What Does Clean Eating Really Mean?
When searching for the right green diet that is both good for you and your fitness goals, and helps you stick to a sustainable lifestyle, you’ll probably come across the term “clean eating” more than once. It doesn’t only mean that your food needs to be washed before you eat it. Clean eating means merely choosing foods that are natural, unprocessed, and whole as often as possible.
When you want to get started with clean eating, here are the necessary things to look for on your plate:
- No, or minimally processed foods
- Unrefined, whole foods that are left in their natural state
- No refined sugars
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables
- Eat less meat
- Reduce sodium
Many people also adopt the extra tenant, “nothing white,” to help reduce the chance that bread and pasta end up in your diet. A good rule of thumb is “if it grew from the ground or had a face, eat it.” Add more colors to your plate instead.
Some of the health benefits
There are many health benefits to clean eating. Not only can it help promote fat loss and muscle gain, but it can also increase your energy, help you sleep better, and improve the look of your hair and skin. In breaking your addiction to refined sugars, you’ll find yourself more capable of tackling other habits you’d like to break.
Clean eating is one of the best diets a person can adopt when considering sustainability. With a focus on all-natural farming and harvesting techniques, and a firm avoidance of manufacturing and harmful additives, the foods that are part of a clean eater’s diet work with the Earth, not against it.
Help is available for Clean Eating
There are several books you can purchase to learn how to adapt properly to clean eating. There are also several websites that provide good insights into different types of foods. Step-by-step guides and recipes are also available and easy to follow. It all requires time and research to start living a healthy lifestyle.
Thanks to the growing popularity of the clean eating movement, there are many excellent cookbooks to get ideas on how to keep your diet varied while sticking to a basic set of ingredients. Clean Eats by Alejandro Junger includes over 200 recipes that focus on the healing effects of the diet. Clean Eating Made Simple by Rockbridge Press is an excellent introduction to the diet and all of its benefits. The many recipes will walk you through how to create a clean menu. The Whole30 by Melissa Hartwig is a popular cookbook that helps you go clean in 30 days.
Choosing to eat only natural foods that haven’t been stripped of their nutrients is great for you and Mother Nature. Check out the cookbooks and try a few recipes; you’ll be surprised at how delicious real food can be when you don’t have a plate full of chemicals in front of you.
Choose the right foods, avoid preservatives, additives and process food and start living a healthy life.
Sources:
- http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/smart-choices/clean-eating
- http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/eating-clean-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html
- http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating/getting-started/
- http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/the-clean-eating-diet-whats-it-all-about.html
