it, low cholestrol means low fat..so aside from some dishes that contain butter ( the French like to cook with butter and cream in some dishes) you will most likely find that French food is healthy or even healthier than you would expect.
They use fresh ingredients and do wonders with frsh vegetables.
I find that I eat much more seafood and vegetables there, than I do at home.
Enjoy~

Thank you Scarlett
P

Eat exactly as the French do. Croissants apart (which are as cholesterol-packed as they are inedible), the normal French diet is low in cholesterol. But the French mostly eat at home

The "typical" French restaurant meal, however is a cholesterol nightmare. From its excessive dependence on cholesterol-rich food like eggs and most seafood, to its excessively elaborate desserts, the sublimeness of its cheeses and its wonderful slow-cooked fatty cuts of meat, there are three honest truths about good French restaurant food:
- it's generally at its best when it's highest in cholestrol
- French cooks rarely use low-cholesterol substitutes.
- and the reason the French live so long, so well, is that they rarely stuff themselves with what restaurants produce.

So you either have to be VERY robust in what you choose, or just accept two weeks of relatively high cholesterol intake. Steering clear of eggs, seafood, cheese, butter and cream and most of the fattier meat products like pates is a good start. But it's a great deal easier to simply eat what you're given, in the relatively small portions that help the French survive, and then be even more disciplined back home, where you have far more control over what you're eating.

You have a real dilemna, because half the reason to be in France for me is the food, as rich as it is, and yes, I too have to watch my cholesterol. There are vegetarian restaurants listed in most guide books, but I suggest that you alternate your treats. If you want pate' dont have it every day, and ditto with cheese, desserts etc.

French portions of restaurant food are very small so that will help your overall cause. And all the exercise (walking) will help because I never have returned home from a European trip weighing more than when I left because I follow my own advice.

My brother and his wife just came back from Paris and during their stay they watched each morsel that went into their mouths to limit fat intake and ended up having tons of guilt each day over the meals.

I agree with most other people here. Just relax and enjoy. I also depend on a low cholesterol diet and I decided to give the diet a break while traveling. It's simply not feasable. Relax, have fun, abd return to your regular nutrition back home.
If you are on medication you might consider increasing the dose after consulting your doctor.
Other than that winesipper got something wrong. Controlling cholesterol and controlling weight have nothing in common even if there are many people who ought to controll both.

Just be sure you do a lot of walking and aerobic execrcise, and some of the dietary cholesterol increase will probably be offset.

For most people, losing weight can increase HDLs--good cholesterol--while being overweight increases LDLs--bad cholesterol. Exercise, whether or not you lose weight, increases HDLs and reduces LDLs.

Dear Parfym--Although you are likely to be exposed to temptation many more times on holiday than while at home, the best advice I can give you is to eat like you eat at home. While that sounds simplistic, the truth is, if you are accustomed to eating in a particular health-required fashion, then being on vacation shouldn't change that.

My husband has celiac disease, which means he can't have anything with gluten-no wheat, rye, or barley in any form, including beer. We have successfully traveled in Belgium, France, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and most recently, Turkey without jeopardizing his health through poor choices.
He had such fond memories of the pastry shops from our first visit to France, that he wasn't sure he could bear the temptation, but he did well, and was glad to learn that he could seek other pleasures in his meals besides the forbidden ones.

Think of the wonderful rotisserie chickens that, without the skin, are a good and low cholesterol food. Fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh cherry jam on your bread instead of butter at breakfast. I know that you have investigated these possibilities at home, and you'll find them readily available in France. Bon appetit!

Hi P,

Eat sensibly, do a lot of walking for exercise and don't worry.

You don't have to have the foie gras for an appetizer, blanquette de veau for a main course, and a creme brulee for dessert.....but it is very good.

I know exactly what you mean Parfym. I am also thinking about this. I don't go along with the idea don't worry about its your vacation. But if people feel like they can afford that physically I can certainly understand the urge. Problem is if you don't normally eat high fat you are NOT going to feel good physically after you do. That is the way my body works anyway.

I got very sick from a great restaurant in Siena Italy from the extraordinary salt use. Now I don't think it was just this one restaurant it was a series of days of EXTRA salt used in the region.

I remember walking around and literaly sounding like a bottle of liquid someone was shaking, blotted to a point of real discomfort. I wasted the better part of my day just waiting to feel better. Sitting in that beautiful cathedral but not happy .

I largely travel to France just to eat myself senseless. Having said that, after the first week I order a lot more soups (vegetable), I skip breakfast or just buy a bag of apples, and then I eat like mad for supper. Also, drink lots of water. And of course a great deal of red wine will help with the fat content.

TorontoSTeven you are too funny! "eating myself senseless"

and I was bloated not blotted

I think it would be much more difficult to maintain a low-CARB diet in France.

Well, perhaps not "senseless" but certainly into a state of sublime ecstasy. The beautiful, elegant pleasure of that first cup of French espresso in the morning when you arrive, or that perfectly cooked piece of fresh fish in a subtle butter sauce, of the fact that you can walk into any restaurant in France and see a special of the day on the menu that does not even exist in North America, that is pure joy. If my entrails could take it I would eat foie, cheese and every sauce that came within 20 feet of me while I am there. I remember taking my wife to France for the first time and having raved about the food (which I think she thought I was exagerating) and seeing her bite into that first pastry in Le Notre on a cool October morning - you could see the belief in her eyes. It was like joining the Freemasons and finally learning the secrets.

Go to France - eat anything you can buy, beg or steal. Its all worth it - all the time.

The French may have the reputation for lots of cream and butter but they also take "plain" cooking to a new realm. You can eat cassoulet, confit, fish, roasted chicken, etc. etc. etc. I would be hard pressed to remember a meal we have had in France that was drenched in butter and cream.
Take a food glossary and match up the menu to the preparation.
The other point is that one or two meals are not going to matter in the long run. AND exercise is the very real reason the French don't get fat--they don't overeat (the portions in France are very realistic) and they walk.

For any kind of "special" diet I think shopping at a grocery store for at least one meal a day is helpful. You don't need a kitchen to prepare simple things, or at least add plain fruits and vegetables to your daily intake. I believe it's depending on restaurants as your only source of food that gets people into trouble.

Travelnut, the Montignac diet is a low carb diet, basically the French version of the Atkins diet. A restaurant might know about it and be willing to accomodate a customer.

Prfym, red wine is said to help, so make suer you order some with your meal.