What is involved in clean eating?

You may have heard of clean eating, especially now that it seems to be the latest topic in the diet world. I had never heard of this when I started to eat a more healthy diet, but it appears that it has the same principles: eat more whole, natural food and avoid processed junk foods.

What does 'clean eating' mean?

Basically, 'clean eating' means consuming a diet of whole foods and avoiding foods which have been processed or refined. Although this may sound boring, there are many health benefits to this form of eating. By eating natural, whole foods you will have more chance to obtain optimum nutrition levels which will help to avoid ill health. Existing conditions may also be improved by eating a better diet. Clean foods will help to remove toxins from your body and avoid some of the health issues which affect us all at times.

How to adopt the principles of 'clean eating'

Eat more regular small meals each day, rather than just two or three, so that you always feel satisfied and avoid snacking on tempting biscuits and pastries. By eating six small meals each day, you will help to improve your metabolism.

Avoid any foods which are processed, which is basically anything which has a list of ingredients, especially if you can't even pronounce some of the contents of a dish. Refined sugar is just empty calories with no nutritional benefit at all. Some people believe that refined sugar is addictive, leading to you eating more over time and increasing weight gain.

Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, organic if at all possible. Avoid white bread, flour, rice and pasta and eat the whole grain variety. If you eat meat and fish, buy free range organic if possible. If you struggle to afford it, just buy and consume less rather than purchase poor quality factory farmed products.

Cooking meals yourself rather than buying ready made meals is much easier than it seems, as most of the ingredients in a clean eating diet are much quicker to cook than other foods.

Benefits of a clean diet

I am not a nutritionist and therefore can't tell you about health benefits on a clean eating diet. What I can do, is tell you of my own experience. During the first week of cutting out caffeine, alcohol and processed foods, I had headaches and suffered from an ache in my shoulders and upper back. I have been told this could have been withdrawal symptoms from caffeine and some of the other ingredients in processed products. Towards the end of the second week, I started to feel much better, with more energy and I stopped craving chocolate cake and biscuits. I drank lots of water, adding fresh lemon in a morning.

Weight loss was a massive benefit for me and I averaged a weight loss of one to two pounds each week. This may not seem a lot, but I didn't miss any meals, always felt full and as along as the food was natural, I could eat what I wanted. After eight weeks I had lost almost a stone in weight, felt more energetic and looked much better. My skin seemed healthier, with a smoother texture and fewer spots. As I was experiencing the menopause at the time, I also noticed my hot flushes reduced considerably. Now some of these benefits may have been coincidental, but I believe they were due to the better diet.

What happened after eight weeks?

I had a trip to London planned with my daughter and while there ate a vegetarian dish which had been deep fried. I also had a couple of lagers and a glass of wine. I enjoyed everything enormously, although I had a stomach ache later that evening and felt bloated. I had been avoiding dairy products for the first eight weeks and re-introduced eggs into my diet with no adverse effects. I maintained the improved diet until Christmas, when I reverted to some of my old eating habits.

This is another story altogether and the start of a period where I put some of the weight I had lost back on, and went through a time of struggling to get back on track with my eating regime. I will let you know what happened in another post. Thanks for reading this far, and if you want to share your experiences with me, please leave your comment.