Interview With Carlos Ríos: Do You Eat Natural Food?

The Real Food Movement is much more than a trend. The creator, nutritionist Carlos Ríos, teaches and inspires thousands of people to follow a new, healthier lifestyle. When it comes to food, he believes that the simpler, the better.

We all know that the food industry tends to change a bit due to trends and so-called gurus who promise miracles. What Carlos Ríos has achieved, however, goes far beyond this. His movement, which started a couple of years ago and went viral on social networks, achieves two things.

The first is that it provides consumers with tools and knowledge so that they can understand what they are eating every day. The second is that the movement opens people’s eyes so that they can understand that they need to eat healthy, “real” food.

We had a chat with Carlos Ríos in the following interview.

Interview with Carlos Ríos

Carlos Ríos is a nutritionist who completed his studies at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville, Spain, and is the creator of the natural food movement . He has thousands of followers on social media, and his goal of raising awareness among the population has yielded amazing results.

His book called Eat Real Food: A Guide to Transforming Your Diet and Your Health  has become quite popular, and it stands out as an indispensable handbook approved by scientific literature. It allows us to understand something that Carlos Ríos often repeats: ” We do not eat natural food, but instead products that are put in front of us “.

In our interview with him, we dived deeper into what natural food is. The interview made us understand that knowledge is power. Knowing what we eat makes us stronger and helps us make better decisions to invest in our health.

Carlos Ríos, where did the natural food movement come from?

It was something I started with in my patients. As soon as I realized how good the results we got by focusing on food and learning about the dangers of processed food were, I decided to share it with the general population, since I do quite well on social media and saw the opportunity to reach a large audience.

If natural foods have been within our reach for a long time, why does not most of the population have a good diet?

Because the food industry has benefited from the hectic lives of many people, by selling products that are easy to consume and take with us ( processed food ). Thus, our intake of natural foods is gradually reduced.

What is the worst thing we can eat? Are there any foods we should exclude from our diet?

In general, all processed foods are unhealthy, and the sum of all of them is what makes them dangerous. One of the most consumed is soda, which should be avoided.

What should we keep an eye on when shopping for food?

The ingredients. Although people have always focused on calories or fat, the ingredients are the most important. The food industry knows what we’re looking at, which is why they fool us with “light products” or “calorie free” products because they know they are attractive.

However, these products are just as unhealthy as the original types. Therefore, the only way to know if we what we eat is healthy or not, by looking at the list of ingredients.

Carlos Ríos, can you tell us what we can eat or drink between meals?

Natural or toasted nuts without added salt, fruit, natural yogurt, pickles, olives, and edamame beans are good choices. It is best to drink water. However, you can make a natural “soda” with water or carbonated water, lemon, and some ice cubes.

The media shows people many processed or sugary foods. Let’s talk about children. How can we help them join the healthy food movement?

We can not get children to understand the concept of “this food is healthier than” or “this is processed food”. Children often use their imagination, as well as what they pick up with the senses, so we must introduce natural food in a creative, tasty, and even “playful” way. For children, eating a fruit is not the same as eating fruit shaped like a funny picture on a plate.

What does your diet look like? It may be time to take a closer look!