Alberto Cormillot he is 83 years old. She built a career around nutrition and became one of the most recognizable media personalities. His life became a public issue and that is why the press exploded when, just eight months ago, he became a father again. He is aware that he is being watched for how he translates his advice into his own experience. And in “The intelligent diet to live 100 years” (Penguin) he combines his historical subject of study, nutrition, with the stage he is going through at the moment, old age.
News: Statistics show that there is more and more obesity, why does this matter cost so much?
Albert Cormillot: Because 99% of the questions that are asked are wrong. In general, people ask “what diet do I have to follow?”, but everyone already knows more or less what they have to eat. The issue is that people do not change because of the information they have but because of motivation.
News: Is a healthy diet a guarantee of longevity?
Cormillot: No way. I had liver and colon cancer and three months ago they removed kidney cancer. A person can take great care of himself, but if a gene stumbles and goes to the other side, there are diseases that appear. Where a smart diet does make a difference is in recovery. In my case, for example, I have already resumed tap and aerial classes.
News: The book dwells on social and emotional factors. How did you work them?
Cormillot: In the blue zones it is seen that it is not only what you eat. Decades ago I learned to work with stress, but at 30 or 40 years old I was brave. Life is putting walls on you and you are moderating. I do remember something that transformed me: once I signed up for a course on anger. The instructor arrived and started yelling: “I’m sick of that door being left open. You can’t teach in this shitty classroom.” We are all paralyzed. When he finished, he lowered his tone and asked a colleague if he could please close it and immediately he told us: “Anger is ineffective. I can have a seizure, but the door will remain open.” That day I learned that an overwhelmed person is inefficient and that applies to everything.
by RN
