APART from working out to stay fit, Prime Minister Najib Razak eats quinoa instead of rice.

He said he could not exercise as frequently as he wanted to, and so, he watched his diet – replacing the staple Malaysian grain with the healthier quinoa.

“(I don’t exercise) as often as I’d like to. I like to eat. My problem is, I love food, like most Malaysians.

“But, I have to control (what I eat). For example, I don’t eat rice, but quinoa. My son introduced me to quinoa, a food from Peru.

“It is protein-based, so it has less carbohydrates and a lower sugar content. It is better than rice,” he said in a live question-and-answer session during the Budget 2018 With the Rakyat programme this morning.

A social media user following the programme had asked the prime minister how he stayed in shape and maintained his health.

Najib said he was thinking about whether quinoa could be cultivated in Malaysia.

“I’m trying to find out whether we can grow quinoa or its equivalent in Malaysia. It’s healthier than rice.”

He said he also avoided fried and oily foods.

A check online showed that a 250g bag of organic quinoa sold at the Tesco supermarket cost RM14.79.

At the programme, he advised young Malaysians to differentiate between high living costs and lifestyle spending.

He said they had a choice, and advised them to spend within their means.

Najib compared dining at a hotel’s Japanese restaurant and a nasi kandar restaurant.

“Lifestyle (spending is), for example, when we go to a Japanese restaurant in a well-known hotel, where you have to pay, say RM800 to RM1,000 per person, depending on what you order.

“But if you go to a 24-hour mamak, how much would the meal cost?” he said, to which programme moderator Fizo Omar replied: “RM8.”

Najib said he was not preventing Malaysians from enjoying a higher quality of life, but was merely reminding them about making choices that were within their means. – February 22, 2018.