Am I eating clean or not?

RGv2

gidget00mcleod wrote: »

Great discussion. I have been a clean eater for such a long time, before it was called "clean." Basically anything that is processed or includes added ingredients for shelf stability and preservatives is not considered clean. That being said, one could have a piece of bread made from organic flour, water, salt and yeast, and I would consider that being clean, but each to their own.
Your chili sounds great, the only thing is watching what kind of meat you put into your body, hormone free/organic is the way to go of course, but using a piece of chuck meat and dicing it yourself would be a cleaner option, and tastes so much better, also watch out for seasoning packets...yikes! Loads of salt, and you are better off buying your own seasonings and doing it that way. Deli meats are way processed! Even the 100% natural ones are still processed and contain preservatives like nitrates....horrible for you body, so nothing clean about that. Boxed cereal and boxed pastas are pretty much the same, very processed. Unless you could find a pasta that was simply, flour/semolina, water, salt and egg, that would be fine. Cereal, shredded wheat is good, very few ingredients and then of course old fashioned oats, or another grain for breakfast.
So, nutritionally, there are some differences to how you may be eating, but overall, it's about putting only the pure good stuff in. These days with all the chemicals in foods, it can hinder health goals, not just weight loss. My son for example out of no-where started getting bad reflux, so much so they wanted to do surgery if they couldn't control it. Of course western doctors only wanted to prescribe meds to take away the symptoms, not heal the problem. Long story short I was able to heal his problem and keep it from coming back by making sure he was not consuming nitrates (lunch meats, hot dogs, sausages...they are in everything!) We never realized the damage one little preservative could do. Now, think of all the other items they sneak in our food that we are not educated about yet....clean eating is the way to go, let our bodies do what it should do naturally without the hindrance of unknown substances.
And don't get me started on Aspartame! So bad for your intestines!

What did I just read?

And don't get me started on Aspartame! So bad for your intestines!

Do you have the data that goes with that?

lemurcat12

I missed this before. I'm just going to pick out one little bit.

gidget00mcleod wrote: »

Boxed cereal and boxed pastas are pretty much the same, very processed. Unless you could find a pasta that was simply, flour/semolina, water, salt and egg, that would be fine.

??? Every pasta I've ever purchased is just wheat (semolina).

What ingredients are you assuming it contains and why would you assume that?

Of course it is, by definition, processed.

ndj1979

lemurcat12 wrote: »

I missed this before. I'm just going to pick out one little bit.

gidget00mcleod wrote: »

Boxed cereal and boxed pastas are pretty much the same, very processed. Unless you could find a pasta that was simply, flour/semolina, water, salt and egg, that would be fine.

??? Every pasta I've ever purchased is just wheat (semolina).

What ingredients are you assuming it contains and why would you assume that?

Of course it is, by definition, processed.

is it clean if it comes in a package and not a box?

WinoGelato

ndj1979 wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

I missed this before. I'm just going to pick out one little bit.

gidget00mcleod wrote: »

Boxed cereal and boxed pastas are pretty much the same, very processed. Unless you could find a pasta that was simply, flour/semolina, water, salt and egg, that would be fine.

??? Every pasta I've ever purchased is just wheat (semolina).

What ingredients are you assuming it contains and why would you assume that?

Of course it is, by definition, processed.

is it clean if it comes in a package and not a box?

I'm just going to start posting this every time we have one of these debates...

Liftng4Lis

I think if you wash the cans you can call it clean

lthames0810

ndj1979 wrote: »

OP - hopefully, this thread is making you realize that the whole "clean eating" notion is a preponderence of BS. Honestly, just hit your calorie/micro/macro targets and mix in some foods you like and you will do fine. What matters is your overall diet and not an individual food here or there.

Thanks. I feel somewhat reassured. The arguments offered by the IIFYM sort of eaters do tend to make more sense to me than the strictly clean eaters.

I suspect the alarming things said about a moderate / flexible diet were based on the fallacy that I must be eating a bag of cookies for dinner instead of a pot of chili.

WinoGelato

lthames0810 wrote: »

ndj1979 wrote: »

OP - hopefully, this thread is making you realize that the whole "clean eating" notion is a preponderence of BS. Honestly, just hit your calorie/micro/macro targets and mix in some foods you like and you will do fine. What matters is your overall diet and not an individual food here or there.

Thanks. I feel somewhat reassured. The arguments offered by the IIFYM sort of eaters do tend to make more sense to me than the strictly clean eaters.

I suspect the alarming things said about a moderate / flexible diet were based on the fallacy that I must be eating a bag of cookies for dinner instead of a pot of chili.

And that is the strawman that everyone gets so bothered by. The assumption that if you aren't eating "clean" then you must be eating nothing but junk. 1500 cals of cake is what is being debated in the other thread.