Thoughts on "Clean Eating"

lemurcat12

SueInAz wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

My normal diet is based around protein (usually fish or some other kind of meat, but also legumes) and vegetables and I enjoy fruit and certain sorts of dairy (dairy being processed, also eat other processed foods like pasta, among other things), so I don't particularly need to eat more of those things at this point, although I am not perfect. So I don't think that makes a clean eater different from the rest of us -- there seems to be this weird assumption that everyone else bases their diet around convenience foods or junk foods or what have you. Or else (as I suspect) the reason for using the term "clean eating" has nothing to do with actually eating a diet much different than what many of the rest of us do (which we'd just consider being nutritionally conscious or some such), and instead all about praising oneself and claiming to be superior to others. Or perhaps just a reaction to what is a dramatic change in your own diet and assuming that others eat just like you used to, I dunno.

There's one place people feel more "judged" than anywhere else. Where? Whole Foods.

I actually never feel judged at WF. I think it's overpriced, but I like my two local WFs. They are also just filled with processed, "unclean" (rolling eyes) foods, including on the perimeter!

JustMissTracy

FunkyTobias wrote: »

Ooo...I didn't know Mastro made Gnocchi!

cross2bear

jgnatca wrote: »

Another angle on the Clean Eating bandwagon is the generalized fear of industrialized purification and processing. Casualties in this philosophy include iodized salt, white sugar, and bleached flour.

Out of curiosity, I checked how household salt is made. Salt brine is evaporated and then washed. I don't know how much "cleaner" one can get, but clean eaters will suggest that the "industrial" process incorporates toxic chemicals somehow.

http://www.siftocanada.com/en/about-us/how-we-produce/mechanical-evaporation/

Yet the much touted Himilayan salt is a veritable cornucopia of elements.

http://themeadow.com/pages/minerals-in-himalayan-pink-salt-spectral-analysis

But...himilayan is better because...."natural"?

Not because its more natural - its because its more "exotic" and therefore, more expensive- theres that elitist foodie thing again..............

lemurcat12

J72FIT wrote: »

I always felt there was a difference calling a food "highly refined" as apposed to "processes". As an example, Trader Joe's sells, Oven Roasted Sliced Turkey Breast, not deli meat, but actual roasted turkey that is sliced up. Now that IMO is a fairly processed food, but I would never compare it to say a Twinkie, which is highly processed as well as highly refined and pretty much devoid of any useful nutrients. Of course, in the context of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle, the Twinkie is fine IMO but the difference to me is still there.

Yeah, I agree with this. I think if people used terms like "highly refined" or "convenience foods" it would be easier to follow.

SezxyStef

lemurcat12 wrote: »

J72FIT wrote: »

I always felt there was a difference calling a food "highly refined" as apposed to "processes". As an example, Trader Joe's sells, Oven Roasted Sliced Turkey Breast, not deli meat, but actual roasted turkey that is sliced up. Now that IMO is a fairly processed food, but I would never compare it to say a Twinkie, which is highly processed as well as highly refined and pretty much devoid of any useful nutrients. Of course, in the context of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle, the Twinkie is fine IMO but the difference to me is still there.

Yeah, I agree with this. I think if people used terms like "highly refined" or "convenience foods" it would be easier to follow.

Agreed. I often tell people I eat whole foods that are nutrient dense...meaning veggies, fruits, meats, cheese etc.

and then most say "oh you are a clean eater"...I laugh...mainly because it's usually all in the wording people use...

I would never call myself a "clean eater" because I don't think fast food is evil...it's eh but it will do in a pinch.

I also don't insist on the whole "elitist" part of clean eating...

I think my favourite clean eating snafu was those that "eat clean" but only have margarine in the house not butter.

tech_kitten

mmmm gnocchi

Need2Exerc1se

lemurcat12 wrote: »

jgnatca wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

jgnatca wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

I think any attempt to make a "list" is silly. The list put forth by @Christine_72, while not created by her, was mentioned as a good list of what she considers clean. It includes less than 100 items. There are more than 100 varieties of vegetables alone in the world. How can any list which is marketed as "the ultimate guide" include less than 100 total items on it?

Exactly! Under Vegetables it should just say "all of them".

Same for fruit.

I was thinking the same thing. And then I thought, "all of them" goes for the flours, nuts, legumes, grains, and meat, too.

Where's the fish?

It's hard to read but the second to last entry under meats says "fresh fish and seafood". Bambi is apparently too dirty for the list.

ETA: In my book there are varying degrees of 'clean' but I wouldn't really consider any flour to be 'clean'.

You remind me of an account I came across from a merchant's wife, one of three white women in Edmonton in 1880 (total adult population 148). She wrote in that year, "The machinery for the H.B. and Noris & Belchers steam mills will be up on the boat this week. Flour cannot be bought here. Lamories Mill is broke down, and the mill acrost [sic] the river only can grind a little, and that is as black as dirt. Last week some men from Prince Albert brought up a lot for sale. Before that half the people here were living on rice & cracked wheat, could not buy flour for love or money...." Letters of Lovisa McDougall, 1878-1887 by Elizabeth M. McCrum, page 48.

Oh, how we take our food transportation and food security network for granted these days.

I live on the prairies. How about flash frozen fish? I'd trust it over fresh ocean fish any day. BTW, on my return flight from Prince Edward Island a few years back, the carry-on "luggage" was brimming with styrofoam coolers stuffed with fresh lobster.

I'm reasonably sure that any fish I buy here, even if defrosted, was at one point flash frozen (I'm in the US midwest). I have caught my own fish, but not for years, I'm not a fishing person. My dad used to send me salmon (he was in AK then), but it was, of course, frozen or smoked.

Some of my ancestors owned a grain mill back in the 1830s. First one in their midwestern county.

Yeah, I live far from the ocean too. The market does occasionally have fresh fish but it's very expensive. Like $30+ a lb. We do fish but we can't catch things like salmon or swordfish or tuna in the lakes and streams here so we buy frozen and go for wild caught when available. That's clean enough for me. Maybe not as clean as the trout or catfish we catch ourselves, but clean enough.