Difference between Clean Eating and Mediterranean Diet?

zephyrindc

Hi,

I have been eating according to clean eating principles (as I understand them) for years now but I always thought I was eating according to Mediterranean diet principles - fresh fruit and veg., whole grains, good fats like olive oils, lean proteins, red meat as a once-a-week treat, etc. Is there a difference, besides an added emphasis on trying to buy local/organic/not horribly raised and slaughtered? (In the ideal Mediterranean diet, this would happen anyway because you'd get the veggies/meat from your own garden/neighbor/local market).

Thanks!

hollyknouse

I haven't found a whole lot of difference myself. I am reading a book by Nina Planck "Real Food What to Eat and Why". I noticed there is a section that talks about that but Im not there yet. I will keep you updated

bozzalozza

For me, eating clean means removing all nasty chemicals and eating organic as much as possible, with nothing artificial or processed whatsoever - keeping it as close to the original product. So loads of veggies, fruit, organic meat, good fats and organic diary (low fat where possible). If there is something listed in the ingredients that I don't know what it is, then I don't want to put it in my body.

I'm also starting to slowly extend this into other environmental areas as well (eg using organic lip balm, face creams), particularly for things I come into contact with regularly.

That's what it means to me...but other people might have a different philosophy.

seaKind

I haven't found a whole lot of difference myself. I am reading a book by Nina Planck "Real Food What to Eat and Why". I noticed there is a section that talks about that but Im not there yet. I will keep you updated

love to hear more about whats in this book...

skatardrummer

I think clean means different things to different people. For some, it's eating healthy and natural foods. For others, it's eating organic and non-processed, or both. There's a book called "The Medditer-Asian Way," and it makes me think of clean eating. They bring up portion control and also how having a colorful plate in Mediterrainian and Asian dishes at every meal helps keep it balanced and healthy. The other advantage is a lot of the dishes that inspired books like this are scratch dishes made from fresh ingredients.

The chemical processesing we use in America is aweful. I work in healthcare, and I am completely convinced our food is directly to blame for the huge amounts of patients (young and old) with kidney problems, heart problems, thyroid problems, and diabetes. It's pretty bad when it takes two months to get into any urologist and they double book appointments, and you're sitting there with other 20 year olds as well as 50-70 year olds.