German Women Don't Get (Very) Fat

Many of you probably have the image of the big, burly, blond, and near-sighted German woman. While this image does reflect reality somewhat, the average German—man or woman—is pretty slim. While for the last couple of years the U.S. publishing world and dieting industry have been abuzz with books and programs educating us about the diet and lifestyle of French women (http://www.frenchwomendontgetfat.com/), the eating habits and daily routines of their German neighbors have languished in the shadows. It must be recognized, of course, that Germans are known more for their schnitzel and autobahns than their haute cuisine and joie de vivre. Furthermore, within the European community, they are stereotyped as the ones who like to travel and eat a lot, often at the same time. And yet, when I look around me in Hannover, people of all walks of life do seem relatively slender. Though my argument for the not-very-fat-German probably couldn’t stretch out into an entire book, maybe I have enough evidence for a blog entry?

First a general observation and then a disclaimer. Just like the French woman’s addiction to heavy cream and champagne, many of the following German eating and lifestyle habits also seem counter-intuitive, and thus, fat-making. But German women don’t get (very) fat, so maybe they are doing something at least sort of right. Second, I am not a German and so do not share with you these secrets as if they were my own. Fernando and I have kept our American eating habits intact, peanut butter and “ethnic” food included. Just think of me as a messenger of this under-appreciated national way of eating, which truly does have a certain je ne sais quoi.

Different meal schedule
The typical German still faithfully subscribes to her rural farmer ancestors’ eating schedule. The day starts early with fruhstuck, literally “early piece”, which is some combination of muesli, yogurt, grainy bread, meats, butter, cheese, Nutella and a soft boiled egg. Lunch, the day’s hot meal, is often served at 12:00, when you might think they would still be digesting those power breakfasts. This Mittagessen includes meat, starch, salad, veggies, wine, and light fruit dessert. In the early evening is the traditional German cold supper, called Abendbrot or evening bread-- basically a repeat of breakfast, perhaps with one of those dense 100 grain hockey puck breads instead of rolls, and substituting sausage for the Nutella. Not all Germans partake of this miserly p.m. meal, though it does seem the norm that after about 2:00 pm, most Germans are finished with their impressive eating for the day, and take it easy from then on. This farmer-like eating schedule encourages an industrious work day as well as an addiction to coffee to stave off the desire to nap often brought on by big daytime meals.

Kaffee und Kuchen
The English have their daily tea ritual and the Germans have their Coffee and Cake. It happens at 3:30 in the afternoon (yup, pretty much on the dot-- Fernando and I have even observed Kaffee and Kuchen traffic on Sundays) and it involves getting together with a friend or family member and washing down cake with some milky coffee. What does daily cake eating have to do with staying thin, or rather, with not getting (very) fat? The answer lies in the quality of these confections. I’ve tried the butter cake, various cheesecakes, the berry cakes, the poppy seed cake and even a chocolate cake or two, and these small-portioned lovelies are hardly sweet. Cakes, and desserts in general, are not only devoid of the “sinful” quality of their American counterparts, they’re not even cut into “slabs”, or are they particularly rich. Though I enjoy them, I confess to craving dessert after Kaffee und Kuchen sometimes.

Market science
Picture it: a super market without its own aisle (aisles?) for Power Bars, Slim Fast powders, Atkins pancake mixes, Crystal Light and South Beach Diet cereal. Got it? That’s a German supermarket. Indeed, very few weight loss products can be found. All the stores have their organic section featuring tasteless brown crackers, raisins and cereal grains, but beyond that, very few products are marketed as “fat free” or “low carb”. German cows don’t even make skim or nonfat milk. The only sugar-free products for sale are found in drugstores, and are obviously for diabetics. There is always, however, an entire supermarket aisle, often two, dedicated to chocolate and candy.

Different nutritional labeling
I never realized that the “nutritional analysis per portion” information on food packaging was such an American phenomenon until we moved here and I started reading packages carefully to avoid poisoning my child unintentionally. In addition to displaying the ingredients list in ten languages (and often not in English) to cover the entire European Community, a brief nutritional analysis (only for calories, protein and fat, never for vitamins and minerals) can be found in some corner. The analysis, however, isn’t per portion, but rather, for the entire contents of the package. So, if you by a 750 gram bag of virtuous muesli, you won’t know how many calories are in a little bowl, but you will be alerted that eating the whole bag will cost you 3564 calories. Now, if that’s not enough to turn you off that rubbery stuff forever, than I don’t know what would be. Clearly, the consumer, and not some national dietary authority, is responsible for determining portion size.

Lack of soda
Germans don’t drink soda, or hardly ever. They do drink lots of tea (hot and cold), coffee, fruit juice, beer, wine, milk, buttermilk, and water, but very little Coke and Sprite.

Food for tots
The food German women prepare for their babies and young children is usually mushy, bland, and totally lacking in variety. Pureed everything, apple slices, grey gruel, mashed potatoes and plain rice cakes means a good food day for little Katarina. This has two positive effects: the little ones never learn that food is yummy, and there are no tempting tater-tots, bagels, chicken nuggets or mini-pizzas remaining on Junior’s plastic plate to tempt Mom.

Smoking
The non-health oriented German frau smokes and she smokes A LOT. These women are simply too busy puffing to eat very much.

Shivering
German women spend a lot of time dressing their children warmly but neglecting their own needs, going outside without a hat or gloves for several hours when it’s freezing, wearing mini-skirts with no tights in the winter, or keeping their homes so impossibly cold they could store the milk in their bathrooms. Their shivering burns lots of calories.

Exercise
They do walk most places and bike quite a lot, etc., but no need to elaborate on that one yet again.

Brats and beer and…?
Although Fernando and I are always singing the praises of the quality of German food, its variety is pitiful. Lots of scientific studies have shown that people tend to unknowingly commit their most waistline damaging pig-outs at buffets and salad bars with hundreds of choices. Well, with much less variety in Germany, there is considerably less danger involved in “sampling just a little bit of everything”.

There are probably additional reasons that German women don’t get very fat that I would be aware of if my German were better, or if I could force myself to watch more TV. From what little I’ve seen, the InfoMercial is alive and well, and Germans have an even livelier Home Shopping culture than in the US. They probably sell products to lose weight and get buff on those programs. But for now I rely on my powers of observation, penchant for making generalizations and regular trips to the supermarket.