[BLOG] THE WISE GENERATION

Carlos Ríos, one of the forerunners of real food

Don’t know him yet? Real food is a major trend in current nutrition, especially promoted by nutritionist Carlos Ríos. His mastery of social media and the spread of his principles have made him one of today’s leading figures.   Carlos Ríos has become the new food guru. More and more people follow his advice through his social networks and are more focused on maintaining a healthy diet based on real food. Giving up ultra-processed foods is possible and Ríos knows how to communicate it. Carlos Ríos’s war on ultra-processed foods Although the health problems caused by consuming ultra-processed foods (pre-cooked meals, snacks, or soft drinks) are known and there is a global alert, in Spain this movement did not start to gain momentum until 2017. This date coincides with the first real food proposals carried out by Ríos. It is a proposal where the lifestyle focuses on avoiding the intake of ultra-processed products in favor of the meals our grandmothers used to make. The homemade food of a lifetime, without artificial additives. His approach and ease on Social Media have made him a true reference on the subject in Spain. On his Instagram he has more than half a million followers and just as many on Twitter and Facebook, places where he shares recipes and healthy foods to teach millennials to eat a little better. This age group, due to the practices of the food industry in recent years, has been one of the most affected by the so-called fake food or food that looks healthy but actually isn’t.   See this post on Instagram A post shared by Carlos Ríos (@carlosriosq)   When Real Food emerged Although Carlos Ríos has managed to reach everyone through social media with his approach to real food, the truth is that this movement already began to take shape in the first decade of this millennium. It is mainly based on the research of Carlos Monteiro, which indicated the degrees of processing of different foods and the nutrients they contained. In other words, it considered why it was necessary to process some foods and what consequences this would have for human health. In his research, he concluded that the amount of processed foods consumed daily was very concerning and that they had gradually displaced legumes and vegetables. What is Matrix and how to know if a product is healthy? Matrix is a concept widely used by Carlos Ríos which indicates that ultra-processed foods keep people in an artificially designed environment so that they continue consuming these types of products without resisting. To know if a product is healthy, just perform a simple action: read its label and check the ingredients it contains. You should not only look at the calories; many of them add salt, sugar, and additives that are not necessary for the product you are going to consume. These types of additives make the product more addictive and harmful to health. When reading a label, Carlos Ríos makes a recommendation: make sure that it does not list more than 5 different ingredients. Also, among these, there should not be: salt, flour, vegetable fat, or sugar. The best way to maintain a balanced diet is to eat more fresh foods, especially vegetables, and practice exercise to maintain muscle tone, avoid obesity, and prevent cardiovascular diseases. Have you joined yet?