Clean eating

I don't really eat clean, but I think most people define it as "not processed".

Here is a good piece of reading on clean eating.

http://eo.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/jkpyf/the_dirt_on_clean_eating_by_alan_aragon/


In closing, I don't have any problem with people who want to eat "clean" but I think it's an ambiguous concept that needs to be better defined.

I'll see your AA, and raise you a JCD.

http://jcdfitness.com/2010/09/clean-eating-is-a-scam-and-why-you-should-abandon-it/

To me it just means healthy food... nothing that I am going to feel guilty about 5 minutes after I swallow it

It does have a lot to do with eating unprocessed foods. It also incorporates buying locally grown veggies, meats, eggs, milk and milk products particularly those produced without harsh chemistry, hormones, mega-dosing of antibiotics and a lot of things conventional (that is since the 1950s or so) industrial farming requires.

Copying from my previous post -

I guess it depends on how you define clean. Many define it as food that is not processed or altered from it's original form, in any way. Right now I'm finding it hard to get raw milk instead of pasteurized and homogenized, so I usually use organic, not ideal but what can you do. I buy packaged and deli meats and chicken and such because I won't go to a butcher. I don't want to grind my own meat or flour. Cows and chickens running around my backyard are something my city frowns upon.

Same with things in cans - I like tuna from a can or pouch, I know it's processed but I'm okay with that. It's hard to find almonds unprocessed, let alone corn or soybeans that aren't genetically modified. I drink processed coconut water. I eat pasta that comes in a box or bag. Luckily in Florida we've got plenty of fruit and even a few veggies I can get unaltered. I do try to avoid preservatives, additives, pesticides and fungicides and I take part in my local organic food delivery program and our community garden, but I still buy and eat processed food. I guess I really don't want to put the time in to make things like yogurt or spaghetti sauce from scratch.

I respect and admire people that put in the effort to eat clean, it's much more time consuming than most realize.


* I've heard this used a lot to define "clean eating" - If you can shoot it, catch it, or grow it - eat it!

Thats why I said USUALLY.

As a vegetarian that works 60+ hours a week (with a 20 minute drive each way every day) and a mother/wife with a house to maintain- I do the best I can with what I have. I live by 80/20- I would say about 80% of the food I eat is unprocessed and 20% is the healthiest version of "processed" food I can find.

Also, I DO log things in my diary by the closest thing I can easily find. So, if I made granola- I will still log it is a store brand because I dont have time to count out the nutrients before I make it.

My idea of "processed" is packaged, heavily processed items with several ingredients (i.e. packaged meals, cookies, items with added sugars or chemicals)- typically.

the best person i know who can describe CLEAN eating is Dr. Junger who wrote the book CLEAN. its amazing and check it out if you haven't already! he has a website that tells you exactly what it is and what toxic foods to avoid.