Eating well, healthy and sustainable is not at odds with enjoying every bite. And neither does it imply spending hours between stoves cooking very elaborate meals. Ask the model and businesswoman Ariadne Artiles, a true defender of simple, conscious and environmentally friendly food, with quality ingredients. La Canaria stars in a new installment of "Opening the Refrigerator", a documentary series created by Arla and presented by Lidia Torrent, where famous people talk about her relationship with food and prepare one of her favorite dishes with her cheese .
At 41 years old, Ariadne Artiles has played different styles in the professional field. She is a model, businesswoman and co-founder of La Vida Madre, a site with practical information for mothers, an influencer with more than 600,000 followers on Instagram. In addition, she has published two books, Pura vida madre and Pura vida. As if this weren't already exhausting, she is also a happy mother of three girls. “I always say that I live happily tired. I have a great team of three women at home”, Artiles explains to Torrent.
“I really like to take care of myself, but I also like to eat a lot and very well. Always, with quality products”. Not only that, but Artiles also leads a more sustainable diet by choosing products that respect the environment. “As a person who is aware of what I consume, it seems to me that it is extremely important that the product is of the highest quality. First for the care of the environment, then for the care of the animals, for taking them into account at least ”, he adds.
Far from the artifice that sometimes surrounds those who work in the world of fashion, Artiles has always been characterized by his defense of what is natural. A way of being committed, and, at the same time, very close, which he shares with his followers on social networks and which ranges from his passion for the wild nature of his beloved Canary Islands archipelago to a simple shopping basket full of products natural.
In this he agrees with Arla, a cooperative of 9,000 farmers from seven European countries, known, among others, for its additive-free Danish Havarti cheese. This cooperative is committed to quality, natural products with a clear environmental conscience. Its main objective is that milk has the highest possible value in order to reinvest it in improving processes: reducing environmental impact, CO2, waste...
Product care and monitoring of its environmental impact are followed to the letter on Arla farms thanks to the Arlagarden quality program, which involves exhaustive control of the production process focused on animal welfare and the quality of the raw material. But his commitment goes beyond the food itself; It also extends to packaging.
For the next few years, Arla has proposed to achieve by 2030 that the packaging of all its products in Spain be 100% recyclable with 0% virgin plastic, which is replaced by recycled plastic. Today, Havarti sliced cheeses already arrive in stores on trays made from 40% recycled plastic. This and other ecodesign measures have made it possible to reduce the carbon footprint associated with its packaging throughout Europe by nearly 25%.
As a child, she dreamed of studying psychology and living peacefully on her native island, Gran Canaria. Her fate had something quite different in store for him. “I started doing modeling work to help me with my studies, a very important campaign came out in the United States and I stayed there. I am a restless person and I believe that when you like something a lot, if you put love into it and want it, in the end you manage to make things work out”, comments the model.
The maelstrom around the world of fashion has never made her forget the principles of healthy eating that were instilled in her since she was a child. “At home she ate real food. There were no cookies, there were home cooked lentils. That has made her have a very healthy relationship with food. I eat a lot because genetically I can afford it, but I always look for quality products ”, she adds. For example, she explains: “When I buy a cheese, I don't want it to be full of additives. We must become aware of what we put on our plate. Food is our medicine, but it is important to know how it is produced”.
It is one thing to prepare dishes that do not take a long time and another to label them as fast food and think that everything that is cooked in a short time is unhealthy. Artiles recognizes that if they have good ingredients, these dishes do not have to be excluded from the diet. “They have taught us to eat fast and badly, but you can also eat fast and well. At home we make hamburgers every week. And on weekends, pizzas. I choose ingredients by reading Nutrition Facts labels, because part of mundful eating is making a conscious purchase. If you want the pizza to be healthy and delicious, it is very important to choose a top-quality cheese”, he argues.
Recognize that you eat without thinking about the scale. “It is the worst invention of the human being. Diets add anxiety to life, like a feeling of having something pending. Your best version is not to lose a couple of kilos on the scale, but to be strong as an oak, healthy and with great energy. We are not all the same, nor do we have the same genetics, nor the same structure. We have a wrong concept of beauty, which focuses on others instead of ourselves”, he concludes.
To show that she handles herself just as well on the catwalk as in the kitchen, Artiles proposes to prepare an oatmeal crepe. "We mix eggs, oatmeal, milk and a little cinnamon in a bowl and pour the mixture into a thin layer in the pan, leaving it for two minutes on each side so that it is done well," he explains with the poise worthy of a chef. . Then he adds onion, spinach, ham and sliced Havarti cheese from Arla “with time to melt”. He folds it in half, and in a few minutes, he has a quick and very appetizing dish.
As she prepares her crepe, she admits that for her cooking is “like an active meditation. You put on your music, enjoy the aromas of the food…”. She does not hesitate to point out that she is a fan of mindful eating. “For me it consists of five steps. Start by taking a couple of deep breaths and take your time eating, between 20 and 30 minutes is ideal. The third thing is that there are no distractions, nothing to take photos of food or eat while looking at your mobile. Chew well between bites, letting the utensils rest, and finally, be aware of how she is sitting you down, ”she emphasizes.
As a final trick, he adds that it is never good to overeat. “Be aware of your satiety. The perfect point is to fill you up to 80%, so that you have room for dessert”, concludes the Canarian before giving a good account of the crepe.
