Clean eating; what is it really?

Most clean eaters I've talked to follow the popular 80/20 approach, meaning they only eat clean about 80% of the time.

isn't that sort of like calling yourself a vegetarian because you only eat meat 20% of the time? :huh:

Exactly! It's entirely subjective. Plenty of people who eat fish &/or poultry call themselves vegetarian. (I knew a vegetarian who ate bacon once in a while.) All we can do is tell the OP what clean eating means to each of us. It's just our personal opinion; everyone gets to decide for him- or herself what clean eating looks like to them.

There is no one right answer for everyone.

IMO the difference re clean eaters eating 80/20 and vegetarians, is that there *is* a single definition of vegetarian, it means someone who doesn't eat organisms from the animal kingdom. However there's no such definition of a clean eater, it's more about what it means to that person themselves and so the 80/20 thing doesn't apply.

That said, if someone said "I eat 80% vegetarian food" while you could argue that they can't call themselves "a vegetarian" there's nothing wrong with them saying that they eat 80% vegetarian food.

In to be edumacated.

If you mean slavishly eating only organic veggies and unicorn tarts...no thanks.

Don't you mean unicorn farts?

but eating healthier

All well and good until I got here.

Why is it 'healthier' food?

Is there a universal definition of 'healthy'?

What makes a food not 'healthy'?

That again seems to be another phrase that far too often means "What I like to believe is good for me without researching it" .

I want a unicorn tart.

Anyway, using the 80/20 rule, I've realised I'm ALMOST there for clean eating.
Apparently clean eating is eating whole foods.

Today I have:
Whole pack of Caramel Mallows
Whole pack of corned beef
Whole Jar of pasta sauce
Whole pack of lean mince
3x Whole onions
And I'm going to have a whole Toffee pavlova later.

Unfortunately, I also had:
75g of pasta (of 500g)
300ml milk of 1lt.

So 2/6 ratio not to far to the 2/8 ratio of 'whole foods' required .

Since I've joined MFP I've noticed a lot of people talking about clean eating. I'm curious about what it's all about. I' think it has to do with removing processed foods from your diet but I know it's more then that. If you've adopted the clean eating lifestyle can you educate me? I'd like to learn about it and see if it's a fit for me.

What I eat because I like to eat this way: Quinoa, brown rice, yams, lean meat, fish, most vegetables, eggs, most fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes. I cook my meals from scratch with fresh herbs and no prepared condiments.

What I don't eat: Pre-packaged foods, microwaveable meals, sugar, grains with gluten, dairy, soy, certain beans like kidney and lima beans, white potatoes and other very starchy foods, white rice.

Is this clean eating> I don't know but it is what has worked for me in the last two years with reducing inflammation, gaining energy, sleeping better, having better skin and hair, eliminating a chronic cough, reducing intensity and frequency of migraines and headaches, and losing weight.

Clean eating = eat all the food on the plate = no waste = think of the little children starving around the world = clean your plate ?!

I want a unicorn tart.

Anyway, using the 80/20 rule, I've realised I'm ALMOST there for clean eating.
Apparently clean eating is eating whole foods.

Today I have:
Whole pack of Caramel Mallows
Whole pack of corned beef
Whole Jar of pasta sauce
Whole pack of lean mince
3x Whole onions
And I'm going to have a whole Toffee pavlova later.

Unfortunately, I also had:
75g of pasta (of 500g)
300ml milk of 1lt.

So 2/6 ratio not to far to the 2/8 ratio of 'whole foods' required .

"Clean eating" is the taking of a mostly sensible idea: Eat mostly home-cooked meals prepared with fresh produce where possible, and the pushing of it to the nth degree by internet obsessives to obtain a self-flaggelating, holier-than-thou approach to meals whereby you aren't 'doing it right' if you don't buy all your veg from a scruffy, pale person on some kind of farmers' market and organically weave yoghurt.

Since I've joined MFP I've noticed a lot of people talking about clean eating. I'm curious about what it's all about. I' think it has to do with removing processed foods from your diet but I know it's more then that. If you've adopted the clean eating lifestyle can you educate me? I'd like to learn about it and see if it's a fit for me.

After losing weight successfully by eating as I liked and just cutting back on calories, I to became interested in 'clean' eating, after seeing it popping up here on MFP all the time. I watched the documentaries, read the books etc that are related to this way of thinking and was sold. I went into a three month experiment with it and this was outcome-

-my period stopped
-my hair started falling out
-started feeling fatigued/sluggish
-sleep got messed up

I was following the plans laid out by such advocates such as doctors Fuhrman, Caldwell, Esselstyn etc. A focus on veggies, fruit, whole grains, small amounts of seeds and nuts, olives etc. Almost totally cutting out 'diry/processed' foods. And almost no animal products (dairy and meat I cut back to a couple times a week, because they weren't 'clean' enough/too processed).

I got sucked in and then was spit out a mess. Throughout the experiment I didn't feel better or look better. Nothing magical happened. I finally had to listen to the cues my body was screaming at me and I ditched it. Now I'm back to eating how I like, with lots of foods I enjoy, including fast food and 'processed' foods, and everything is back to normal.

Nothing wrong with giving it a try, but I'd highly recommend keeping your fat intake higher-a lot of the clean eating advocates push foods that are low fat and I think that was a big reason why I got so messed up.

Nothing wrong with giving it a try, but I'd highly recommend keeping your fat intake higher-a lot of the clean eating advocates push foods that are low fat and I think that was a big reason why I got so messed up.



I believe it is the opposite. The focus is on eating a good amount of fats but not trans or sat fats that are found in pre-packaged foods with long shelf lives.

The consumption of olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, coconut oil for baking and cooking, are highly encouraged. All this as well as fatty fish like salmon and having a good level of Omega 3.

Fats are not bad; it is the type of fats we consume that could be a problem health-wise.

Nothing wrong with giving it a try, but I'd highly recommend keeping your fat intake higher-a lot of the clean eating advocates push foods that are low fat and I think that was a big reason why I got so messed up.

I believe it is the opposite. The focus is on eating a good amount of fats but not trans or sat fats that are found in pre-packaged foods with long shelf lives.

The consumption of olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, coconut oil for baking and cooking, are highly encouraged. All this as well as fatty fish like salmon and having a good level of Omega 3.

Fats are not bad; it is the type of fats we consume that could be a problem health-wise.

What focus? There is no clean eating focus. It might be the focus of the plan that you are following but certainly not all that tout "clean eating". That is the point a ton of us have been making.

That poster was talking about the Dr. Furhman et al type "clean eating" which does not focus on fats but does focus on grains and veggies, no animal products.
Nor did the "clean eating" al la Tosca Reno. It focused on animal products, certain grains and fruits and veggies. But the emphasis was not on fats.
Paleo/primal style "clean eating" does focus on a lot of fats but avoids grains.

I believe this is a perfect example of the problem of the label of "clean eating".

still waiting on a definition . . .

here's one:

any dietary plan that excludes certain foods for arbitrary and non-scientific reasons, so that the dieter can feel smug and superior to those who refuse to exclude those foods.

how's that?

It means you eat mostly soap and baking soda...