Wine v. Soda: A Perspective on the French Paradox
I saw a stat today: over 67 billion dollars spent on carbonated beverages last year in America. Total wine sales last year were something like half of that number.
Kinda puts this business in perspective, doesn’t it? It also puts that little over-hyped report on the French Paradox in perspective.
It’s not just red wine that the French drink more, it’s all the soda pop that they don’t drink. If you ever read the entire study when it came out, red wine was not the only glaring difference between American and French imbibers. The French also consume more water on a daily basis and drink more tea, far more than the average American reports.
Another look at the bigger picture, according to the Wine Institue:
Americans average the following monthly servings for each beverage: 48 carbonated sodas, 20 glasses of water, 9 cups hot/iced tea, and 2.5 gls of wine.
Europeans average 10 carbonated soda, 82 glasses of water, 21 cups of hot or iced tea, and 8 glasses of wine per month.
*that’s a 12 oz. soda, 12 oz gls of water, 8 oz. of tea, and 8 oz. of wine
So are you going to tell me it’s the WINE that makes them more heart healthy????? Or the fact that Euros don’t drink the equivalent of 2 dozen Big Gulps a month, guzzle tons of water (Nature’s #1 curative), and sip tea to boot?
Mmmm Hmmmm.
There’s no paradox. It’s pretty fucking crystal clear to me.
January 5th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
I watched “Supersize Me” a few nights ago. Aside from the obscene amount of calories in McBurgers & McChicknParts, I was floored by the sheer volume of soda people consume.
Now I’m ont the sveltest suspect in the lineup, but if I were to drink 2-3 cans of full-calorie Coke per day, I’m sure I’d be adding another 10 to 20 Lbs on the scale.
The French/New Yorker/Other Pedestrian friendly Big City paradox is this: More walking, more fresh food, less sugar water and less hyperprocessed food = less obsese people.
January 5th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
Hey, one other huge difference is that French Coke, Orangina, etc., doesn’t have High Fructose Corn Syrup in it. (Our HFCS soft drinks are the #1 cause of obesity in America.)
Also, the French are consuming more fast food every year, with their average weight increasing alarmingly.
January 5th, 2006 at 11:11 pm
To get an idea how bad the obesity problem is: check this out. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/
If you’re on dial-up you’ll have time to wander over to the fridge and grab a Coke while it loads up.
January 5th, 2006 at 11:34 pm
Okay, so I’m hooked! I just started a weblog with urging from others but yours is infamous in the Seattle wine biz as being great shakes… Hope you & your book are alive & well in this odd year.
Our friend Lily is blooming, right on!
Bottoms ooup- Catherine (the Spantabulous)
January 6th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Beau - true about the driving everywhere, that’ll spread that ass fast.
Jack - They are also 8oz, not 12 or more. And you should have seen all the chubby kids in Japan last time I was there!
Brad - whoa. (sober)
ms. proust - oh boy, oh boy! I’m going to go visit http://madeleine.typepad.com/ right now!