Clean Eating
By admin on Aug 8, 2010 in Health and Fitness
Given the plethora of misguided diets around today, the idea of yet another book telling us how to eat for health and healthy weights makes the nutritionist (and compassionate human) in me shudder. But The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Clean gives me hope. I’m not sure about all the other books out there on the same subject, but this one draws a smart blueprint for how to eat to feel your best, and look your best, too.
Diane Welland, MS, RD, author of The Complete Idiot’s take on the topic, says that clean eating is more than just telling people what and what not to eat. It takes into account personal preferences, health status, commitment, budget, culinary skill and more. That means becoming a clean eater doesn’t necessarily happen overnight.
The good news is that Welland says clean eating is a lifestyle that includes the joy of eating. “It’s about beginning to experience the real taste of food,” she explains. “When you eat clean, you begin to appreciate the sweet taste of beets, the bite of arugula, the earthiness of a mushroom. Foods aren’t covered up with excess fat, sugar or salt, so you actually taste the food. It opens up a whole new world of flavors. It’s exhilarating.”
The core nutrition principles of clean eating according to Welland are:
- Choose whole, natural foods. Start with fresh first and minimize the number of foods you eat that come from a box, bag, can or other sort of package. Whole, natural foods provide the important nutrition we need without all the extras we don’t need, like added salt, sugar, fat and calories.
- Eat balanced meals. This is something we’ve preached for years at our healthy weight loss retreat. I’ve referred to it before on this blog, too, by pointing readers to The Plate Model for Healthy Eating. Eating like this most of the time helps ensure a balance of protein, fat and carbohydrate, which is essential to being satisfied and getting the nutrition we need.
- Eat small portions but eat regularly. Really regularly. She advises 5-6 mini-meals or 3 main meals with 2-3 substantial snacks. Which works best is up to you. Both help keep blood sugars stable to keep energy levels high and appetite in check.
- Limit liquid calories. For the most part, they lack important nutrients and their unfiltered carbohydrate content can cause blood sugar problems for some of us. By unfiltered, I mean they don’t contain fiber, which helps regulate carbohydrate absorption. So that means even fruit juice isn’t the best choice. Water is the drink of choice for clean eaters, followed by unsweetened tea, low fat or skim milk and 100% fruit juices diluted with water or sparkling water, according to Welland.
So what do we get when we adopt a clean eating lifestyle? More energy, better sleep and a boost to our immune system as well as the pleasure in eating Welland describes. Oh, and then there’s a lower weight, reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Nothing to sneeze at!
Have you tried clean eating? If so, what do you think?
Marsha Hudnall, MS, RD, is program director at Green Mountain at Fox Run, a women’s weight loss retreat in Vermont.
Credits to:Nutrition Data: Dieting & Weight Loss Blog