[Rhodes22-list] Healthy Living

Brad Haslett flybrad at gmail.com
Fri May 2 07:47:37 EDT 2008


Viva La France!  The next time someone tells me I'm gross I'll point out its
only in the interest of good health!  Brad

--------------------------

Throw caution to wind, France told By Henry Samuel, in Paris
Last updated: 2:47 AM BST 02/05/2008
A French doctor is urging his countrymen to give free rein to flatulence,
sweating and other bodily taboos to reduce the risk of cancer.

In his book, *Le Grand Ménage *(Spring cleaning), Frédéric Saldmann invites
them to embrace the stereotypical British view of the French and to have a
relaxed attitude to bodily functions.

He calls for a "May '68" of the body – an emancipation for belching,
breaking wind and sweating profusely. "Eliminating" the two litres of gas
produced a day by the average Frenchman "is a natural process", he writes,
adding that retaining it can be harmful to the intestines. The French, he
adds, should "dare to fart".

Dr Saldmann also recommends cutting down on chewing gum, never eating while
walking and reducing the intake of fizzy drinks.

Similarly, he says his countrymen should feel free to belch at will and
certainly after each meal. This, he says, is the best way to reduce the risk
of getting a hiatal hernia, an ailment which affects almost a third of
French people. Keeping air in the stomach leads to more heartburn, which
increases the risk of cancer of the oesophagus. The rise of this disease in
France, he says, is due to "the burp that we no longer do".

Dr Saldmann also recommends throwing out anti-perspirants. "To block sweat
not only stops the elimination of toxins," he writes, "but also a certain
number of messages that are potentially very attractive to the opposite
sex."

Moreover, he insists that the smell of male sweat, citing Italian research
on the subject, reduces stress in women.


More information about the Rhodes22-list mailing list