Diet Secrets from Around the World (2)

"When other cultures do snack, they choose healthy items such as fresh fruit, or fiber-rich whole grains, or nuts, all of which help their health in other ways as well," says Jonas.

Another typically American mistake: Eating snacks as if they were full-sized meals.

"Regardless of what you're snacking on, a snack should be a snack-size portion -- something to take the edge off your hunger -- not a whole meal," says Heller.

But it's not just snack time that we overindulge. From Asia to Africa, from the Middle East to the Mediterranean, Jonas says portion sizes are notoriously smaller everywhere than on the American plate.

"Americans have lost touch with what it feels like to be 'full,' having replaced that feeling with one of being 'stuffed' -- one reason our portion sizes are now so large," say Heller.

Finally, experts say it's time for American's to spend less time in those bucket seats and more time on our feet.

As Mireille Guiliano, author of Why French Women Don't Get Fat, points out, while Europeans typically walk to the bakery, the butcher shop, and the vegetable stand for food that is prepared every day, Americans often load their groceries into trunk of the four-wheel drive, and try to park as close to the store as possible.

"For [the French], walking is the most simple, the most inexpensive exercise there is. Besides what it does to your waistline, it is also exercise for the mind because it gives you time to relax, to think, to dream, and to look at the sky or the buildings or at nature. So it has many other effects that go with the French lifestyle of body and mind," Guiliano recently told WebMD.

At the end of the day, she says, "the idea is to move your butt" -- and put your metabolism in motion.

In addition to eating more slowly, eating smaller portions, and eating less often, there are a number of healthy culture-specific eating habits Americans would be wise to adopt.

Here are a few recommended by our experts:

From Asia:

While Americans generally see meat as an entree, the Asian habit is to use it as a garnish, much the way we eat pickles with a ham sandwich. Most Asian meals consist primarily of vegetables that are merely "spiced" with the flavor of meat. For additional protein sources, this culture eats fish and beans, particularly soy.

Tip: Load your plate with carbohydrates, including grains such as rice. Carbohydrates have been on the American dieter's hit list. Yet in Asia -- where folks regularly consume 300 more calories a day than we do and weigh less -- carbohydrates, particularly rice are a dietary mainstay. So what's the trick? Master the Asian art of substitution, using rice and vegetables to replace high-fat meat dishes, not as side dishes to eat along with them.

From South America:

If you're convinced a meal is not a meal unless you've had a hunk of beef between your teeth, take a tip from Argentineans and buy only super-lean cuts. While these folks reportedly eat up to 30 pounds more beef a year than Americans, their rate of heart disease is decidedly lower. One big difference: Argentinean cows are grass-fed, so the meat is naturally lower in fat -- just 2.5 grams per 4 ounces -- compared with America's grain-fed cattle, which produce steaks with a whopping 10.8 grams of saturated fat in 4 ounces.

From the Mediterranean:

The message here: Eat from the source! If Americans took away any lesson from the famed, heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, it was to replace saturated fats with healthier fats, like those found in olive oil. The message we didn't seem to get: In most European cultures, folks not only cook with olive oil, they actually eat the olives. This "whole foods" approach to diet not only allows them to reap the benefits of the oils, it fills their bellies with a heart-healthy food.

Cultures including the French and the Greek also augment the benefits of red wine by eating the grapes -- a typical "dessert" in many European countries.

Tip: If you do drink wine, or any alcoholic beverage, do like the French and drink it only with meals. On an empty stomach, alcohol goes right to the brain, dissolving those inhibitions that might otherwise keep you from diving into a bowl of potato chips or eating way too much of your entree. Drinking on empty can also drop blood sugar, bringing on ravenous hunger and causing you to overeat.

From Africa:

Add more nuts to your diet -- even consider them as part of your main meal. In at least one African nation, Gambia, peanuts frequently make up the basis of a meal; a favorite dish being tomato and peanut stew. While we consider stews fattening, they are enjoyed daily in this culture. The trick is to load the pot with vegetables, spices, and, of course, nuts, which can replace meat or poultry as a source of protein. And does it work? Well, not only do the Gambians have virtually no weight problems, they also have the lowest international incidence of all types of cancer.

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