CLEAN EATING: WHAT IS THAT?
From diet books and recipes to your
Instagram feed, the clean eating trend seems to be everywhere lately. Read on
to find out what it's all about and if it's really worth trying.
Defining Clean Eating
Maybe a new raw cafe has sprung up in your neighborhood, or you read about
Katy Perry and Gwyneth Paltrow being fans. Either way, eating
"clean" is gaining traction -- but what does it actually mean, and
how is it good for the body?
Clean eating is a deceptively simple
concept. Rather
than revolving around the idea of ingesting more or less of specific things
(for instance, fewer calories or more protein), the idea is more about being
mindful of the food's pathway between its origin and your plate. At its
simplest, clean eating is about eating
whole foods, or
"real" foods -- those that are un- or minimally processed, refined,
and handled, making them as close to their natural form as possible. However,
modern food production has become so sophisticated that simply eating whole
foods can be a challenging proposition these days.
What Counts as Processed Foods?
First,
let's start with the definition of
processed food.
"Processing" includes:
- Additions
of any kind -- everything from salt, sugar, and fat
to aid flavor and mouthfeel, to preservatives that keep food from spoiling
too quickly, to the vitamins enriching everything from beverages to
breakfast cereal.
- Changing
the form of the natural food -- for instance, removing the bran and germ
from whole grains to create refined bread, mashing apples
into applesauce, or stir-frying veggies.
- Foods with
components manufactured in a lab. (You probably don't need clarification
on this one, but if the ingredient list has stuff you can't recognize or
pronounce, that's a pretty solid indication that it's not natural).
In that light, processed food includes everything from a hot dog (where do
we even begin?) to jarred organic pasta sauce and instant oatmeal. And yes,
changing the form of natural food includes cooking as well, so even your
steamed broccoli is technically processed, albeit minimally.
So why, exactly, is processing so bad --
especially if it's something as simple as adding heat?
Why Is Processed Food Bad?
In
two words: It's not. Or rather, not categorically.
"Processing is not always bad," says Jessica Fanzo, assistant
professor of nutrition at Columbia University. "Often processing removes
toxins or
bacteria, or allows for us to eat certain
types of foods in off-season due to freezing or canning." (Pasteurized
milk, anyone?) Processing "can also include altering the consistency or
taste of food to make it more appealing," Fanzo adds. So that delicious
post-workout kale-celery-spinach-banana
smoothie you
had? Enjoy that virtuous feeling knowing that you were likely able to down that
giant amount of greens because your treat was somewhat processed.
Still, even though pasteurized milk, kale
smoothies,
and instant oatmeal are all processed, that doesn't make them on par with
doughnuts and Diet Coke.
"The key is to avoid foods that are 'ultra-processed,'" says Fanzo
-- basically, anything food-product-like or ready-to-heat."
The Problem with Ultra-Processed Foods
As you can probably guess, the health problems associated with
ultra-processed food are numerous. Foods with genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) have been linked to cancer and infertility; highly processed foods are
stripped of nutrients needed for overall health; and heavily modified food
tends to have additives that overstimulate the production of dopamine, the
"pleasure" neurotransmitter, perpetuating a negative cycle of
constant junk food cravings.
However, there's added reason for pause when reaching for the Pop-Tart.
In a 2011 article published in the
Journal of the World Public Health
Nutrition Association, Carlos Monteiro, professor at the Department of
Nutrition of the School of Public Health at the University of Sao Paulo, argues
that having ultra-processed foods touted in a way that makes it seem good for
you --
less sodium! no trans fats! vitamin-enriched! -- actually causes
more damage to our collective understanding of
healthy eating
than we may realize. Considering the increasing abundance of
"healthfully" enhanced
products in the
grocery aisles (or perhaps even your
refrigerator),
Monteiro may be on to something.
The Perks of Clean Eating
Thanks
to extensive research that has linked eating
whole foods
with good health, "we do know that largely plant-based diets are
healthy," says Fanzo. Multiple studies have shown that diets heavy on
fruits and
vegetables can curb or prevent certain
life-threatening conditions and diseases, such as
high blood
pressure, type 2 diabetes, and
cardiovascular
disease. Plus, there's research linking diets high in fruits and veggies to
healthy weight management and glowing skin and hair -- as if you needed more
motivation.
How to Eat Clean
Unprocessed
foods include:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- Dried
legumes
- Nuts
- Farm-fresh
eggs
Minimally processed foods include:
- Unrefined
grains, like whole wheat bread and pasta, popcorn,
steel-cut oatmeal, quinoa, and brown rice
- Frozen
fruits and vegetables
- Unprocessed
meat; wild over pastured, pastured over grain-fed
- Hormone-free
dairy
- Oils
Pesticide-free
organic food is preferable to avoid
consuming added hormones or chemicals. It's also important to note that eating
clean doesn't give you free reign to eat endless quantities. They may be
healthy, but they still have calories!
"You always have to think about portion size," says Marissa
Lippert, RD, owner of Nourish Kitchen + Table, a seasonally influenced cafe in
New
York City. "I always encourage people to think of their plate
in terms of fifths: three-fifths should be fruits and vegetables, one-fifth
should be protein, and one-fifth healthy carbs."
How to Shop Clean
Realistically,
eating clean doesn't mean you need to eat everything raw and straight from
the ground. It means choosing minimally processed foods with
few ingredients on the label, if it has a label at all.
"If you're shopping around the perimeter of the grocery store, that's
always a
good start," says Lippert.
When perusing the main aisles for packaged foods, ask yourself: Where did
this food or its ingredients come from?
How much has it
been processed or handled? The ingredient label should be short, and all
ingredients should be recognizable. Scan for easy-to-avoid additives like
artificial coloring and flavors.
How to Cook Clean
Cooking does alter your food, but it isn't
necessarily a bad thing.
"While it's true that some nutrients are lost during cooking, like vitamin
C, other nutrients are increased when foods are cooked, like lycopene, so it's
best to eat a wide variety of foods, in both their raw and cooked forms,"
says EA Stewart, RD, who blogs at The Spicy RD.
When cooking food, "the focus should be on maintaining the integrity of
what you are consuming and avoiding high-fat cooking methods such as
deep-frying or stewing in animal or
vegetable
fats," says Miranda Hammer, a
New
York City registered dietitian and author of food blog The Crunchy
Radish.
When cooking, opt for flash-cook methods such as stir-frying and ones
without additives like
steaming. For
fruits
and veggies, raw is best, but steaming is a close second in terms of
preserving nutritional value and keeping the food's natural integrity.
The Paleo Lifestyle
The
Paleo diet, which promotes eating only foods as our
ancestors did during the Paleolithic era, is similar to a clean diet in that
they both advocate
whole foods. However, the Paleo diet
limits food to pre-Industrial Revolution, meaning it prohibits all grains (not
just refined ones), legumes, and dairy
products, which
clean eating does not.
While there are many personal testimonials that Paleo works, some experts
are skeptical. "I don't think we need to all eat meat," says Fanzo.
Moreover, "banishing major food groups makes no sense from a physiologic
point of view. It sets a person up for failure and rebounding weight."
The Whole 9 Lifestyle and Whole 30
Founded
in 2009 by a couple in Texas, the Whole 9 lifestyle is based on nine principles
that contribute to a balanced life. Nutrition is one of the core factors, and
the lifestyle's eating recommendation is one of whole foods, like meat, eggs,
vegetables, fruit, healthy oils, nuts, and seeds.
If you're new to Whole 9, it kicks off with a 30-day detox called Whole 30,
in which whole foods are eaten but all alcohol, sugar, grains, legumes, and
dairy are eliminated to "push the reset button with your metabolism,
systemic inflammation, and the downstream effects of the food choices you've
been making."
Experts like Fanzo see the elimination of entire food groups (as with the
Paleo diet) as problematic. For some people, though, a short
cut-off may help them get in the right "healthy eating" mind-set.
"If a brief, up to one week abstinence from
certain
foods -- not all foods! -- helps people get in the right mind-set to eat
healthier, and they don't have any medical conditions, then I think this is
fine from a health and nutrition standpoint," says Stewart. "However
I don't think it is necessary, and in many cases it sets people up for an '
all or nothing' approach to their diets."
