You’ve probably heard of Clean Eating. But, do you know what it is? (Hint, it’s not about avoiding dirty foods.) In this article, we will answer the question, “what is clean eating?” and go through common obstacles that can come with it.
What Is Clean Eating?
According to Healthline, “clean eating involves choosing foods that are minimally processed, ethically raised, and rich in naturally occurring nutrients.”
From what I’ve researched, Clean Eating focuses on how you approach dieting or eating. It’s not about having a specific diet. You can apply its tenets to any diet (keto, paleo, etc.). I believe this is the biggest draw of the Clean Eating movement.
Let’s dig a little deeper into Clean Eating…
Clean Eating Tenets
According to the Clean Eating Magazine, here are the major tenets to Clean Eating:
- eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full
- choose a diet that fits your goals and lifestyle and stick to it
- choose organic foods whenever possible
- drink 2 liters of water per day
- read labels and limit foods with more than 2 ingredients
- avoid processed and refined foods
- limit “trans fats, anything fried or anything high in sugar.
- avoid preservatives, color additives, and toxic binders, stabilizers, emulsifiers and fat replacers”
- replace processed fats with healthy fats (i.e. vegetable or canola oil with olive or coconut oil)
- eat meals within correct portion sizes
- buy seasonal and local foods (better for the environment)
- eat humanely raised meats and wild-caught seafood
- practice mindful eating
- prepare food for when you’re on the go
- eat with your family
My Only Disagreement
Real quick, I wanted to say that I agree with every tenet of Clean Eating except one: 5-6 meals/day (3 meals, 2 snacks). There is evidence that 14-18 hours of fasting each day is better for blood sugar and hormone control than eating all day.1,2,3,4
As for the other tenets, there is evidence for the health benefits of each (or the harm of the alternatives). I agree with the other tenets, though probably for different reasons.
Now, What are the Obstacles with Clean Eating?
If you want to start eating clean, you may come across a few obstacles along the way. Let’s go through each of them below…
Unaffordable
One of the biggest obstacles with eating clean is that “cleaner” foods are a lot more expensive than processed foods. However, we must shift our mindsets from thinking cheaper is better. A cheaper product often means that corners were cut to make the ingredients at a cheaper price (think knock-off purses).
Unfortunately, your wallet may not have the funds to support a clean eating lifestyle, even with a mindset shift. This is where intermittent fasting may help. You can also look at where you’re spending your money and cut where you can put more towards your groceries. Food must be seen as a priority if you’re going to get your health back on track.
Not Realistic
This leads me to the next obstacle: eating clean 100% of the time is unrealistic. I’m not sure where the Clean Eating movement stands on this, but I’m all about eating and living within your means. Prioritize what matters the most to you and your family and make changes as able.
Can’t afford to buy everything organic? Start with the dirty dozen produce list. Can’t afford to make everything from scratch? Pick one meal or part of a meal this week that you can make from scratch.
It’s not about perfection. It’s about making one more healthier choice today than yesterday.
Digestion Changes
Another obstacle with Clean Eating is that it can change your digestion. If you experience constipation, it’s most likely because you’re getting more fiber in your diet. More fiber means you need to drink more water. When you aren’t drinking enough water, you’ll become constipated. Thankfully, it’s an easy fix!
On the other hand, if you’re experiencing diarrhea, it may be because you’re not used to eating whole foods. It may mean you have an imbalanced gut microbiome. You can drink some kombucha or eat fermented foods to help restore your gut health. Also, be sure to drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration from diarrhea.
Headaches, Migraines
Some who start to eat clean may have headaches or migraines shortly after. This very well could be caused by the body detoxing from the food additives and/or chemicals you’ve been eating previously. Reducing the number of chemicals in your diet can make you more sensitive to the chemicals already in your body.
So, be patient and wait 2-3 weeks before you throw the Clean Eating towel in. I know headaches or migraines aren’t fun, but this could mean your body is detoxing from harmful chemicals that have been trapped inside your body. If you continue to have bad headaches or migraines for more than 2 weeks than stop Clean Eating. There may be something underlying that is preventing you from detoxing.
(You may want to consider working with me to help get to the root of your headaches.)
Menstrual Cycle Changes
Lastly, ladies, you may notice a change in your menstrual cycles when you start eating clean. This is because many processed and refined foods consist of or are contained by estrogen-disrupting chemicals. According to the NIH, this includes some plastic water bottles and containers, liners of metal cans, detergents, pesticides, and cosmetics. More estrogen disrupters listed here.
As a result, cutting plastics and processed foods out of your diet may cause you body to readjust to producing its own hormones. Your body may also need to detox those estrogen disrupters, so give it time to do so. If you don’t see any results in 2-3 weeks, you may want to consider working with me to help you find any other areas where you could be getting exposed to estrogen disrupters.
Wrapping Up
In this article, we walked through what is Clean Eating. We, then, went through its major tenets. Lastly, we covered the main obstacles to Clean Eating and how you can address them.
If you know you should clean up your diet but don’t know where to start, you may need more accountability and structure. This is what I can help you with if you work with me. Together, we can cut through the overwhelm and get you on the path towards a cleaner, simpler diet.
Now, I want to hear from you! What do you think about Clean Eating? Is it something you agree with or not? Why or why not?