What does clean eating mean?

marley2000secret

Hey, I just started my fitness pal, and was wondering from looking at articles, what clean eating means.

AnnPT77

It's so vague that it has no meaning. Someone around here used to ask "clean eating" advocates on threads to define "clean eating". She got numerous very different definitions. (If I could find her list, I'd post it. It was amusing.)

My advice: Don't worry about clean eating.

Get overall well-rounded nutrition: Protein, healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals, micronutrients . . . ideally mostly from foods rather than supplements.

Choose mostly simple, traditional whole foods for the majority of your eating. (Simple, traditional whole foods = Veggies, fruits, whole grains, meats, fish, traditional dairy foods, and that sort of thing.)

If you have calorie room, have a few treat foods for joy, in reasonable portions. (Treat foods = things that are more calorie dense, less nutrition dense.) Find a sensible balance that works for you.

Most people will find whole foods more filling than highly-processed foods. Highly-processed foods (as a large part of a person's diet) are correlated with worse health outcomes of diverse kinds.

"Highly processed" (or "Ultra-Processed") is also a somewhat squishy term. I don't like using it. Personally, I think the biggest issue is foods that have been processed to the point of extracting out particular ingredients (some of which are healthful) . . . refined flours, as an example; or foods that have been augmented with industrially created chemicals that our ancestors wouldn't have recognized as food ingredients, often to extend shelf life or improve texture on the shelf . . . things like dough conditioners, colorings, stabilizers, preservatives, etc. Some amount of those probably isn't life threatening, but a whole way of eating that maximizes those (as is somewhat common these days) seems to have negative side effects.

Honestly, eating healthfully isn't all that technical. Vague terms like "clean", "junk", "superfood", "fast", etc., tend to muddy the waters more than clarify things.

Best wishes!

SoCalSwimmerDude

To me, clean eating is simple: Whole Foods… meaning…

Potatoes carrots chicken fish broccoli onion garlic steak lettuce spinach squash beans grains (rice , whole wheat bread etc) tomatoes avocado banana apple berries etc etc etc.

You focus a diet on these things and you’ll crush it. For what it’s worth, you don’t have to abandon processed foods. I love me some low cal options so I can eat pizza, taco/burritos, etc….

And beer is not a whole food.. but delicious. 🍻

AnnPT77

Oooo! I found the list of clean eating definitions, as compiled from MFP threads by user @diannethegeek. I'm quoting her from a thread I'll link later in this post.

This may be going a little beyond what you were looking for in a definition, @marley2000secret, but it should help you understand why you might very reasonably be confused after reading various articles on the subject. Virtually everyone seems confused!

Once upon a time, I was under the belief that clean eating had a simple definition. It was cooking from scratch using as simple ingredients as possible.

MFP has disillusioned me of that idea.

Here on MFP I've seen clean eating defined in a few different ways. These are all answers given by users when asked what clean eating is. Some of them have been formatted to fit the list better, but many of them are copy/pasted directly from their original posts. Be sure to read to the end, where things really start to diverge.

Nothing but minimally processed foods.
Absolutely no processed foods.
Shop only the outside of the grocery store.
Nothing out of a box, jar, or can.
Only food that's not in a box or hermetically sealed bag, or from e.g. McDonald's.
No take-out or junk food at all.
Nothing at all with a barcode.
Nothing with more than 5 ingredients.
Nothing with more than 4 ingredients.
Nothing with more than 3 ingredients.
Nothing with more than 1 ingredient.
No added preservatives.
No added chemicals.
No chemicals, preservatives, etc. at all.
No ingredients that you can't pronounce.
No ingredients that sound like they came out of a chemistry book.
Nothing that is processed and comes in a package or wrapper, or has any ingredient that sounds scientific.
Don't eat products that have a TV commercial.
Don't eat foods that have a mascot.
If it grows or had a mother, it is ok to eat it.
Don't eat products that have a longer shelf life than you do.
Eat "food" and not "food-like substances."
No added sugar.
No added refined sugar.
Swap white sugar for brown.
No "white" foods.
Nothing but lean meats, fruits, and vegetables.
Nothing but lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and beans.
A plant-based whole food diet.
Eat foods as close to their natural state as POSSIBLE, and little to no processed food.
Only meat from grass-fed animals and free-range chickens.
Only pesticide-free foods.
Nothing that causes your body bloat or inflammation.
No trigger foods, nothing from fast food chains, nothing in the junk food aisles, and no high gmo foods.
No red meat, no sweets, no pasta, no alcohol, no bread, no soda, nothing but fresh fruits and vegetables, complex carbohydrates and lean proteins.
Eat a plant based diet consisting of whole plant foods.
No bad carbs and processed foods.
Anything that makes a better choice.
Not cheating on whatever diet you are on.
Any food that doesn't make it difficult to hit your macro/micro targets.
Clean eating means eating optimally.

I like to note that under some of those definitions, Fritos are a clean food (only 3 ingredients). Under some of them, eggs and pistachios are not.

That's from this thread, in case you'd like to read a whole lengthy discussion about what clean eating does/doesn't mean, and whether it's important.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10337480/what-is-clean-eating/p1

If you do click that link, note that the thread is in the Debate Club part of the Community, which is a little more "gloves off", frank and sometimes pointed. Discussion there is still expected to be polite, however.

To other readers: That thread in Debate Club would be a good place to argue about what clean eating is or isn't.