Carol McGiffin
‘Every now and then, you read something that is so staggeringly sensible and obvious, it actually warms your heart. Especially when it’s said by a leading authority, someone high in their field of expertise.
That happened this week when I read an interview with a Professor David Khayat, who is head of oncology at a major Paris hospital and the first President of the French National Institute of Cancer. In it, he was debunking food myths, diktats and bad advice when it comes to diet and lifestyle.
His main message, wrapped up in a cloak of common-sense reality, moderation and acknowledgement of risk is “don’t deprive yourself” of eating or doing things you like.
He says, “We need to stop being ruled by fear. No one can follow all the rules: no fat, no sugar, no alcohol, etc. It’s got to the point where people feel guilty each time they eat a portion of chips, but it’s false.” Amen to that. Also, we shouldn’t embrace the idea of eternal health through deprivation of pleasure. Because it’s true, we are force-fed the notion that if we don’t do the things we are told are bad for us, we will live forever. He says, “The diktats against salt, alcohol, sun, red meat, sex and sugar, charcuterie… it’s gone too far and it’s not true, we’ve all had enough of them. Whatever we do, however we live, we will all get sick and die in the end.” YES! Of course, he isn’t advocating people sit around all day gorging, just that we should all live a sensible and as healthy a life as possible but without guilt.
His words are especially poignant at the moment too, with this new, riskaverse way of life we’ve been forced to adopt.
Eat, drink and be merry, I say!’
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Wisewords fromourfeisty, fearless andfunny columnist