What the heck is "clean eating?"

3-29-2008 @12:53PM Shannon said... Amen. All these labels and catchy names are just ways of trying to get us to buy more stuff we don't need. Let's just eat!
Reply

3-29-2008 @1:30PM Bob said... This looks to me like an attempt to package "eat normal-sized portions of healthy, low-fat, fresh foods" in a way that appeals to people accustomed to jumping from diet to diet. But I think the problem with it is this: It looks like it gives readers a menu and a plan. Whenever you give somebody a menu and tell them to "stick to the plan," you set them up for failure. Either they've stuck to the plan or they haven't. They've been good or they've been bad. Once the dieter feels like a failure, it's back to old habits and the next fad diet.

That's probably the sort of thing they're trying to avoid by calling it a "lifestyle," but it sounds like they're still providing a diet framework and promising dramatic results. If you ask me, it's a bit like frosting an English muffin and calling it cake. In the end, whole foods, slow foods, natural foods -- whatever you want to call them -- are trendy right now, and this is probably just one of many attempts we'll be seeing in the near future to co-opt the trend and make money off dieters.
Reply

3-29-2008 @8:15PM Lorenzbutterfly said... Actually, this is a common term in bodybuilding circles. It does refer to eating foods in their most natural, unprocessed form, but does not bar fats altogether. Fish, flax, olive, and nut oils are promoted, as well as small amounts of saturated fats (used in testosterone production, and thus helps in muscle building). In addition, lean protein and whole grains are essential, as are fresh fruits and vegetables.

When trying to gain lean muscle mass, a high clean calorie diet is advised to minimize fat gain. I am surprised that this is a new phrase to many people, but I imagine not as many people spend time on bodybuilding forums.
Reply

3-30-2008 @12:04PM Sheryl said... Ah... Lorenz's comment clears up a lot of confusion. I too grabbed this magazine recently and couldn't for the life of me figure out why there was also health and fitness articles included in what I thought to be a foodie magazine.

The publisher might want to make their mandate a little more clear somewhere on the masthead.
Reply

3-31-2008 @1:48AM Silver_Potato said... Nice to see Lorenz a bit of rationality and some actual information to the discussion instead of some of bad editorializing.
Reply

5-23-2008 @3:04PM Heather said... Hi, yes in fact my great personal friend, & also a top Olympic athlete coach that coached me for a women's amateur bodybuilding show, writes a set column in Clean Eating Mag - his name is Dr. John Berardi & he's a PhD in Nutrition.

Clean Eating is a phrase that is in and around gym rats & bodybuilders many years now, and what it means is exactly as defined above.

Clean Eating is about eating a paleolythic diet or as close as possible, which is what we as human carnivores were and STILL ARE meant to eat.

Everything that God put on this earth naturally is meant to go in your mouth and body, nothing else.

Everything that man created as food has no nutrient value for the body, and in fact most are detrimental to our bodies and break down our natural processes, and worse yet bring on illness & diseases.

If you look at the prevalence of cancer in the US vs. other countries like European countries where they grocery shop every 1-2 days and eat foods closer to their natural state, and also don't have many processed foods or preservatives in their foods, there is a lower prevalence of disease.

The US public is brainwashed to think it's ok to eat a ton of junk and food that we don't need, and then complain about the results of it - obesity, cancer, diabetes, heart disease.

Eating for taste & glutonous purposes is childesh, not how God intended us to care for our bodies, & should be considered an occasional reason to eat - a 'treat' if you will.

Eating for nutritional support of our health & bodies is a mature and healthy approach to how we support ourselves to manage all the challenges of day to day life, and stay in our best health for ourselves, to be the best God created us to be, and to show the healthy example we should be showing our children, sadly unlike many parents today whom I see out in public overweight themselves feeding ice cream or McD's to their obese children.

Today's children are the first generation according to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) that will NOT outlive their parent's age & this is directly related to the lack of exercise and proper nutrition parents are teaching their children, and then the onset of obesity-related diseases that come with this picture.

Let that thought sink in for a bit...

And maybe then you won't be so quick to guffaw or shoot down a term like Clean Eating, that IS a lifestyle choice, and the ONLY WAY to true health & wellness.

You can either take the path of educating your self on it, or stay in the group of the rest of uneducated Americans who waste endless dollars on diets, fads, and tv infomercial equipment that doesn't work & continue to complain that you try and try, but you don't know why nothings working, and who will all end up as a statistic.

Choice is yours, I choose my health & clean eating.

Heather Dube - NASM CPT, Amateur Fitness Competitor, Licensed Health & Wellness Coach, Fitness Instructor
Reply

5-23-2008 @4:28PM Heather said... Sorry for being direct, I'm just fired up at the wasted lives and illness and big pharmaceuticals profiting off people's sickness in this country. It's an endless, wasteful cycle that could be reversed if people said, Enough!, and took responsibility for their own health instead of waiting for others to tell them what to do or continuing to trust food marketers that can lie up and down all over food packaging about nutritional content. That is not the answer, people need to stand up in this country and take responsibility for their own health & weight, and especially their children who quite frankly they are murdering slowly over time by not feeding them properly, nor teaching them how to care for their own health when they become adults. No one handed me a book that had all the answers in black and white, I learned over time because I felt better when I ate 'clean' vs. eatign McD's. There is no magic bullet folks, no easy way ever to anything worth having - all the gimmicks on tv, the diet pills, etc. it's all junk that just poisons your body on top of the poinsonous food you're already dumping in there year after year.

There are a lot of ways to make it from point A to point B, but if you look at those that are successful in creating lasting, great change in people's health they have one similarity & the answer is this:
Eat clean for your daily diet, have 'cheat days' for occasions like birthdays, holidays etc. where you can eat some treat food that are unnatural/processed/packaged in minimal amounts.
And as much as possible eat USDA approved organic veggies & meats to keep all the additional poisions they put in our food like pesticides & hormones & antibiotics OUT of your body to avoid onset of illness over time.

Heather Dube - Health & Wellness Coach
NASM CPT, Amatuer Fitness Competitor, Licensed Wellness Coach Trainee
www.youandimprovedcoaching.com
Reply

5-23-2008 @4:28PM Heather said... Sorry for being direct, I'm just fired up at the wasted lives and illness and big pharmaceuticals profiting off people's sickness in this country. It's an endless, wasteful cycle that could be reversed if people said, Enough!, and took responsibility for their own health instead of waiting for others to tell them what to do or continuing to trust food marketers that can lie up and down all over food packaging about nutritional content. That is not the answer, people need to stand up in this country and take responsibility for their own health & weight, and especially their children who quite frankly they are murdering slowly over time by not feeding them properly, nor teaching them how to care for their own health when they become adults.

No one handed me a book that had all the answers in black and white, I learned over time because I knew I felt better when I ate 'clean' vs. eating McD's.

There is no magic bullet folks, no easy way ever to anything worth having - all the gimmicks on tv, the diet pills, etc. it's all junk that just poisons your body on top of the poisonous food you're already dumping in there year after year.

There are a lot of ways to make it from point A to point B, but if you look at those that are successful in creating lasting, great change in people's health they have one similarity & the answer is this:

Eat clean for your daily diet, have 'cheat days' for occasions like birthdays, holidays etc. where you can eat some treat food that are unnatural/processed/packaged in minimal amounts.
And as much as possible eat USDA approved organic veggies & meats to keep all the additional poisions they put in our food like pesticides & hormones & antibiotics OUT of your body to avoid onset of illness over time.

Heather Dube - Health & Wellness Coach
NASM CPT, Amatuer Fitness Competitor, Licensed Wellness Coach Trainee
www.youandimprovedcoaching.com
Reply