#132 French Habits for Nourishment and Good Digestion
episodePreviously titled “#131 French Habits for Nourishment and Good Digestion” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 10, 2026
Family Food for Moms Podcast I Inspiration for Family Cooking and Dining I How to Enjoy Special Meals Together
16 min
1 speaker
3 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
Transcript
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Hi friends, I'm Karen and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast. We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining. It's good to be back. I've missed you all, but it's been good to have a break too. I hope you've had a good summer slash winter, depending on where you are. I've been thinking a lot about what I need to prepare and plan for in terms of meals for myself, meals for mom, because it's easy to plan for the family. And I find sometimes it's hard to get enough protein or there's certain things I don't want to be eating that I'm happy to do for the kids or whatever. just having more ideas. And so I'm going to do an episode soon on that. Today, we're going to be talking about what the French do to help with digestion in their eating habits and to help kind of being healthy
ways they approach their food and their dining. I've spoken a lot about the French before. They're very inspiring, as are many European countries, with their eating habits.
So I'm going to come at it from a slightly different angle, but it's always interesting to hear what the French do. So number one, Meals are a social occasion.
They're an occasion where you sit down. It's time to focus on food. It's not time to multitask or to eat while you're at the computer or the TV. It's to be together as a family or with friends. So they eat slowly, they put aside that time for eating, they have courses, they don't rush and they give their bodies time to enjoy each part of the meal, to notice it, to be present and to slowly chew and swallow and have breaks in between, gaps in between, sometimes even a walk in between so that their bodies can really digest in the best way possible. I think this is so good because it's so easy to be focused on what you have to do after dinner or on clearing away because there's a lot of dishes to do or just being in a rush.
And I find it so much more rewarding and And nourishing when we can have slow meals together that involve some good connection, some fellowship, maybe a bit of music to help you relax and slow down. And then not eating the food too fast, breaking it up, maybe having your vegetables first as a kind of appetizer, like steamed broccoli with salt and butter or some kind of salad variation. And then eating the main meal, there's less on your plate and it's harder to gobble it down and it makes for a really enjoyable dinner experience. Also, the French are good at having regular meals. So they eat a meal at the same time every day and their bodies know what to expect. They eat a nourishing meal. Lunch and dinner would be the larger ones.
So they're not constantly snacking between meals. They're not eating all day. As you know, I'm sure that's better for your blood sugar to not be snacking all the time. And they really focus on mealtime when it's mealtime and the rest of their day when it's not mealtime. They make sure each meal is satisfying and then it carries them through the rest of the day. Also eating at the same time every day seems to be really helpful for our bodies. Our body knows what to expect and it's not going to release a whole lot of stress hormones or sugar from the liver if it feels like we're not eating for a while. So having regular meals at regular times, knowing what to expect and then enjoying those times together.
Number three, they prioritize whole fresh foods, often even going to the market daily or every second day to get fresh fish, to get some fresh meats, vegetables, seasonal fruit, not just any fruit, but fruit that's in season, so much healthier. Legumes, maybe their breads, cheese, their cheeses. So going to the market every day means they can pick what's fresh and local and in season. It's that much more delicious and nutritious. And then cooking it that same day. I know this is not always possible. I'm very thankful for food delivery services so that I can basically order what we need to eat on that day and then have it fresh. But an outdoor market sounds amazing with all these really good fruits and vegetables on display.
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