You may have heard about clean eating as a way to get healthier and want to try it. But what is it? What is clean eating? There is no formally accepted definition for clean eating. It depends on who you talk to and what they believe. Some people are very strict with clean eating and some people use it as a guide for including healthier foods in their life.
Clean Eating
Clean eating means eating real whole natural foods, that provide nourishment, and are mostly plant-based. It sounds great and aligns with many healthy eating principles. It often includes foods with no antibiotics, hormones, or pesticides. Generally, that means having no prepackaged, boxed foods, additives, fewer preservatives, and limited added sugar or salt. Foods used are often organic, grass finished, pasture raised, and in their original whole state such as fresh fruit.
This doesn’t need to be a prescriptive, all-or-nothing way of eating. You need to make sure you are eating for your health, what makes you feel good, and what fits in your lifestyle or the lifestyle you want to have.
Health Benefits of Clean Eating
Clean eating provides your body with nourishing foods that are nutrient-dense. Nutrient-dense foods provide vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and good-quality proteins. When your body gets more nutrient-dense foods it is provided with what it needs for body functions.
When your body functions well you have improved brain and heart health, a stronger immune system, and increased energy levels. And if you are overweight, potential weight loss.
Remember to take caution with any eating plan in which someone is telling you to remove or restrict things. It can be mentally destructive to take on a strict approach with any eating plan. If you stop doing things you enjoy or are anxious about the foods you eat or what will be available when you go out, then you may want to reconsider your thoughts about clean eating.
All food is good food and provides some nourishment to the body. If you are obsessed with only getting the most high-quality foods and it is negatively impacting your thoughts then get help from a health care provider or counselor.
Examples of Clean Eating
Some examples of foods typically on a clean eating plan.
Vegetables: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, spinach, sweet potatoes, peppers – there are so many this is just a few.
Fruit: apples, blueberries, grapes, papaya, mango, strawberries – there are many fresh fruits that are available.
Proteins: pasture-raised chicken and eggs, dried beans, fish, nut butter, nuts, and seeds – not an exclusive list there are many animals and plant proteins available.
Grains: oats, brown rice, barley, spelt – use whole grain berries to make your own flour or check packages to verify that an item is made of whole grains. There are a wide variety of grains available.
Dairy: cheese, milk, yogurt – all unsweetened and if possible made from grass-fed cows. Organic will indicate no hormone or antibiotic use.
So clean eating is basically eating what great-grandma used to eat on the farm except that we have a greater variety of all food types available to us in most areas.
How do You Start Clean Eating
First, we would walk through the decision to eat more healthy nutrient dense foods and what that means for your life. Then decide how much change you want to work on at one time. Most of the time one small change when done consistently will create the habit you want.
What change you should start with begins with where you’re at.
If you eat a lot of fast foods, never make food at home, and generally snack out of bags that will be different than if you eat at home 80% of the time and already have a good variety of fruits and vegetables in your life.
For the first person, I might say to try to add a piece of fresh fruit to one meal or snack most days of the week.
To the second person, we might look at the types of foods they are eating and find organic alternatives for a couple of those to try out to see if that works with their budget.
Your health journey is very individual. You can continue to work on it yourself but you will get faster results when you have a coach there to help, encourage, and keep you accountable. If you are looking for a coach for your health journey, go here to set up a consultation call to see if we are a good fit.
