What exactly is considered "clean" food?

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Replies

  • kristy3119
    kristy3119 Posts: 46 Member
    Clean eating is the process in which one eats food which has been minimally handled, then brags about it and offers it as a panacea for the ills of mankind.
    See also, sancti-fit, nutri-nazi

    ba-ZING!
  • DargoMack
    DargoMack Posts: 75 Member
    I guess the definition I am most familiar with is from Tosca Reno and her clean eating books.

    http://www.eatcleandiet.com/

    http://eatingcleanworks.com/what-is-eating-clean.html

    This is how it has been explained to me by nutritionists and others.
  • Glenda0707
    Glenda0707 Posts: 16
    The article on the "Twinkie Diet" was amazing. He was considered overweight on his BMI prior to reducing his calorie intake from 2600 a day to 1800. He stated he will add back 300 calories to maintain. That is exactly what the Weight Watcher diet does even though they do it in "Points" instead of calorie counting. Since being on MFP I am starting to see that it really is the calorie count that matters.

    So the choice really is "Would I rather have a BIG salad that will fill me up or a dang Ding Dong! Sometimes the Ding Dong wins but you sure get hungry a lot sooner and then you over eat because your not satified!!!!"

    Lastly, why not put more "NATURAL" foods in your body then all of the additives and preservatives laden foods in your body! Just seems better for you!
  • Loulady
    Loulady Posts: 511 Member
    Acg - do you consider straight wheat or other grains to be a sugar?

    I'm not trying to argue for argument's sake here, or about how your body processes carbohydrates, or even the validity of cutting sugar out. I'm just saying that one of her rules is that the ingredient list not contain some form of sugar (assuming she means sugar, corn syrup, etc.), and that it's hardly restrictive.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Acg - do you consider straight wheat or other grains to be a sugar?

    I'm not trying to argue for argument's sake here, or about how your body processes carbohydrates, or even the validity of cutting sugar out. I'm just saying that one of her rules is that the ingredient list not contain some form of sugar (assuming she means sugar, corn syrup, etc.), and that it's hardly restrictive.

    What are some examples of polysaccharides?
  • Bobby_Clerici
    Bobby_Clerici Posts: 1,828 Member
    I like to keep it very simple.
    If man makes it, don't eat it.

    For mere weight loss with no concern for optimal health, eat whatever but create a deficit.
    For peak fitness and to look good, feel great and live well, clean eating is best.
    And that's lean meats, low fat dairy, nuts, whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies.
    Processed foods have been demineralized and loaded with salt, sugar and fat.
    It's not rocket science.
    I eat clean 75% of the time. That's as good as it gets.
    Life is to be lived :drinker:
  • eilmeister
    eilmeister Posts: 37

    What is flour? In fact what are carbohydrates?

    Flour
    1: a product consisting of finely milled wheat.

    This is the ingredient list for basic AP flour:
    INGREDIENTS: UNBLEACHED HARD WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY
    FLOUR (A NATURAL YEAST FOOD), NIACIN (A B VITAMIN), REDUCED
    IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN
    B2), FOLIC ACID (A B VITAMIN).

    But you can easily find bags that are pure wheat flour, with no vitamins and barley flour added at most grocery stores.


    What do carbohydrates have to do with anything? Nobody said anything about cutting those out.
    It seems like you're being pointedly obtuse to make this seem much more restrictive and complicated than it can be.

    Here's what I want you to do, read the below quote again
    Also, one of those ingredients cannot be a form of sugar

    Do some research and then you will come to realize the abject silliness of such a rule


    I think you're confusing ingredients (added sugar) with naturally occurring sugar (which won't appear on the ingredient list). True, all of the foods you mentioned earlier do contain sugar, but not as an ingredient. So they fit her criteria just fine.
  • _Timmeh_
    _Timmeh_ Posts: 2,096 Member
    It hasn't fallen on the floor, if it has and was there longer than 5 seconds then it is dirty.
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
    I'm a bit confused by this term and what it entails. Can someone give me a bit of guidance here? Sorry if this seems like a silly question, it just seems everywhere I see it someone has a different definition!

    Clean=didn't drop it on the floor
  • AlyRoseNYC
    AlyRoseNYC Posts: 1,075 Member
    OP, this is the only answer:

    The term is subjective and everyone has their own definition of it.


    For me, it is anything that has had NO processing at all. So only fruits, veggies, eggs, some meats.
    I do not eat clean at all. In fact, I eat far from it! But, I still lose weight. About half of what I eat is my definition of clean.
  • Loulady
    Loulady Posts: 511 Member
    Acg - do you consider straight wheat or other grains to be a sugar?

    I'm not trying to argue for argument's sake here, or about how your body processes carbohydrates, or even the validity of cutting sugar out. I'm just saying that one of her rules is that the ingredient list not contain some form of sugar (assuming she means sugar, corn syrup, etc.), and that it's hardly restrictive.

    What are some examples of polysaccharides?

    the effing cellulose that was all over my packaged cheese crumbles last night! Nasty. lol.

    I don't see how that applies to her simple, simple rule, though.
  • WABeachWalker
    WABeachWalker Posts: 133 Member
    I found a great magazine at my chiropractor's office called "Clean Eating." The foods in the recipes are generally fresh, grown w/o pesticides and are nutrient dense. Check out the magazine for yourself at http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    People use this term differently, but generally it refers to food as close to it's natural state as possible. The more processed a food, the less "clean".
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Acg - do you consider straight wheat or other grains to be a sugar?

    I'm not trying to argue for argument's sake here, or about how your body processes carbohydrates, or even the validity of cutting sugar out. I'm just saying that one of her rules is that the ingredient list not contain some form of sugar (assuming she means sugar, corn syrup, etc.), and that it's hardly restrictive.

    What are some examples of polysaccharides?

    the effing cellulose that was all over my packaged cheese crumbles last night! Nasty. lol.

    I don't see how that applies to her simple, simple rule, though.

    Cognitive dissonance
  • shelbynicole32
    shelbynicole32 Posts: 179 Member
    I've been eating fruits, veggies, fish, eggs, chicken, turkey and nuts as a "clean" diet... Now that I have been doing it for a month its starting to seem pretty limiting as far as variety.
  • _Mimi_
    _Mimi_ Posts: 233
    Your question go me thinking. I know what I consider clean, and I am attempting to eat cleaner. I am by no means 100%. I found this article I found interesting. Sorry, I don't know how to post a link here, so you will have to copy and paste if you would like to read it. http://www.wannabebig.com/diet-and-nutrition/the-dirt-on-clean-eating/
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    To me:

    Lean proteins-chicken, fish, lean beef, lowfat dairy products, shellfish...etc.

    WHOLE fruits and veggies. Juices don't get to count here.

    Whole grains-even then in moderation

    Nuts

    Other fats and oils get a little tricky. You could say oils low in saturated fats, but oils like vegetable oils (soybean) have undesireable omega 3/6/9 ratios and are not ideal. Other oils may be high in saturated fats (palm and coconut) but the saturated fats are largely medium chain triglycerides which are very easy for your body to use as energy and don't contribute to all the nasty things saturated fats get blamed for.
  • _Mimi_
    _Mimi_ Posts: 233
    I've actually never seen an ingredient list on produce or meat. Do yours have them?

    Bread is flour, water, salt and yeast. Pasta is flour, egg, oil, and salt. (though flour is iffy if you want to get real strict - it's not really one ingredient itself)

    Oatmeal ingredient list: rolled oats

    Rice ingredient list: rice

    Mixed nuts Ingredients: PEANUTS, ALMONDS, CASHEWS, BRAZIL NUTS, HAZELNUTS (FILBERTS), PECANS, PEANUT AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL, SEA SALT. Or go crazy and get the bags of raw nuts.

    ??
    However rolled oats ARE processed, so some people don't consider them clean. They only consider steel oats clean. As already stated, there really is no hard and fast rule.

    I think if you are not (often) eating overly processed foods...and I think that's a much easier determination to make...you're doing good things for your body and mind.
  • shivouel
    shivouel Posts: 14
    Alrighty... So that's about what I figured, just thought I would get extra input just in case.

    Also, I enjoyed the little internet tiff going on there xD

    Thanks guys and gals! :)
  • Mountainbiker2015
    Mountainbiker2015 Posts: 129 Member
    Thanks for this post and all the replies as I have seen different answers/opinions on it online and it can be confusing to me. :huh: