
The choices you make about what you eat and drink are very important. Following a healthy diet is essential to lose weight, prevent certain diseases and reduce cholesterol, among other things. Nowadays cooking has become synonymous with reheating. Many people prefer to consume ready-made food than ‘waste time’ preparing a dish with quality ingredients. Therefore, in the face of the wave of fast and processed food that hides tons of sugar and salt and that we can find on each and every one of the supermarket shelves, a new healthy movement has emerged with force: the #RealFood. Haven’t heard of it yet? We spoke with Carlos Ríos, nutritionist and pioneer of the term ‘real food’, who explains what #RealFood is and why everyone should join this healthy movement that triumphs on the network.
What is #RealFood
“RealFood is synonymous with ‘real food’, that is, it is all those foods minimally processed or whose processing has not worsened the quality of its composition,” explains Carlos.
In this way, and based on this definition, real foods can be divided into two groups. The first of these is the one that refers to fresh foods, that is, those that have not experienced any processing or minimal processing such as vegetables, fruit, nuts, tubers, legumes, fish, eggs and meat. The second group includes the so-called “good processed”, that is, foods with a beneficial or harmless processing for health. This could include, for example, extra virgin olive oil, quality dairy products, >70% dark chocolate, some vegetable drinks, infusions and coffee. In this last group would also enter preserves, frozen or deep-frozen and real foods already cooked and vacuum packed, but as long as no unhealthy ingredients have been added or the processing has worsened the quality of the product.
So… are processed foods bad? Should they be avoided? Why?
As Carlos explains, the opposite of real food is ultra-processed products. These products are edible industrial preparations made from substances from other foods such as, for example, pastries, sugary drinks, cookies, pizzas, nuggets or energy or diet bars. But why should we try to avoid this type of food? The two main reasons are as follows:
+Long ingredient lists: This type of product doesn’t really have any complete food, but long lists of ingredients. “These ingredients usually have a pre-processing, such as hydrogenation or frying of oils, refining and extrusion of flours or cereals, which make them harmful to health. In its labeling it is common to read refined raw materials (flour, sugar, vegetable oils, salt, protein …) and additives (preservatives, dyes, sweeteners, flavor enhancers, emulsifiers …)”, details Carlos.
+ Harmful to health: ultra-processed foods are unhealthy and their consumption in the medium-long term is related to the majority of chronic non-communicable diseases that kill our society (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, type 2 diabetes, hypertension …) “The reason they are unhealthy is because their ingredients gradually alter the vital functions of our body, such as the regulation of blood sugar, appetite or blood pressure,” clarifies the nutritionist.
Tips for following a #RealFood-based diet
The disadvantages of consuming ultra-processed products have become clear to you, right? Well, if from now on you want to exclude them from your diet and follow a healthier lifestyle, Carlos gives you these tips to carry out a diet with real foods:
+ More market and less supermarket: this today is difficult since traditional markets have practically disappeared, but basically it is about buying fresh products and avoiding the ‘aisles of death’ of the supermarket, that is, those in which industrial pastries, chips, desserts or sweets are located.
+ Read the labels: It’s not about obsessing either, but reading the label of the products you buy can help you choose more judiciously what you eat. A trick: if the label has many ingredients and among them are flours, sugars, vegetable oils, salt and / or additives, it is an ultra-processed.
+ Learn to cook: cooking guarantees us to have a diet based on real foods with great variety. When we cook we are the ones who control the raw material, so we ensure the quality of what we eat. On the contrary, ultra-processed foods usually come ready to heat, open, serve and eat.
Have you been convinced? Do you join the #RealFood movement?