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Comment by virtualwhys | Hacker News Reader

You forgot a few:

- The French smoke like chimneys

- Drink some form of alcohol daily

- Are dedicated carnivores (vegetarians are rare)

I come here a few months a year (south of France) and it always amazes me how healthy everyone appears to be despite the excess of "sin" the French revel in.

Lifestyle obviously comes into play in terms of longevity (I believe the world's oldest woman was French and she smoked moderately into her 100s). In other words, the phrase, "work before pleasure", very likely did not originate in France.

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> - The French smoke like chimneys

In Italy, this is actually changing fairly quickly. 10+ years ago, they banned smoking indoors, and I figure that, like a lot of rules here, people would sort of pay attention for a few weeks and then gradually ignore it, but the reality is that it's actually been fairly strictly enforced/followed, and people are happy with the results. Smoking is still more common than in the US, but diminishing.

It's changing in France also. I'm old and most of my French friends are old and not one of them smokes. This is obviously anecdotal and selection bias, but in my 20+ years of observing I've noticed that restaurants have gone from smoke filled rooms in which everyone is smoking to the occasional smoker at the table next to you.

Smoking in bars and restaurants is banned in France since 2008. You won't find anyone smoking in restaurants now.

> happy with results

I'll predict expanding waist lines and increasing obesity rates.

Something I completely forgot to mention was stress (I realize this is now 24 hours and no one will probably read this). I have a great aunt who lived to be 104, and her secret to long life was the lack of stress. She drank, smoked, and ate whatever she wanted, but she lived in a hotel almost her entire life (she owned a floor in said hotel), never had kids, and only worked in her younger days. This has nothing to do with the French, but I think is applicable.

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