What exactly do you consider “clean” eating or “healthy” eating?

aperis2615

I know for me clean eating is weighed portions, and primary veggies and fruit. Trail mix, dried fruit, most cheeses and breads are what I consider junk or more iffy foods. And anything like pretzels, chips, usually popcorn and etc are junk junk food. What exactly does your clean eating consist of?

MikePTY

I honestly try not to worry about the definition of things too much. Trying to focus on things like eating "clean" can complicate weight loss with no discernable benefits.

I try to eat nutritionally complete. Ample protein, fruits and vegetables, complex carbs, and monounsaturated fats. Aiming for those things most of the time allows me to enjoy certain things that others may consider "unclean" or "unhealthy". My diary is open.

RunsWithBees

Clean food to me is food that doesn’t make me sick. I hate food-borne illnesses!

MikePTY

monkeefan1974 wrote: »

Clean food to me is food that doesn’t make me sick. I hate food-borne illnesses!

The funny thing is foods that people traditionally consider "clean" are more likely to cause foodborne illnesses. You're more likely to get a foodborne illness from fruits and vegetables than you are from a bag of potato chips.

RunsWithBees

MikePTY wrote: »

monkeefan1974 wrote: »

Clean food to me is food that doesn’t make me sick. I hate food-borne illnesses!

The funny thing is foods that people traditionally consider "clean" are more likely to cause foodborne illnesses. You're more likely to get a foodborne illness from fruits and vegetables than you are from a bag of potato chips.

Interesting, I’ve never thought about it that way! Please make sure whatever food you consider “clean” is actually clean!

estherdragonbat

I really don't think much about eating clean. To me, it's more of sorting foods into "good" and "bad" without regard for context or dosage. (A veggie dog is pretty heavily processed, but it gives me 8 grams of protein and 15% of my iron. Fiber One bars are processed, but help me hit my fiber goal. A chocolate bar before a run can give me an energy boost, especially if my 'warmup' is walking two hours to get to my running group. By most definitions, not one of those foods is "clean", but for me, they aren't "concessions to a moment of weakness". They're reasonable, even good choices.)

A healthy diet is one that allows you to hit your essential micros and macros. Maybe you won't hit everything every day, but it balances. Some days, I'll get a bit more iron than usual, but my calcium will be low. Other days, I'll hit calcium but fall a bit lower on potassium. But based on my food choices, if we look at the averages over a couple of weeks, I'm hitting what I need to.

amusedmonkey

I won't weigh in on clean eating because it's too vague and loaded of a word. I will, however, share my idea of healthy eating.

- Getting a variety of nutrients, but including more nutrient dense foods more often than not. Everything and anything (including junk food) has room in my definition of healthy eating if at least some of my diet is nutrient dense.
- Eating in a way that does not cause me to gain weight. A day over calories here and there is fine, it's the average over time that counts.
- Eating in a way that doesn't cause me to overly obsess, overanalyze, or stress. Stress is bad for health.
- Eating foods I enjoy and not forcing myself to eat foods I don't enjoy. I deserve to enjoy food, and I can get the nutrients of a food I don't enjoy elsewhere. Mental health is important.
- Eating in a way that doesn't cause me to fear or avoid social interactions or gatherings, because being social is important for health.

A good balance of the points above is what I consider healthy eating. Notice my list contains no food categories at all, that's because anything can be a part of a healthy diet unless I'm allergic to it.

P.S: popcorn is a whole food. It's rich in fiber and magnesium.

kimny72

I literally never think about what clean eating is, I don't think it's important.

I think healthy eating is a diet that is nutritionally balanced, calorie appropriate, and makes you feel healthy and energetic. I don't believe a food necessarily needs to be unprocessed to fit into a healthy diet, and I believe treat foods can be a part of a healthy diet in reasonable portions and frequency.

lemurcat2

aperis2615 wrote: »

I know for me clean eating is weighed portions, and primary veggies and fruit. Trail mix, dried fruit, most cheeses and breads are what I consider junk or more iffy foods. And anything like pretzels, chips, usually popcorn and etc are junk junk food. What exactly does your clean eating consist of?

I do not find the term "clean eating" to be useful.

A healthy diet is one that is calorie-appropriate, has sufficient vegetables and some fruit, sufficient protein, sufficient fiber, and is primarily based on nutrient-dense foods (I prefer that most be whole and home-cooked, but that's not necessary). I also prefer to limit animal-sourced foods, and focus on omega 3 to 6 ratio.

"Junk food" doesn't really have a defined meaning, I suppose for me it's foods that are higher in cal and lower in nutrients per cal. I am more likely to think of dessert type foods or foods I eat less often or for special occasions (in theory some really good cheese or naan or fries as part of an overall meal could be considered "junk" based on my definition, but given the meal as a whole is likely to have plenty of nutrients and fit in my day I don't find it wildly useful.

Popcorn isn't especially high cal unless you add oil or butter, so I don't really think of it as junk food. Dried fruit I don't either, although I normally eat it as part of a recipe, not on its own. I don't really snack just because I find snacking unsatisfying.

anthocyanina

MikePTY wrote: »

monkeefan1974 wrote: »

Clean food to me is food that doesn’t make me sick. I hate food-borne illnesses!

The funny thing is foods that people traditionally consider "clean" are more likely to cause foodborne illnesses. You're more likely to get a foodborne illness from fruits and vegetables than you are from a bag of potato chips.

I'll take my chances with fruits & vegetables, thank you.

Putting a lettuce farm downstream from an industrial animal farm is just asking for trouble. Chopping and packing that lettuce into ready-to-eat bags is another source of potential contamination.

Potato chips & ketchup are no substitute for potatoes, tomatoes, & other produce.

Avoiding all produce because you might get sick is like not jogging cause you might trip & break your leg. Does it happen? Occasionally. Are the benefits worth the risk? Yes. Are there things you can do to minimize the risk, Absolutely.

Don't buy bags of ready-to-eat lettuce. Shop farmers markets & get to know the people who grow your food & how they grow it. (If there's an industrial animal farm nearby, trust me, you'll know it) When in doubt wash in a silted bleach solution, peel, & cook.

As for the original post, eating clean to me is just another label for eating healthful, minimally processed whole foods .

glassyo

Clean food to me means food that hasn't fallen on the floor. And even then, the 5 second rule. And EVEN THEN, green m&ms mean all bets are off.

kimny72

anthocyanina wrote: »

MikePTY wrote: »

monkeefan1974 wrote: »

Clean food to me is food that doesn’t make me sick. I hate food-borne illnesses!

The funny thing is foods that people traditionally consider "clean" are more likely to cause foodborne illnesses. You're more likely to get a foodborne illness from fruits and vegetables than you are from a bag of potato chips.

I'll take my chances with fruits & vegetables, thank you.

Putting a lettuce farm downstream from an industrial animal farm is just asking for trouble. Chopping and packing that lettuce into ready-to-eat bags is another source of potential contamination.

Potato chips & ketchup are no substitute for potatoes, tomatoes, & other produce.

Avoiding all produce because you might get sick is like not jogging cause you might trip & break your leg. Does it happen? Occasionally. Are the benefits worth the risk? Yes. Are there things you can do to minimize the risk, Absolutely.

Don't buy bags of ready-to-eat lettuce. Shop farmers markets & get to know the people who grow your food & how they grow it. (If there's an industrial animal farm nearby, trust me, you'll know it) When in doubt wash in a silted bleach solution, peel, & cook.

As for the original post, eating clean to me is just another label for eating healthful, minimally processed whole foods .

I feel pretty sure the poster you quoted wasn't saying people should eat junk food to avoid food poisoning. Just noted a small irony in clean eating terminology

lemurcat2

Lots of people eat mostly nutrient-dense, minimally-processed whole foods, cooked at home, and don't necessarily define as "clean eaters." Thus, the term seems to me to be intended to mean something more, but what depends on the person using it, which is why I (again) find it unhelpful and think talking about nutrition and healthy diets makes much more sense.

I mean, if one eats some popcorn (available from a green market, btw) is one not a "clean eater"?

neugebauer52

Clean eating: Clean table cloth, clean cutlery, clean crockery, clean fingernails.

wendsg

^ Stole what I was going to say.

Clean eating = eating off clean dishes.
Healthy eating = eating without choking/actively dying at the dinner table.

;p

L1zardQueen

Tacos are clean.

nvmomketo

I followed Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet about a decade ago so that is what I think of for clean eating: minimally processed whole food sources with a leaning towards lean protein sources.

IMO, a healthy diet is one that us nutritionally complete and will not contribute to future or current poor health. This will vary between people. Some people do well with some grains in their diet. As a celiac who strives for excellent BG control, I avoid almost all grains.

Now my diet is almost carnivore. At the very least, it is an animal based omnivorous diet. Nutritionally it is complete and balanced, and addresses my health needs very well. I consider it to be a healthy diet for me.

snowflake954

I just try to hit my macros--IIFYM. I cook everyday for a large family and am always washing veggies and fruits.

californiagirl2012

It's a strange definition right? Usually for me it means 5 ingredients or less if in some sort of package, 1-2 ingredients is even better AND personally for me knowing about their manufacturing practices a little and what kinds of additives if any, and what sort of growing practices if it's a farm.

zeejane03

'Clean eating' is a completely arbitrary and subjective term that doesn't actually mean anything. Someone here has a list of all the ways that clean eating has been defined by posters and it's entertaining, to say the least.

AnnPT77

I think "clean eating" is so ill defined as to be a useless term. To me, eating healthfully is mostly about understanding mainstream nutritional advice, and applying that (with a dash of newer research) to getting a mostly well-rounded, balanced overall intake.

When in doubt, I'm guided by thinking about what humans have eaten for centuries or millennia, and thrived (long enough to breed, at least ).

I think there are many "healthful" eating modalities (but not all are equally healthful, of course).

Sticking to a sensible calorie intake level is key for my health, IMO. Personally, beyond that I strive for 0.6-0.8g of protein minimum daily per pound of healthy goal weight (100g+ now, in maintenance); 0.35-0.45g fats minimum daily per pound of healthy goal weight (50g+ now), with an emphasis on monounsaturated and polyunsaturated sources; a minimum of 5+ daily servings of varied, colorful fruits and veggies (but ideally 10+) for micronutrients and added fiber; and some traditional priobiotic foods (yogurt, miso, raw sauerkraut, etc.). I let carbs fall where they may. (Fats are where I most often fall short.) Life is too short to eat things that are theoretically "good for me", but that I don't personally think taste good.

I don't worry too much about where those nutrients come from. (IME, it would be difficult to hit nutritional goals and feel satiated and energetic on sensible calories while eating mostly non-nutrient-dense things.) I'm ovo-lacto vegetarian (have been for nearly 45 years), but think that's utterly irrelevant to weight management, "cleanness" or healthy eating. (It's probably slightly socially more convenient, and a tiny bit easier to eat healthfully, as an omnivore.)

I don't consider specific foods "good" or "bad", "clean" or "junk" (as long as not considered objectively injurious, such as artificial trans fats). It's all about what fits together to create an overall healthy diet (including mental health, social connection, etc.). I eat cheese almost daily (in sensible portions); bread every couple of days (usually Ezekiel tortillas or whole wheat mini-pita, because I'm not that much of a bread gal, and prefer whole grain for taste & sometime protein level); popcorn, chips, dried fruit, etc., I eat occasionally. I don't see a difference between dried fruit and whole fruit, other factors being equal (like added sugar, which in my world fruit in any form doesn't generally require, so it's a waste of calories).

All too often, looking at diaries here and watching acquaintences eat IRL, I've seen those professing "clean eating" not to be eating much differently from those eschewing the term but focusing on nutrition.

Because "clean eating" is so poorly defined as to confound rather than enhance communication, and because it's sometimes used as "virtue signaling", I personally avoid using the term. YMMV.