What is Clean Eating?

What is Clean Eating?  Have you ever noticed, some people throw around jargon without really knowing what it means?  Well, more specifically, they use a term that they think they know what it means, but they might not.  Or is it that there are just too many ways to interpret what is meant by the phrase itself?

If I were to talk to you about “Clean Eating,” what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

If you said you clean up your kitchen while you are cooking dinner, then you get some kudo’s for being neat.  I would also guess you worked in a restaurant kitchen at some point in your life.  Alas, that is not where I’m heading, but good on you!  

If we asked various groups what their idea of clean eating was, it is highly likely we would get widely different answers.  Vegan? Kosher? Vegetarian? Low Carb? Keto? Paleo? Gluten Free? I could go on and on…

The Google…

When you Google “What is Clean Eating” there are 649 Million results.  Hmm…  if that many people have put up content about clean eating, why are we still having issues with Diabetes and obesity? Especially in the United States?  

Eating Well

Eating Well has an article “7 Tips for Clean Eating.  This article includes things like “Load up on fruits and vegetables,” “Go Whole Grain,” “Eat Less Meat,” “Watch out for Processed Foods,” “Limit Added Sugar,” “Keep an Eye on Sodium,” and “Consider the Environment.” 

Ok, I can get behind a few of those things.  I’ve tried them all, even a 6 or 7-month period as a vegetarian, that’s a story for a different day.  Some of those worked for me, and others caused all sorts of problems with my diabetes.

Good Housekeeping

Jaclyn London , a Registered Dietician also published an article in Good Housekeeping entitled: “Why “Clean Eating” is Total BS(!)”   Jaclyn starts out saying that clean eating started out with good intentions.  The idea being that one should eat whole, real foods which are as close to nature as possible.  We should look for minimally processed food which does not come in a package or originate in a factory.  Ok, we’re on to something there… 

Jaclyn goes on to give 5 important things to keep in mind when making healthful food choices.  She kept me interested with #1 Eat more Veggies, #2 Think “Transparent” Rather Than Clean”, and #3 “Eat Food, not Food Claims.”  However, she lost me at #4 “Stop Thinking of all Packaged Food as the Enemy” and really lost me at #5 “Embrace Indulgence.”  Sorry, advising people to have fries and a piece of cake just isn’t going to work for me, along with the 100+ Million people who have, or are at risk for Type 2 Diabetes.

I do like and agree with Jaclyn London  about how the idea of clean eating started out with good intentions.  So… Let’s start right there, and honestly, we don’t really need to go much further.

Where does my food come from?

From my perspective, when you look at something you are about to eat, can you identify where it came from? 

Let’s reference back to one of my, very much former, food favorites, as discussed in Life as a Newly Minted Pharmacist.  The good ol’ “Pop Tart.”  Frosted Raspberry of course.  These come in a box, this should be warning sign #1.  The box now contains 8 “toaster pastries” which takes rather extreme liberties with the word pastry, but that is what they call them.  They used to contain 6, but now 8.  Interesting…

The Un-Boxing.

I can vividly picture the memory, much like a movie playing in my head…  When you open the box, there are 4 plastic foil wrapped individual servings.  The foil used to crinkle in my hands, and the rectangular pastries were just a rip of the foil away.  When opening the foil, there are two tarts contained within.  When examining the pop tart, both are exactly the same size.  Since they are the frosted variety, they have a shmear of some hardened icing with tiny red sprinkles embedded within.  They smell sweet.  Depending on your chosen method of consumption, you either just bite right into them like a heathen, or you nibble off the edges.  Why nibble off the edges?  Well, you do this, so you can enjoy the filling and frosting together without having the dry edges get in the way, duh. 

The filling.  What is in this stuff?!?  I don’t know.  As a Pharmacist, I have spoken with many drug addicts, and the rush one gets when biting into this filling seems very similar to the rush described by Heroin addicts about the first time they shot up.  It is just that good.  It’s been years since I had one, but sitting here typing this, I can literally taste frosted raspberry pop tart right now.

What about serving size?

So, two must be the serving size, right?  The outside of the box says 200 calories per serving, so the two pastries are 100 calories each.  WRONG!  Each pastry is one serving, and 200 Calories each.  Each pastry contains 38grams of Carbohydrates.  Back in the day, when the box contained 6, it would be nothing to polish off the whole box.

But what on earth was in them?  Well, a whole lot of Carbs, that’s for sure.  Now, as a Pharmacist, I can actually pronounce many of the ingredients in a lot of processed foods, but that doesn’t mean I should eat them.  Also, since they are so far removed from what was originally called food, they are a super bad choice to eat.

That is one extreme example of something NOT to eat.

But what should we be eating?

When considering the Typical American Diet, I think we need to think of “Eating Clean” on a bit of a continuum.  I’m sure some of you out there, are at the earliest points of your food improvement Adventure, so let’s consider working on “Cleaner” eating…

5 Basic Rules for Cleaner Eating:

1. Was it yanked out of the ground or picked off of a tree or plant?
2. Did the item come from of an animal? Examples: Eggs, Milk.
3. For fruits and vegetables, is it still in the form it was when it grew? Or at least readily identifiable as such.
4. For all food, is it minimally processed? I don’t expect most people to go buy a side of beef and do your own processing, but can you readily identify your steak as a steak?  Ok, good.  
5. If it came in a box, you should probably reconsider different options the next time you shop…

Freedom

These “rules” allow you a lot of freedom.  It also allows for tons of variety.  If you are one of those folks who raises their own pigs, chickens, or cows, you get bonus points, but it is not required.  If you have your own garden, yep, you get bonus points too you little over achiever! 

Now, when it comes to the “quality” of these food items, I know there are many labels thrown about like “Organic” “Grass Fed” “Free Range” and the list goes on…  Do these things matter?  Yeah, they do matter.  A topic for another day, but for now, if you are looking at first steps to clean up your diet, follow the rough outline of the 5 Basic Rules for Eating Cleaner I outlined above.  You will certainly be taking huge a step in the right direction.

Conclusion

My last point for introducing cleaner eating relates to the single most important step you can take to improving your way of eating today.  If you drink “Soda” or “Pop” or whatever you call it in your location…  Stop.   Stay tuned for an upcoming post on the dangers of soda, and how you can get yourself off of it.

-Todd