What is realfood and what is this trend based on

Realfood is a trend that is part of the world of gastronomy . Since it became known – a few years ago – it has achieved a lot of followers over the years.

By becoming a realfooder, you are making a commitment to start moving away from ultraprocessed products and replacing them with a healthy diet.

Get to know the benefits of realfooding, the right foods to eat when following this form of eating and the negative aspects it has.

What is being a realfooder?

Realfooders are those people who have left their eating style full of colours, artificial flavours, a high consumption of saturated fats, processed foods, sugars and salt, for a healthier lifestyle.

Instead, they are now cooking with fresh, preservative-free foods

Ready-to-eaters are careful to ensure that each product they buy for their homes has no more than five ingredients . They also make sure they have no additives or added fats and sugars.

In other words, people who practice realfooding consume meat, poultry, vegetables, legumes, fish, fruit, artisanal cheeses, teas, nuts, eggs and extra virgin oils.

With the being realfooder they do not stop eating delicious foods such as pizzas or chips, but they eat them on the condition that they are homemade.

The birth of realfooding

The realfooding is born in Spain of the hand of a campaign created by the nutritionist Carlos Ríos, accompanied with the hashtag #realfood.

In figures from a study carried out by the association Justicia Alimentaria, approximately 90,000 people die each year due to bad eating habits.

In addition, overweight and obesity figures are growing fast, due to failures in nutritional education, the wide offer of ultraprocessed products in the markets at accessible prices and lack of time to cook.

With realfooding, the aim is to encourage the production of more agricultural and livestock products. In addition, it raises awareness of the importance of a healthy diet, free from excess and ultraprocessed food.

Is it beneficial to be a realfooder?

Being a realfooder brings great benefits to health, just by leaving behind ultraprocessed foods for natural and fresh foods.

By eliminating ultraprocessed foods of your eating routine, you reduce the chances of premature death by up to 60%. You also prevent the development of cancer cells in any part of the body.

Another advantage of eating a realfooder diet is that you consume healthy calories that fill you up faster and do not cause obesity or problems associated with sugar consumption.

Finally, stopping eating ultraprocessed food allows us to control anxiety, that which leads us to eat without being hungry.

Negative aspects of the realfooder movement

The negative side of the realfooder trend is found in the opinions that have been generated by its rapid popularity.

Some people indicate that the realfooder movement is against all ultraprocessed foods, but they are in favour of foods that were processed, but not drastically changed, such as preserves.

Also, many people think – wrongly – that realfooding food is fattening because it provides the same calories as any other food.

However, what is not said is that they are healthy calories for the body and that they make you feel energetic.

Tips for being a successful realfooder

If you have convinced yourself to become a realfooder, there are several tips that can help make this change in eating easier for you.

Here are four tips you should follow to notice improvements in your health and lifestyle.

Shop at markets rather than supermarket chains

Markets offer you a variety of quality foods, without being processed or treated with chemicals. In contrast, supermarkets offer a wide range of ultraprocessed foods in their display cases.

Vegetables and pulses are usually locally produced and small to medium scale. So you don’t have to worry about them being treated with chemicals.

You’ll also find protein, dairy products and sausages as fresh as possible among the stalls at a market.

Integrate good processing into your diet

Good processed foods are those that are cannedin water, olive oil and even the oil itself.

So don’t be afraid to include these products in your diet if you wish.

Organise a complete shopping list

The realfooding trend is not about people going on diets and just eating what they want. On the contrary, it is to eat what they want as long as it is healthy.

Design a shopping list that covers each of the items in the food pyramid, making sure you always choose the options that are not over-processed

Use the famous five-ingredient rule

This rule is that you take any product from the supermarket shelves and if it has more than five ingredients, you have to read it carefully before putting it in the shopping cart.

If any of the ingredients are any kind of flour, oil, sugar, salt or additives in an amount greater than 10%, you’re holding an ultra-processed food in your hands.

Basic realfooding diet

The realfooding diet has recipes for all four meals of the day: breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner.

Look at the proposals offered by realfooding, recipes that are prepared in a few minutes and can be adapted to your taste.

Breakfast

For a complete breakfast, toast is ideal. Accompany them with ham, scrambled eggs, cheese or tomato with olive oil.

With the intention of having a touch of fruit, you can drink a natural juice or eat sliced fruit, such as apples or bananas.

Meals

Food must be balanced, so it is important to consume the proteins and vitamins needed for energy.

An alternative is to cook the meat cut of your choice and accompany it with a salad.

You can also substitute animal protein for vegetable protein . This includes foods such as lentils or chickpeas.

Snacks

During snacks the best options are to eat a few grams of your favourite nut or fruit.

A salty option is to prepare hummus and accompany it with pieces of carrots or peppers.

Dinners

If you want an elegant and delicious dinner, you can choose to prepare chicken curry or vegetable creams such as courgette, celery or asparagus.

For simpler dinners, you can accompany cheese with biscuits or prepare a scrambled eggs with sun-dried tomatoes, onions and mushrooms.

Food packaging for realfooder

If you need packaging to preserve the foods in your realfooder diet, we have the solution for you.

In our Monouso virtual shop, you will find a variety of food packaging that preserves the qualities and freshness of the food you shop.

The containers have their lids, to cover against any dirt or burn with the cold of your refrigerator.

Within our catalogue you will find the shapes, sizes, colours and capacities that will suit your needs and tastes