Eating clean and butter

EmmaKarney

Technically, peanuts and salt are both chemicals. And it's a process. So, yeah, even if you make your own, it's technically chemically processed, which is why the term "clean food" is just kinda silly.

Every substance is a "chemical" if you want to get technical.

But surely you can see a difference between ingredients that are recognisably things that you may have in your store cupboard i.e. peanuts, salt. And ingredients that are synthetically created in a lab for the purpose of preserving/ enhancing flavour, colour or texture?

We can have debates on forums until the cows come home but at the end of the day everyone has to be comfortable with what they eat. I'm not that comfortable with synthetic additives in my food, especially when it's so easy to cook real food from scratch using the ingredients as they came from nature.

If I buy a food item NOT in it's original form from nature then as long as the ingredients listed are things I "could" buy myself and recreate then I'm happy.

So almond butter consisting of almonds and salt is fine by me - someone else has just saved me the trouble of "processing" into almond butter at home.

But bread with more than 3 ingredients (flour, yeast, salt) is NOT ok by me.

Some people are ok with putting anything into their mouth, regardless of what is in it and that is entirely their own prerogative.

However to say that the concept of clean eating is "silly" is well, silly.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

For instance Land O Lakes:
Ingredients: Sweet Cream, Natural Flavoring

Just a reminder that this was a topic about "clean" eating. Which means different things to different people. "Natural" flavorings aren't necessarily considered "clean" by some people. That's the only reason I brought up checking out the label. In no way did I mean to insult people's butter.

Yes, I agree.............WTH is "natural flavoring"???? Its probably not as natural as most people think, but this is how they get people to buy it.

I love Kerry Gold or getting raw butter from the local Amish in our area.

lawkat

Once, I went to the Cork Butter Museum in Ireland. It was amazing.

Not really applicable to this thread, but I did learn the entire history of Kerrygold. Butter kicks *kitten*.

I went too. It is a great museum. Yes, if you are going to use butter, Kerrygold is the way to go, even though it is a bit pricey. So good.

sunnyskys2013

I like coconut oil for my veggie and some baking. But i also use butter for baking too. Aldi butter only has cream and salt.

mmapags

Are you just trying to make fitness more challenging by creating handicaps for yourself?

This is what I was wondering too!! What's the big deal. I think when you have to start asking of foods are "allowed" on some diet plan, you are going down an OCD path that has nothing to do with weight loss and fitness.

We all pretty much can use our common sense to know what is whole minimally process foods and what is not. The whole "eating clean" thing gets ridiculous as everyone has their own interpretation and then starts building in restrictions. Just eat mostly whole nutrient dense foods and stop worrying about what's considered clean and what's not.

lauren3101

Just make your own - pour double cream into a food processor (about half a pint), bung the whisk attachment on and let it do it's thing until it's butter. That's literally it.

EmmaKarney

For instance Land O Lakes:
Ingredients: Sweet Cream, Natural Flavoring

What is "sweet cream"?

lauraleighsm

Here is a fun way to make butter with young children.

Into a clean pint mason jar drop in 1 or 2 cleaned smooth beach stones or marbles. Pour in 1c of fresh cream (old cream will not churn). This leaves plenty of space in the jar for shaking--but secure the lid first. During story time pass the jar around each child shaking and shaking (this will take about 20 or so minutes). For the longest time, it appears that nothing is happening. Then it seems that the viscosity of the cream is less. Soon someone might see yellow specs in white. Then it all begins to happen to quite fast. Foamy. Thick. Separation. You will be tempted to call it butter when the whey first separates from the fat, but chances are it is still a minute or two too soon. Shake some more to get out all the whey--otherwise the butter will begin to smell cheesey in a few days. After you believe you have a chunk of butter. Pour out the whey (maybe using it in pancakes or some other quick bread recipe) and lay the hunk of butter on a board and will a paddle or spatula press the butter to squeeze out any trapped whey. Then put your butter in dish or shape it before serving. You will find that butter from grain or hay (winter) fed cows is pale, but if you get fresh cream in Spring or Summer from grass fed cows, the butter will have soft yellow hue (chlorophyll).

That sounds awesome! My kids will love doing this. I'm ordering raw milk again, which has the cream on top. Maybe I can use that?

skinnytayy

I'm Primal and real butter is fine so I would assume it would fall under a "clean food" for you. I use kerrygold for sooo many things, including in my coffee & its fantastic. Also, I'm almost positive the only ingredient is cream butter. Make sure you get full-fat, its a good fat!

majope

clean eating

Then I think it's fine. Try Kerrygold butter. It's from grass fed cows.

I wonder how they get away with that? Cattle will be grazed in the summer, probably fed silage (which is made of gass, obviously) in the winter, but I can't see them getting no cake whatsoever.

Grass doesn't die in the winter in Ireland.

lauraleighsm

Are you just trying to make fitness more challenging by creating handicaps for yourself?

This is what I was wondering too!! What's the big deal. I think when you have to start asking of foods are "allowed" on some diet plan, you are going down an OCD path that has nothing to do with weight loss and fitness.

We all pretty much can use our common sense to know what is whole minimally process foods and what is not. The whole "eating clean" thing gets ridiculous as everyone has their own interpretation and then starts building in restrictions. Just eat mostly whole nutrient dense foods and stop worrying about what's considered clean and what's not.

I actually think it's a great idea to embrace clean eating and think it's imperative that you research what is going into your body. We eat organic and gmo free (primarily) and it takes a lot of time to avoid GMO's. However, it's safer for my family. It can be overwhelming when you first start.

M______

I know the bulletproofexec (he runs a paleo/self improvement site) loves his grass fed butter. I tried his coffee recipe with butter and mct oil and it was really something. It gave me great energy and focus for over 6 hours with no spikes, it took my next meal to bring me down. If anything that was a little too strong, for me at least.

But I know he eats butter like I would a bar of chocolate. Strange to see, but if it works for him..

XXXMinnieXXX

I think you can take eating clean too far. Good to eat a lot of clean foods, but if. You want this to be a lifestyle change you need to eat things that you love too. It's all about balance and decisions that you can keep to long term!

Zara

MicroHez

I'm just gonna get this off my chest because it's driving me up the wall...

Just because it's natural and hasn't any sort of "process" applied, doesn't mean you SHOULD be consuming it. Case in point: RAW milk. You'll lose weight quickly... by having persisent Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella and possible E. coli O157/non-O157 STEC infections. You can STILL get unhomongenized, gently pasturized milks (like Snowville Creamery here in Ohio, which is grass-fed stock and pasturized at 170F for 18 seconds). Most states prohibit/ban/discourage the sale of raw milk. I'm not saying ALL raw milks are the devil, but I wouldn't trust it to be safe...

I'm a microbiologist for a State lab... Raw milks are filthy, usually. If you wouldn't eat raw ground meat, why would you want to drink a raw product that is like 6" away from the poop-chute AND swaying close to the ground to get splattered with... err, stuff.

neanderthin

I'm just gonna get this off my chest because it's driving me up the wall...

Just because it's natural and hasn't any sort of "process" applied, doesn't mean you SHOULD be consuming it. Case in point: RAW milk. You'll lose weight quickly... by having persisent Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella and possible E. coli O157/non-O157 STEC infections. You can STILL get unhomongenized, gently pasturized milks (like Snowville Creamery here in Ohio, which is grass-fed stock and pasturized at 170F for 18 seconds). Most states prohibit/ban/discourage the sale of raw milk. I'm not saying ALL raw milks are the devil, but I wouldn't trust it to be safe...

I'm a microbiologist for a State lab... Raw milks are filthy, usually. If you wouldn't eat raw ground meat, why would you want to drink a raw product that is like 6" away from the poop-chute AND swaying close to the ground to get splattered with... err, stuff.

Good thing your a clean human as opposed to every other fithy creature on the planet, eh! Close call.

sunnyskys2013

I'm just gonna get this off my chest because it's driving me up the wall...

Just because it's natural and hasn't any sort of "process" applied, doesn't mean you SHOULD be consuming it. Case in point: RAW milk. You'll lose weight quickly... by having persisent Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella and possible E. coli O157/non-O157 STEC infections. You can STILL get unhomongenized, gently pasturized milks (like Snowville Creamery here in Ohio, which is grass-fed stock and pasturized at 170F for 18 seconds). Most states prohibit/ban/discourage the sale of raw milk. I'm not saying ALL raw milks are the devil, but I wouldn't trust it to be safe...

I'm a microbiologist for a State lab... Raw milks are filthy, usually. If you wouldn't eat raw ground meat, why would you want to drink a raw product that is like 6" away from the poop-chute AND swaying close to the ground to get splattered with... err, stuff.

So have you ever lived on a farm or milked anything ? because if you are a clean person and know how to do it right milk is not unclean. So do you ever go out to eat ? Because i can tell you having worked in food service that anything you eat out is much nastier then what you eat farm fresh.

SanteMulberry

I'm just gonna get this off my chest because it's driving me up the wall...

Just because it's natural and hasn't any sort of "process" applied, doesn't mean you SHOULD be consuming it. Case in point: RAW milk. You'll lose weight quickly... by having persisent Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella and possible E. coli O157/non-O157 STEC infections. You can STILL get unhomongenized, gently pasturized milks (like Snowville Creamery here in Ohio, which is grass-fed stock and pasturized at 170F for 18 seconds). Most states prohibit/ban/discourage the sale of raw milk. I'm not saying ALL raw milks are the devil, but I wouldn't trust it to be safe...

I'm a microbiologist for a State lab... Raw milks are filthy, usually. If you wouldn't eat raw ground meat, why would you want to drink a raw product that is like 6" away from the poop-chute AND swaying close to the ground to get splattered with... err, stuff.

Um...wouldn't it be better to have cleanliness standards in the dairy industry, ensuring healthy dairy products, rather than letting the dairy producers muck them up and then cooking all of it (read denaturing it) so that it becomes less healthy to consume? The only reason why pasteurization was forced on the industry was because SOME producers were not sanitary.

Carnivor0us

I'm just gonna get this off my chest because it's driving me up the wall...

Just because it's natural and hasn't any sort of "process" applied, doesn't mean you SHOULD be consuming it. Case in point: RAW milk. You'll lose weight quickly... by having persisent Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella and possible E. coli O157/non-O157 STEC infections. You can STILL get unhomongenized, gently pasturized milks (like Snowville Creamery here in Ohio, which is grass-fed stock and pasturized at 170F for 18 seconds). Most states prohibit/ban/discourage the sale of raw milk. I'm not saying ALL raw milks are the devil, but I wouldn't trust it to be safe...

I'm a microbiologist for a State lab... Raw milks are filthy, usually. If you wouldn't eat raw ground meat, why would you want to drink a raw product that is like 6" away from the poop-chute AND swaying close to the ground to get splattered with... err, stuff.

I've gotten sick from raw milk before. I still drink it. I'm an adult and I feel as though I have that prerogative to drink whatever I want. The reason I still drink it and not have been ill since my initial illness is because I found a dairy farmer with cleaner practices.

I eat raw/undercooked meat on a regular basis and have never gotten sick.

I have no reason to doubt your credentials and your facts on the things present in raw milk, and I even appreciate the information. It allows me to make an informed decision to exercise a choice. A choice that the state unfortunately discourages.

EmmaKarney

I'm just gonna get this off my chest because it's driving me up the wall...

Just because it's natural and hasn't any sort of "process" applied, doesn't mean you SHOULD be consuming it. Case in point: RAW milk. You'll lose weight quickly... by having persisent Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella and possible E. coli O157/non-O157 STEC infections. You can STILL get unhomongenized, gently pasturized milks (like Snowville Creamery here in Ohio, which is grass-fed stock and pasturized at 170F for 18 seconds). Most states prohibit/ban/discourage the sale of raw milk. I'm not saying ALL raw milks are the devil, but I wouldn't trust it to be safe...

I wouldn't eat raw pork either because I would get sick.

I don't really understand this example.

mmapags

Are you just trying to make fitness more challenging by creating handicaps for yourself?

This is what I was wondering too!! What's the big deal. I think when you have to start asking of foods are "allowed" on some diet plan, you are going down an OCD path that has nothing to do with weight loss and fitness.

We all pretty much can use our common sense to know what is whole minimally process foods and what is not. The whole "eating clean" thing gets ridiculous as everyone has their own interpretation and then starts building in restrictions. Just eat mostly whole nutrient dense foods and stop worrying about what's considered clean and what's not.

I actually think it's a great idea to embrace clean eating and think it's imperative that you research what is going into your body. We eat organic and gmo free (primarily) and it takes a lot of time to avoid GMO's. However, it's safer for my family. It can be overwhelming when you first start.

I don't think it is overwhelming really. It doesn't have to be that complicated. Whole foods close to the source about does it. The whole GMO thing and it's negative effects has yet to be proven by any study. If you want to eat non GMO, that's your choice. Organic can be important on some thing and not on others. For example, what difference does it make if your banana was grown organically and there is no proven nutritional difference and you throw away the skin which may contain any pesticide residue. A leafy green vegetable or an apple would be more of a concern.

But, your question wasn't about this kind of issue. It was about whether a food that is defined by law as only having 2 ingredients at most is OK for eating clean. My first question would be, define eating clean. Ask 100 people. get 100 definitions. There is no universal standard. Then throw in the question of dairy products, legumes and grains. To some, healthy, to some poison.

Again, I'm going to reiterate that when you start to worry about a simple, close to the source, whole food, it is unnecessary at best and bordering on OCD at worst. It's majoring in the minor.