Why follow the principles of ‘Clean Eating’

It seems the phrase ‘clean eating’ is getting bandied around quite a bit, particularly in health & fitness magazines.  So, what exactly is meant by this term?

As we discovered, there is no direct definition for “clean eating”.   To put in the simplest way, when someone makes the choice to eat “clean” they are choosing to eliminate all processed foods and extra additives from their diet.     

Eating clean = a LOT of fresh food!

The basics of eating clean include eating lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, meats (only ‘whole’ meats, not processed) and whole grains.  The ideal scenario is to only eat organic foods as well.  You will notice that dairy is not part of the plan (due to the milk having to be processed to make foods like cheese, yoghurt etc).  Frozen or canned food is also not permitted.

In addition to the guidelines above, if you are purchasing processed foods when ‘clean eating’ (like cereals for example), you need to read the labels and only select the products that have the least amount of ‘allowed’ ingredients.  Try not to purchase items with more than 4-6 ingredients in the ingredient list.   Also, it is said that you need to recognize every ingredient.  Diehard clean eaters say, ‘If you can’t pronounce it, you probably shouldn’t put it in your body’.

A summary of guidelines for ‘Clean Eating’ includes:

• Eating small frequent meals 5-6 times per day to level blood sugar and prevent hunger
• Avoid ALL processed and/or refined foods (sugar, baked goods, lollies, white flour, white rice, etc)
• Avoid saturated and trans fats
• Avoid soft drinks, high calorie juices and other drinks that give your body no nutritional value and lots of unnecessary (unwanted) calories
• Avoid high calorie, non-nutritious foods (i.e. junk food)
• No caffeinated drinks or alcohol
• Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day

At The Natural Way, we have been advocating the benefits of clean eating for years!  The principles of clean eating are virtually the same as those in our Health and Vitality plan.  Of course, our Health and Vitality programme is a little more complicated in that foods need to be eaten in certain combinations, however it’s easy to see why the principle of ‘clean eating’ is certainly very beneficial for weight loss and health.

However, don’t despair if you think you wouldn’t survive on our ‘clean eating’ plan – we have others on offer that might suit your tastes and lifestyle better.  In fact, we even have eating plans that allow you to drink alcohol (in moderation of course) while you lose weight!

So, if you want to lose weight and eat real food (that is good for you), call The Natural Way on 1300 SLIMMER (1300 754 663) and make a FREE appointment to find out more about our fantastic, life-style friendly weight loss program. 

 Make your dream body a reality The Natural Way.