What? Eat clean
Clean eating, what does that mean exactly? The terms eat clean or clean eating has started to become a huge catch phrase in the health and fitness world. For fitness professionals and avid body builders, eating clean has become a central mantra. For some health care professionals and nutritionists, the term can be meaningless, misguiding and even frustrating.
Where do we start on breaking down what it means to eat clean? This all depends on who is defining what it means to eat clean. Vegan and vegetarians will tell you their diets are the ultimate in eating clean. Paleo and primal diet folks will argue they are spot-on with their low- to no-sugar clean eating which includes lots of good fats, proteins and veggies to boot.
The different diet types people call their own is very large, examples run from ketogenic diets, pollotarian diets, pescatarian diets to fruitarian diets and many more. If you were to ask anyone who has staunchly locked on to one of these food consumption practices, they will tell you they are eating very clean.
If you go for a pure definition of eating clean, it falls somewhere between the USDA’s new MyPlate guidelines to just embracing whole foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy proteins and fats. The official snapshot of eating clean is not exactly clear and as with all things health and fitness, it is somewhat up for debate.
If we look to the health care professionals, dietitians and nutritionists for advice on what it means to eat clean, they can give you accurate science of good nutrition. However, in general I believe you need to be somewhat skeptical of whose version of eating clean is best for you. Most of the marketing hype being pushed in nutritional literature is based on generalities tied to natural foods, whole foods, organic labeling and sugar free.
I believe the real approach to eating clean starts with understanding foods in the simplest of terms. If you look at foods in four basic ways, you will be able to better define what it is to eat clean for you.
1. Is the food fresh and natural, meaning naturally grown without chemicals and whole meaning unprocessed?
2. Is the food a macronutrient meaning a carbohydrate, protein or fat? When you choose these macronutrients, do they have the following qualities?
• Are the complexed carbohydrates plant-based and loaded with enzymes and high in good fiber content?
• How is the protein raised and cultivated? Is it high in omega-3 fatty acid and is it low in saturated fat? There are good choices of both plant based and animal based proteins that fit any nutrition plan.
• Are you sure you are getting good fats from your foods? Good fats come from foods like fish, avocados, nuts and beans. Bad fats to avoid are some forms of saturated fats and all forms of trans fats.
3. Is the food free of refined sugars? How much natural sugar (fructose) does the food add to my diet? A diet low in sugar is key to good health.
4. Does my food selection meet the first two criteria and will a blend of these foods make up at least 40 percent of my diet in raw form? Uncooked healthy foods deliver the best nutritional value.
The take away from the four basic ways to look at what you eat is pretty simple. If we eat fresh, whole organic foods that meet our daily requirement of essential macronutrients, we are well on our way to eating clean. When we make sure we eat at least 40 percent of our foods in raw form and restrict our sugar intake to only include natural sugar from the foods we eat and cut out processed sugars, we have a pretty clean diet.
The idea that eating clean is a single set of foods just simply does not fit everyone. A vegan who will not eat any animal products is eating clean for their desired nutrition plan. A person who eats certain animal based products are eating for their desired nutrition plan. Neither a vegan or animal-based diet is the right or wrong way to eat clean. The same can be said for all the other various nutrition plans.
From my perspective, what is important to define eating clean is based around the source and quality of the food. Removing highly processed foods from your diet and removing processed sugars along with limiting natural sugar intake are a big part of eating clean. Eating chemical-free organic raw foods is also a big part of eating clean. Stick to fresh natural foods. With the influx of GMO foods you just do not know cause and effect from eating genetically altered foods.
There are so many opinions on good and bad foods, bringing up the topic with the wrong person can result in a verbal beating. Eating clean is no different, there are articles that eating clean is a myth and others that state if you are not eating clean, you are doomed.
Health and fitness topics are full of extremes, nutrition tends to be one of the hottest topics out there. The best advice for eating clean is research the foods you eat. Understand it’s source, select fresh whole foods that are healthy and fit what you like to eat. Foods like dairy and grains do not work for many people, so move those foods out of your nutrition plan. There are many great books and website resources on eating clean, just remember to balance what you read with what makes sense for you. Apply the above four simple ways in choosing food, use common sense and it will help you build a clean nutrition plan that works for you.
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Judd Jones is a director for The Hagadone Corporation in Coeur d’Alene.