I heard that eating clean makes you feel better...

What does eating clean mean to you?

I definitely prefer my food clean - so I wash my fruit and veges first, and throw out anything dropped on the floor.

Other than that, "clean" is a buzz word that doesn't actually mean anything.

@amusedmonkey is correct. I'm coeliac, and allergic to corn/maize/sugar/pears/apples/grapes and random other stuff. If I eat any of those foods, I feel awful.

Keep a diary of what makes you feel good and what makes you feel bad.

There is a lot of hype about "clean eating" and everyone seems to decide what it means to them. Many people just feel better if they lose weight. That could be you. That means getting a digital food scale and weighing and measuring all your food and drink and staying within the daily calorie goal MFP gives you. If, on the other hand, you have a food allergy ,as other posters have suggested, then see your doctor and follow their recommendations.

My wife, years ago, had Fibromyalgia. She still does, but back then it was debilitating. She could barely get out of bed, barely function -- literally told me she just wanted to die, many times.

She was told to go gluten free and the doc did allergy testing (she was allergic to cow dairy as well). So we eliminated gluten and dairy together, which by necessity, nearly all processed foods. Turns out I was Celiac in denial! I react God awful if I get the least little glutened (Margarita Mix was the last culprit -- I was sick two days!).

She's so much better now. Even works out 5 or 6 times a week and is enjoying life again. Now, that's not the only change we made, but I truly believe it was the most important one. I'm convinced I'd likely have colon cancer had I not been supportive of her and gone gluten free with her. I had constant signs that I ignored -- blood in the stool (sorry, TMI) and constant eczema all over my back. I haven't ever felt better and I'm 55.

We have also gone nearly off red meat (around once a month or so) and eat plant based three or four days a week.

I would concur with the others -- find out if you have food allergies. My daughter came here to Tucson and was feeling bad for two weeks. We have flowers that grow all over in the Spring. She was thinking it was a food allergy, but it was seasonal pollen allergies. I did buy her an Everlywell Food Sensitivity test (like 130 on sale) and she's going to find out if she has any food sensitivities.

I don't think "eating clean" means much of anything. I do think that eating an overall healthy diet (nutrient dense, calorie appropriate) tends to make people feel better -- it certainly does for me. However, a dramatic shift in diet can actually lead to some digestive issues if you go from low fiber to high fiber (or even just recommended fiber) right away. There are also going to be psychological things that contribute, like if you feel burdened by a new way of eating or a sense of loss vs. feeling excited and enjoying the new way of eating.

And of course if you feel bad there can be many causes unrelated to food choice.

janejellyroll wrote: »

My experience is that people who aren't meeting their nutritional needs feel better once they start meeting them. This doesn't necessarily require "eating clean." Some people can make relatively minor changes to their diet and be able to meet their needs. It all depends on where you're starting from.

I would be concerned by feeling like "garbage." I would wonder: Are you eating enough? Have you eliminated caffeine? Are you eating lower carbohydrate than you were before?

lemurcat2 wrote: »

I don't think "eating clean" means much of anything. I do think that eating an overall healthy diet (nutrient dense, calorie appropriate) tends to make people feel better -- it certainly does for me. However, a dramatic shift in diet can actually lead to some digestive issues if you go from low fiber to high fiber (or even just recommended fiber) right away. There are also going to be psychological things that contribute, like if you feel burdened by a new way of eating or a sense of loss vs. feeling excited and enjoying the new way of eating.

And of course if you feel bad there can be many causes unrelated to food choice.

What they said, plus (of course) considering food allergies.

Medical questions (such as "why do I feel like garbage") are for doctors, not for random idiots like me on the internet, but if we knew what you meant by "feel like garbage", we could speculate more specifically about common (non-allergy, non-disease) dietary causes.

Some common ones:

* Fatigue, weakness: Calories too low, trying to lose weight too fast, excessive exercise for current fitness level
* Flu-like symptoms (that can't be flu or something worse): Electrolyte imbalance, possibly induced by dramatically reduced carbs without compensation on the electrolyte side
* Headaches: Significantly reduced caffeine
* Frequent urination, bladder pressure: Drinking way too much water based on bad internet advice
* Constipation: Sudden dramatic increase in fiber intake, too-low fat intake, too-low water consumption for amount of fiber
* Diarrhea: A lot of the same things as constipation, actually, or their exact opposite (too little fiber, to high fat, etc.)
* Faintness, dizziness: Too low calories, blood sugar weirdness because of sudden dietary change
* Menstrual cycle/hormonal weirdness: Too low calories for a longish time, too low fat consumption, overexercise

Those aren't all the possible symptoms (by far), and those aren't all the potential (non-disease) triggers, just a small sample off the top of my head.

The point is, if you gave us more details, we might have better ideas (your current size, calorie goal, exercise type/duration/frequency, what "clean" means very specifically (as in what's a typical eating day), whether you're doing other things like keto or intermittent fasting, are you taking any new supplements . . . ?).

Good nutrition is important, and should (long-term) improve one's general sense of well-being, if the prior way of eating was sub-par. The things people often think of as "clean" are anything from minor pluses to irrelevant to potentially negative, depending on the person, and on the details of the eating.

But for true "feeling like garbage": Doctor.

Yes, clean eating makes me feel good. I try not to deprive myself though.

Favorite Breakfast: Avocado toast with an egg over easy.
Favorite Lunch: Spaghetti squash with meatballs and spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese
Favorite Dinner: A bowl with romaine lettuce, yellow rice, whatever veggies I have on hand, shredded chicken, 1 tablespoon of sour cream and smashed avocado.

I consider this clean eating and I love it.

Good luck on your journey.

Avidkeo wrote: »

I definitely prefer my food clean - so I wash my fruit and veges first, and throw out anything dropped on the floor.

Other than that, "clean" is a buzz word that doesn't actually mean anything.

I liked your post but I do have disagree with one point; three second rule for stuff on the floor, and especially chocolate! 😀

I think the 'seconds rule' is a bit like the clean eating definition.

Just like clean eating means whatever you want it to mean - the number of seconds is whatever you want it to be

But of course it is always longer for chocolate than, say, lettuce

iuoyuwwrmlioxneunm wrote: »

Isn't clean eating healthy eating? Like low sodium, low saturated fat, low sugar and white processed carbs? Basically what doctors tell you to avoid?

I have heard the term "clean eating" from bodybuilding books before, but I guess there was never really a tangible definition floating around.

That diet reminds me of this


The only problem is it still has dihydrogen monoxide. That stuff is EVERYWHERE!

iuoyuwwrmlioxneunm wrote: »

Isn't clean eating healthy eating? Like low sodium, low saturated fat, low sugar and white processed carbs? Basically what doctors tell you to avoid?

It has 80-trillion different definitions and usually is nothing like normal healthful eating. Most often it's asserted to be "NO PROCESSED FOOD" by people who claim to be clean eating while eating lots of processed foods (which is fine since plenty of processed foods are nutrient dense or easily can be part of a nutrient dense meal). That's why I think the term is mostly just some form of virtue signaling.

Many "clean eaters" will even argue that sat fat is the best fat, sodium in any amount is fine, and veg are not important. Some might claim that McD's is not processed if you just eat the burgers without buns and avoid fries.

On the whole, I think the main difference between "clean eaters" and people who care about nutrition is that clean eaters focus on 100% excluding certain foods (and often think that's sufficient, even if they continue to eat no veg or whatever), whereas people focused on nutrition care about, you know, having an overall diet that is nutritious. My impression is a lot of "clean eaters" came from a diet that was both extremely ultra processed (lots of fast food or what not, lots of grocery store sweets) and pretty low nutrient, and often aren't really fans of veg, and think that excluding the things they used to overeat = virtue and the be-all, end-all of nutrition, but often aren't very educated on what a nutritious diet actually is. That would be fine, except they often have an annoying habit of assuming everyone who doesn't claim to "eat clean" eats extremely poorly, which is, of course, false. I find that a huge percentage of those who care about nutrition get the concept of moderation and dosage and so on.

I continue to think that what one includes in ones diet (i.e., lots of veg, some fruit, sufficient protein, healthy fats) is more important than whether one excludes processed items or added sugar or whatever else. You know, from a nutrition and health standpoint.