It’s one of those buzz-phrases you hear thrown around fairly frequently in the health and nutrition world. You’ve no doubt come across it on more than one occasion.
But what does it actually mean to eat clean
Here’s an analogy that I quite like. It’s not perfect, but it does the job:
Think of your body as a race car.The fuel that keeps that powerful machine running is in a sense, comparable to the food you eat.
For your car to perform at it’s best (and for it to do so for a long time), you want to provide it with the cleanest burning, high octane fuel, right?
Likewise with your body.
There are certain types of foods and fuelling strategies we know of that promote a sustainable, healthy, active lifestyle. They’re often thrown under the label of clean eating. We’ll go into a bit more detail with regards to what that actually entails throughout the article, but it essentially comes down to consuming plenty of whole, natural, unprocessed foods.
On the flipside, there are other food products and dietary habits that have the opposite effect. They might be considered dirtier? fuel sources – ones that inhibit your performance, slow your metaphorical car down, and leave you in constant need of repairs.
Not ideal if tip-top performance and longevity are high on the agenda?
It can get a little tricky, because what constitutes a clean diet is fairly subjective.
By that I mean there’s not necessarily a certain ratio of whole foods vs processed foods one should consume for a diet to be considered clean. There’s nothing set in stone, and the rules of clean eating can be stretched and morphed to suit one’s own agenda.
If you have your pound of bacon with a small side salad, does that make it clean?
To make things more complicated, one could also argue that there is no such thing as a good? or bad? food, and that the whole clean eating? movement may actually promote an unhealthy relationship with food.
That’s not something I’m about. I realise that things aren’t black and white, and what works for one person may not be the best solution for another.
However, I do believe that there are a few key underlying dietary principles that are hard to dispute, and with a little tweaking seem to apply across the board.
And that’s what I want to focus on today.
Not demonizing a certain way of eating or preaching about ‘the right way. But providing you with some actionable ideas you can apply or disregard at your will.
With all of the above in…