What exactly is Eating Clean? You may ask.
First of all, the term itself leads to some confusion. The term is used in the old testament of the Bible, with God teaching people which animals are clean and which are unclean. Then there is the term used for proper food handling to prevent contamination. Also the practice of washing up for supper. None of these has anything to do with today's phraseology, "Eating Clean".
Eating Clean is also NOT synonymous with eating Organic or Vegetarian or even Vegan !!! I have seen the most unhealthy recipes made with all organic ingredients (cakes, cookies, ice cream, etc) I have also been served a pile of french fries boiled in vegetable oil at a vegan restaurant (no, I did not eat them).
Basically, eating clean refers to giving your body only the nutrition it needs for optimal function, limiting fat, sugar & sodium and balancing the carbs to protein ratio. From there it becomes a very gray area.
Trying to determine exactly what is considered to be clean eating is tough to do since, at some point, it's a matter of opinion and practices. For instance, clean for a vegetarian is going to be different that that of a vegan and both would be vastly different than that of a carnivore.
However, that being said, all are in agreement with many foods that are NOT considered to be in the "eating clean" category. Here is a short list of what would definitely not be considered to be clean..
- Over Processed foods (usually in a package with numerous additives, most being unpronounceable)
- Foods with added sugar, fat, or both
- Foods with a high sodium content
- Foods that are unrecognizable as anything found in nature (like a twinkie, haha)
As with anything else, there is always the extreme side that in this case would say, eat nothing out of a bag or a box. That, however would eliminate things like steel cut oats or dried beans or frozen fruits & veggies, all of which would generally be considered healthy and clean. The other side of that coin would be to say, just stay away from foods with a laundry list (pun intended) of added chemicals, preservatives and GMO (genetically modified organism) foods, allowing for canned veggies or frozen entrees (like Healthy Choice), which I, personally don't consider to be healthy choices.
The point I'm trying to get across here is that you have to use your brain when choosing what to eat. Don't think you can order anything you like at a vegan restaurant or that you can eat anything organic and think you're eating healthy. That is simply not true. You first have to know WHAT your body needs, then you need to determine if what you're putting in your mouth is on that list. Sticking to simple, single ingredient foods is always a safe bet.
As I've said in previous posts, food is fuel. Anything extra you give it that it doesn't need or know what to do with gets stored (period, end of story). If you want a Ferrari or a Corvette body, then, like those vehicles, you'll need to give it premium fuel. If you're happy with your VW Bug body, then go ahead and use cheap, "regular" fuel.
Here are a couple of sites that will help you figure out just what nutrients and how much of each your particular body needs (they are all free to use)...
MyFitnessPal.com
DailyBurn.com
SparkPeople.com
You may field any questions, comments, critiques or criticisms to: Fitness4Ever2@Gmail.com
