When Caroline Longmore, a French nutritionist, married a Brit and moved from Paris to London, she found herself “horrified” by the way people ate. “I realised that people here had not learnt about moderation,” she explains to me, in a charmingly thick accent. “The French are just so much better at looking after themselves, but I wonder if that’s because the state does more for us. They offer free full-time nursery education and it’s easier to access healthcare. It makes it easier to prioritise having fun and eating well.”
Now 78, and not having suffered from so much as a cold in decades, Longmore – a doctor and naturopath – is determined to help the people of the UK reset their systems and get healthy. Her key word is “balance”; here, she and other experts explain how to achieve this the Gallic way – and lose that all-important half-stone.
A tarte tatin is fine – but only if you give up something else
When Longmore goes to a restaurant, the first thing she does is check the dessert menu. If there is something on there that she wants, she won’t have any wine; if it all looks rather bland, then she will. “I would say the biggest difference between the French and British is that the French know they can have a bit of what they want, but not all of it,” she says. “You can have a glass of wine, but not a bottle. You can have a piece of cake, just not every day.”
If you want a glass of chablis… drink lots of water
“It is such an easy trick, but it makes a big difference,” says Clothilde Gaultier, a dietician in Paris, who suggests we drink a glass of water half an hour before we sit down at the table and two more during the meal. Drinking more water increases the number of calories you burn, reduces appetite and improves digestion and your complexion. Most importantly, it means that if you have wine with your meal, it won’t tax your liver as much.
Reset your blood sugar
“If you take out wheat, dairy, alcohol and sugar, you will always lose weight,” says Longmore. “But few people can do this long-term – and why would you want to? There would be so little pleasure.”
What most of us can do, however, is avoid these four horsemen of the diet apocalypse for five days. “Hormones fluctuate in women in particular – if you have a lot of cravings, you can reset them and rebalance your blood sugar by cutting out the things you crave completely for a short period [after a few days your body will stop wanting them] and by taking a chromium supplement,” explains Longmore.
Chromium shouldn’t be taken long-term, but in short bursts it can encourage the body to metabolise food faster. Unless you’re diabetic, 200 micrograms a day as part of a multivitamin should be sufficient – although the best approach is through a balanced diet. Whole wheat bread, broccoli, potatoes, meat and brewers yeast are all good sources.
Have a formule du jour, not a sad sandwich
Eating less doesn’t mean forgetting to eat – and it certainly doesn’t mean putting off lunch until you’re so hungry you wolf down the first chain-store offering you can find. “I was horrified when I first came to England and had clients who told me they’d have nothing until the middle of the afternoon and then would load up on carbs and Mars Bars,” says Longmore.