Natalia Vodianova: ‘It’s Better to Be Skinny Than to Be Fat’
Natalia Vodianova took part in a panel discussion at the British Vogue Festival over the weekend, where she made some ballsy statements about women and weight. The comments were sparked by British Vogue's executive fashion director Calgary Avansino's question: "It's undeniable that models are very thin, expected to be very thin, and thinner than 99.9 percent of the population. What message should you be sending out?" Vodianova didn't hold back; see what she had to say about her diet, losing weight after childbirth, and how she trains (or doesn't) before running a marathon each year.
On how images of thin models affect women: "Come on, guys, it's better to be skinny than to be fat! We eat well, we exercise — please, do the same and you will look like this. I'm sorry, but today the NHS [Britain’s National Health Service] are fighting against obesity, children are taken away from their parents because they’re too fat … And here we are, defending that we are healthy and skinny."
On her diet: "I respect my body — my body is my temple. If I eat like a pig, I feel like a pig."
On losing weight after childbirth: "I must say I actually came to [an event at] the V&A after giving birth to [my son] Victor, three days later, and I was wearing Givenchy Couture."
Her advice to women who want to lose weight: "I don't want to offend people who are trying to lose weight — if you want my tip, everyone should look into the only diet I've ever done. When I was little I had ulcers in my stomach from not eating very properly. I had really bad digestion and suffered from it for a long time. Then somebody recommended the blood type diet. Ever since, I have more energy and I've been doing it for five years now. It really works for me. It's not about eating more protein or more carbohydrates — it's which protein you eat, and which carbohydrates."
On exercise: "I run [a marathon] once a year; I don't train. It's true!"
NY Mag
"The blood type diet is a nutritional diet advocated by Peter D'Adamo, a naturopathic physician, and outlined in his book Eat Right 4 Your Type. D'Adamo claims that ABO blood type is the most important factor in determining a healthy diet, and he recommends distinct diets for each blood type.
Throughout his books D'Adamo cites the works of biochemists and glycobiologists who have researched blood groups, claiming or implying that their research supports this theory. Nevertheless, the consensus among dietitians, physicians, and scientists is that the theory is unsupported by scientific evidence."
D'Adamo groups those thirteen races together by ABO blood group, each type within this group having unique dietary recommendations:
Blood group O is described by D'Adamo to be the hunter, the earliest human blood group. The diet recommends that this blood group eat a higher protein diet, presumably since O blood type is described as the first blood type, originating 30,000 years ago. (However, research indicates that blood type A is actually the oldest.[10])
Blood group A is called the agrarian or cultivator, a more recently evolved blood type, dating back from the dawn of agriculture, 20,000 years ago. The diet recommends that individuals of blood group A eat a diet emphasizing vegetables and free of red meat, a more vegetarian food intake.
Blood group B is the nomad associated with a strong immune system and a flexible digestive system. The diet asserts that people of blood type B are the only ones who can thrive on dairy products and estimates blood type B arrived 10,000 years ago. (However, people with blood type B tend to be from Asia (specifically, China or India), and not from northern Europe, whereas lactose intolerance is most common among people of Asian, South American, and African descent and least common among those descended from northern Europe or northwestern India.[11][12][13])
Blood group AB is the enigma, the most recently evolved type, arriving less than 1,000 years ago. In terms of dietary needs, his blood type diet treats this group as an intermediate between blood types A and B.
Wikipedia