What the French doctor ordered: David Khayat on being kind to yourself
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Everything is bad for us - chips, chocolate, booze, fat, sugar, salt, processed food and tobacco.
We are constantly encouraged to think carefully about what we eat – lean, green, clean – and how much we drink, or we will all get cancer or heart disease or organ failure and die. This encouragement to deny ourselves is shouted at us from all sides, from governments to GPs to Gwyneth Paltrow, and is particularly loud in the English speaking world, where the wellness industry has made health and healthy appearance – slim and glowy – a moral virtue.
So when a high-profile French oncologist, publishes a book titled (Stop Depriving Yourself!), it can seem counterintuitive, especially compared with advice Britain's former chief medical officer, who warned women that every single glass of wine consumed brings us closer to breast cancer.
But the author of is not a representative from the food and drink industry, but is the former chairman of France’s National Cancer Institute who holds a British CBE and a French National Order of Merit and Legion of Honour. He says that the physical health benefits of rigorous denial are negligible, compared to the misery they cause; that kale and mineral water will not make you live forever. Teetotal vegans will still die too. Clean living does not result in immortality.
Professor David Khayat, 64, who was once invited to be the Health Minister in France (he said no, because he hates politics) believes that we should enjoy “a few small excesses, without feeling guilty.” He says that constant guilt and denial is bad for us, because when we inevitably crack and have a KitKat or a beer or a packet of crisps, and subsequently beat ourselves up for our lack of will power, this can result in a drop in self-esteem. And very possibly more KitKats/beer/crisps.
Instead, he says, we should enjoy our small pleasures - they make little difference to our longevity, but make life altogether nicer. His book, yet to be published in the English language, advocates “hedonism, joy, conviviality, love and friendship”.
The only thing to which he is emphatically opposed is, unsurprisingly, tobacco. As well as enjoying wine and eating what you like in moderation, he reminds us that life is short and the importance of enjoying the good things; sex, connection, laughter, fun activities, as well as delicious food and drink. has praised his book as a breath of fresh air, especially after the deprivations of lockdown.
“I am promoting balance,” he tells me from his home in Paris. “So you can eat French fries, but not every day – if you have a fabulous lunch, then you maybe want to do a 16-hour liquid diet afterwards, drink herbal tea, that kind of thing.”
The feeling of pleasure gained from what the French call ‘peches mignons’ – literally ‘cute fish’, which translate as ‘indulgences’ or ‘guilty pleasures’ – should not be underestimated. Even the term guilty pleasure seems a contradiction – why should a pleasure ever be guilty? The trick is to indulge, rather than over indulge.
“We are all going to get old, get sick, and die,” says Prof Khayat. “Yet the message is that if we follow all the health diktats we are going to somehow avoid illness and death – this is simply not true. The media promotes this huge lie.
Prof Khayat is a serious cook, with a professional qualification from one of France’s top cookery schools. He is a big fan of ham, steak and wine.
I tell him I am vegan (for animal rather than health reasons) and teetotal (I’m in recovery). “You are free to be whatever you want to be, so yes, be vegan,” he says. “And if you don’t drink, don’t drink."
He is not promoting over eating or getting drunk; in France, despite all the wine sloshing about, getting drunk is regarded as deeply uncivilised, and for all its pastries and devotion to animal fats, the country has one of the lowest rates of obesity in the OECD.
“It’s the same with obesity,” he continues. “Being 3-4 kg overweight is very different from being 20 or 30kg overweight. Obesity is a disease, and again we need to take care of people who suffer from it. The book is not aimed at those with the diseases of alcoholism and obesity, but at the 90% who are worried to have a glass of wine, and feel guilty about it.
“You can have a glass of wine every day. Or two glasses a day, and then some days have none. Or if you are having a typical long French lunch, maybe you will have four or five glasses, but then you have three days without. It’s all about balance.”
President Macron drinks 14 glasses of wine a week – one with lunch, one with dinner – which some health advisors think is too much. Yet when Macron recently put health warnings on wine bottles, French drinkers were outraged. Prof Khayat thinks the wine health warnings are nonsense, yet is totally opposed to getting plastered.
“I am not promoting binge drinking, which is when you become totally drunk,” he says. “We do not have binge drinking in France – it’s not a social issue like in the Anglo-Saxon world. In France, young people don’t binge drink because when they drink wine it is with food – they are not going to bars just to drink.” (According to the World Health Organisation, the top five countries in the world for binge drinking – that is, getting drunk – are Austria, Ireland, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Finland).
Prof Khayat is encouraging us to let go of blame, guilt and perfectionism, and advocates a bon viveur lifestyle, rather than the ascetic totalitarianism of wellbeing regimens. “Eat, drink, live well,” shouts his book cover. “Everything is possible".
“If you eat French fries, and this generates guilt, you then lose your self-esteem, and so you may want more French fries,” he says. “This leads to yo-yo dieting and weight gain. If you are 2 or 3 kilos overweight, don’t worry. Just be yourself. There is no single good way to live. It’s not just food. There are diktats on everything – sleep, exercise, alcohol. The only thing that is always bad is tobacco.”
He says that by becoming afraid of certain foods, we are denying ourselves pleasure: “We need to understand the difference between danger and risk. For example, the great white shark is dangerous, but the risk of meeting one is negligible.” In other words, the odd plate of chips won’t prematurely kill you, whereas only eating chips probably will.
And to balance out the chips and wine, he urges us to embrace things that are genuinely good for us, albeit without fanaticism.
“Meditation, yoga, exercise, education – all of these factors influence our health and the duration of our lives,” he says.
“This is epigenetics – how you live your life will determine which genes are ‘turned on’ or ‘turned off’. But what I am opposed to is the tyranny of the ideal. This is an imposition, and it does not work. Enjoy your life without worry or guilt.”
The effort involved in attempting a perfect ‘hygienist’ lifestyle advocated in the Anglo Saxon world is out of balance with its actual physical benefits; eliminating pleasures sets us up to fail, resulting in lowered self-esteem. The only no-no is tobacco.
Providing you don’t suffer from alcoholism or obesity, indulging in rich food and drink is perfectly fine so long as it’s not every day. Offset indulgence with restraint. If you have a heavy meal, fast for 16 hours afterwards.
Don’t get drunk - c’est super-naff. Instead, drink alcohol with food. Appreciate it, rather than knocking it back on an empty stomach.
The Greek philosopher Epicurus advocated modest pleasures and indulgences as a way of achieving inner tranquillity. Be Epicurean, rather than binge / purge. Kale will not make you live forever.
Have plenty of sex – the endorphins released help everything from reducing the risk of prostate cancer in men to overall feelings of wellbeing and youthfulness.
For tranquillity of mind and a strong, flexible body – also, once you have reached 50, have regular health check ups. It’s all about prevention, wellbeing and balance.
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