Interview With Carlos Ríos: Do You Eat Real Food?

Carlos Ríos, the founder of the real fooding movement, reminds us that the food industry gives us confused messages about our food. As a result, we often become unconsciously consumers of highly processed foods that are harmful to our health. 

Realfooding  refers to  real food  and is intended for much more than just being a fad. The founder of this movement and nutritionist Carlos Ríos already has many followers who accompany him on his way with this new lifestyle.

It’s about health and about realizing that less is more and the simplest things are the best.

We know that there are many fashions and gurus in the food industry who promise miracles. But a  few years ago Carlos Ríos initiated a new path in social networks and achieved two things in particular. 

On the one hand, it has given consumers the tools and knowledge they need to know what they are consuming on a daily basis. On the other hand, his goal is to open our eyes and recognize the need for healthy, real diet. 

We talk about it today in our interview with Carlos Ríos: 

Interview with Carlos Ríos: real food

The nutrition expert Carlos Ríos studied at the University of Pablo de Olavide (Seville, Spain) and, as already mentioned, is the founder of the real fooding movement. Its aim is to raise awareness among the population. With his matrix style, he has reached numerous followers on social networks.

He has also written a very successful book that is a healthy eating guide to achieve overall health. A comprehensive scientific bibliography can also be found there. In this book, Carlos Ríos points out to us several times that we “don’t eat real food, but those products that are put in front of our eyes”.

In our interview, we don’t just go into more detail about what  real fooding  means. It’s also about understanding and knowing to have more power. When we know what we eat, we are more powerful and invest in our health. 

How did real fooding or “real food” come about ?

I started with my work as a nutritionist. Since I saw the good results when I examined foodstuffs and pointed out the dangers of highly processed products, I decided to make this knowledge available to the general public. Because I know my way around social networks well and saw them as an opportunity to reach a large audience.

If real food has long been available to us, why is a large part of the population eating incorrectly?

Because the  food industry makes clever use of our hectic lifestyle. Since we are always short of time, she sells us products that can be bought and consumed quickly (highly processed products) and these are gradually replacing our real food.

What’s the worst product we consume every day? Is there one food that we should definitely remove from our diet?

In general, all highly processed foods are unhealthy, but the sum of all these products is particularly dangerous. Some of the most widely consumed products that are ingested in large quantities include soft drinks, which should be avoided first.

What do we have to pay particular attention to when shopping for groceries?

Especially on the ingredients. We always pay attention to calories and fat values, but actually the ingredients are most important. The food industry knows exactly what we are looking for and therefore tries to deceive us with light products or low-calorie products, as these are more attractive to us.

But these products are just as unhealthy as their “normal” (not light) version. Therefore, the only way to know what we are consuming and whether it is healthy or not is to read the individual ingredients in the product. This is the only way we know whether it is real food.

What alternatives are there for a healthy snack or a drink in between?

There are many options for snacks: natural or roasted nuts (without salt!), Fruit, natural yoghurt, pickles, olives, edamame etc. The best drink is water, but there is also a “real food drink” made from carbonated mineral water , Lemon and ice.

In the media, we see numerous highly processed foods with excessive sugar content. Speaking of children, how can we help them join the  realfooding initiative?

We need to understand that children do not understand concepts like “healthy” or “highly processed” in the same way. However, they have a great imagination and absorb a lot through their senses, so  we have to present them with real food in a creative, tasty and also playful way. 

For children, eating a simple piece of fruit or seeing and eating a picture made of fruit on a plate makes a big difference.

Finally, one more question: What is the best way to start with the switch to real food?

With the realfooding  challenge  for a month. There is a lot of information on this topic on Instagram to get you started. With this challenge, you’ll get so many benefits in a month that you don’t want to go back to your old habits.