During a TV interview aired Dec. 13, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was asked which diet he follows to stay in shape.
“According to internet sources, many heads of state use various diets to be able to work with tough schedules. Some of them even do aqua-fitness or pilates. Do you practice such techniques?” asked one of the journalists.
“I personally do not stick to any diet. There is much information dedicated to this topic. Everybody wants to lose weight, even those who are pretty thin. There are diets, according to which it is not healthy to eat meat, as it has too much fat. We, Kazakhs, however, can’t live without eating meat (laughs). For us, horse meat is the best type of meat. Together, with kumis (a mildly alcoholic drink made from fermented mare’s milk), it improves not only health, but also the mood. My principle is such that a person should eat everything that his or her body requires. However, I keep saying that we should engage in sports; we have to look after our bodies and be a healthy nation. I know that our youth aspires to that,” the President said.
This is not the first time journalists have asked the Kazakh head of state about his recipe for, how he is able to maintain such a busy working schedule. Last year one reporter tracked how much time the President spent on the road during 2014.
“This simple question is not that easy to answer. The working duties of any president demand his or her total commitment. Therefore, an unhealthy person is not able to work at all. Such a person can’t be a president because it can be harmful to the state. So you need to have good health and, as we use to say, to have good genes. I am grateful to my parents who gave me strong genes. I grew up in the mountains where I used to hike a lot during my childhood. Maybe that gave me strength. I also have to say that with age I became addicted to sports and now I can’t imagine my life without it,” Nazarbayev added.
He also noted the fact that young people of Kazakhstan follow this example and do sports a lot.
