Less is More, With Food and Sex

As of 2008, only 56% of French males and 40% of French females were classified as overweight or obese, compared to 70% of American males and 62% of American females.  How can we explain these differences?  It may well be how the two cultures differ in their perspectives on food.  Researchers have found that the French are less stressed about eating and are inclined to see it as a pleasurable experience.  Americans, on the other hand, tend to hurry through meals rather than savoring them, making us more likely to overeat and therefore weigh more than the French.*  We can apply this same line of thinking to sex.

Unfortunately, the media today suggest that more is better when it comes to sex and lead people to think that everybody is having lots of sex.  We’re also led to believe that most people rush to have sex.  This is similar to the way food is presented to Americans.  Food is available everywhere, and we are encouraged to supersize everything.  While Americans love getting a lot of food for a small price, the French relish a small amount of delicious food.  When is the last time you called drive-through fare “delicious”?

Sane sex is all about postponing physical intimacy until we’re in an exclusive, loving relationship.  As we become more emotionally close to someone, our level of physical intimacy increases.  It’s a gradual process, one that can be savored over time.  It may take a while to find someone with whom we develop emotional intimacy, so initially there won’t be much sex happening.  When the relationship does come, though, it will be something to relish, much like the French experience of food.

* Source – Environmental Nutrition September 2009