What is Clean Eating? And how can you start eating clean today?. Why is cleaning eating becoming increasingly popular and supposed to be so good for our health and wellbeing?
What Is Clean Eating?
Clean eating basically refers to eating foods that are in their more organic, raw, natural and whole state. Rather than eating adultered, processed, modified foods. Foods that are baked and/or cooked foods with trans fats, additives, refined or artificial sugars. So clean eating is not a faddy diet or weight loss program but a more natural way of eating. That naturally helps you become more healthy and often lose excess wait.
Clean Eating in many ways is the natural way our ancestors consumed their food. This is how we were supposed to eat before foods became genetically modified, sprayed with chemicals and pesticides, or injected with hormones. In-fact then most people would eat their food with minimum adulteration. They would pick fruits and nuts straight from the trees, dig up vegetables from the garden or land. And other than cooking or pickling there were no added artificial sweeteners or highly refined sugars.
A more clean diet helps you choose high-quality, high-nutrient, more raw and organic food sources. To support and encourage more optimal wellbeing. The purer, fresher and more raw our food is the more nutrients, energy, fuel it has to repair, restore and heal the body. Clean eating is great for the skin, it is a natural detoxifier. Unhealthy eating means our organs, digestive, and detox system has to work so much harder. With a cleaner diet, the body is in a more natural state of homeostasis.
Worldwide Addiction To Unhealthy Eating
Today people are dying, getting sick because of their unclean and unhealthy diet. Data from the 2009-10 National Health and Nutrition Examination showed evidence that 58% of the american diet was from ultra-processed food.According to the Guardian “UK families buy more ultra-processed food than any others in Europe, amounting to 50.7% of the diet. Germany comes second, on 46.2% and then Ireland on 45.9%. ” Salt, sugar, highly processed carbohydrates, and trans fats are causing so many health issues from obesity to diabetes, heart disease to overstimulation.
5 Easy Steps To Clean Eating
Buy Fresh Produce – Choose as much fresh produce, loose produce that you can. Most clean food can be bought loosely, has no or very little packaging think about fruit, vegetables, raw nuts, raw seeds, fish, meat
Clean Your Fresh Produce – Clean all fruit and vegetables as soon as you bring them home, before putting them in the fridge or cupboard. Simply 1 part white vinegar to 4 cups of water.
Eat Organic When You Can – Choose organic when you can, you would be surprised how dirty and polluted many fresh foods are with chemicals, hormones, pesticides. Check out the dirty dozen foods that have the most pesticides and toxins, these are the ones you should try and by as organic when possible. If any of your fruit and vegetable were in a box or bag, check out the country they were grown. Some countries use more pesticides than others.
Eat Raw When You Can – Your diet should contain as many raw fresh plant-based foods that you can eat. Except perhaps in the more winter months, when you eat should be eating lots of healthy hot soups, healthy stews, lentil casseroles without additives, grilled fish or meat. Prepare little snack boxes of fruit and vegetable crudites for snacks. Have a healthy juice or smoothie as part of your breakfast.
Don’t Fry Your Food – Reduce your temptation to fry, especially using oils that turn into transfats, try to bake or grill when possible.
Clean eating in many ways is part of a more naturally healthy way of life. It helps you realign with what is important and healthy for you and your family’s wellbeing. With simple gradual changes in your diet and buying habits, you will soon be adopting a clean eating lifestyle.
5 Easy Ways to Enjoy Natural Sweetness by Rochelle Marie Lawson
Sugar is a delicious way to add sweetness into your lives, but it isn’t the best. Sugar can
be addictive while also causing a plethora of other conditions, like added weight, diabetes,
increased inflammation in the body, and ageing.
Have you ever opened a bag of your favorite candy, meaning to have just one little
piece and ending up eating half? Or worse, the whole bag? That alone should tell you
how addicting it is to consume sugar. This addictive property of sugar then leads you to
eating more of these sweet treats than you should. This excess sugar has more calories
than other types of food that you consume, and the more of these sugary treats you eat,
the more calories you consume, thus leading to added weight.
Sugar is known to cause inflammation in the body. Studies show that there is a link
between elevated inflammation and added sugar and carbohydrates. The excess sugar
consumed by subjects in certain studies caused an increase in inflammatory markers.
Moreover, the sugar you consume reacts with protein, creating what doctors and
scientists like to call AGEs or advanced glycation end products. This substance is what
causes wrinkles because of hardened cell structures. Yikes!
If you have a liking for sugar, say, a sweet tooth, or if you are flat out addicted to the
stuff, you will want to take a closer look at your sugar-eating habits.
Not all sugars are created equal. The sugar that you find in fruit and vegetables are
naturally-occurring, and usually accompanied by fiber, which slows the digestion of
sugar. Other foods like milk also contain sugar. The good news is, natural sugar has not
been linked to inflammation. Keep an eye out for sweeteners and sugars found in
processed food, or “added sugars,” and make yourself aware of sugar that comes
disguised as high fructose corn syrup, juice concentrates, and the like.
The thing is, you CAN conquer the need to fill your body with sugar and still enjoy
sweetness without risking the conditions I mentioned earlier. You can enjoy sweetness
without having to worry about the peaks and crashes that we all dread. It’s all about the
way sugar is delivered.
Read on for 5 easy ways to enjoy natural sweetness:
Instead of using added sugar, stir an overripe banana or some chopped dates into your
favorite recipes like batters and doughs for bread, muffins, cookies, and even pancakes!
The acidic flavor of tomato sauces can be balanced by adding sweet veggies like grated
carrots, beets, butternut squash, or sweet potatoes. Carrots, beets, and apples are
great for adding sweetness to smoothies and baked goods as well.
Coconuts are a fantastic sweetener because of their natural sweetness! You can use
shredded and flaked coconut (unsweetened) as a lovely topping to your desserts, and
even use coconut milk in your oatmeal and granola. This natural sweetness will
definitely help keep the cravings at bay.
Some fruit grow sweeter as they ripen. In moderation, you can enjoy fruits such as
peaches, avocados, apricots, bananas, cantaloupes, apples, mangoes, nectarines,
papayas, plums, and even pears without worrying about sugar highs and sugar crashes.
There are so many things you can do with fruit! You can bake them into your favorite
pastries, enjoy them as a topping in many different dishes, or even enjoy them on their
own!
Greek yogurt and plain yogurt without any fruits are a better option than, say, low-fat
yogurts. Low-fat yogurt relies on more sugar to taste good. Instead of having yogurt that
has been filled with artificially sweetened fruit products, choose something plain and
your own choice of fruit instead. Now that you’ve got a list of yummy, sweet fruit (see
above), your options are anything but limited to satisfy that sweet tooth.
Looking for sweetness in your savory dishes? Caramelized onions are a sweet and
yummy treat to add into dishes like burgers and salads, spring rolls, or even on top of
rice! You can draw out the natural sugar in onions by cooking them over low, slow heat.
Living in today’s society that is geared towards convenience and quick eating, sugar is
everywhere and the temptation to consume it can be strong. Easy access to processed
and fast food can make it difficult to avoid sugar. But knowing what sugar does to you is
a great place to start in your journey to breaking free of these sugar shackles. You don’t
need to be bound to your cravings and to these bad habits now that you know how to
naturally cut down on sugar.
Wishing you peace to your mind, wellness to your body and tranquility to your spirit.
Namaste,
Rochel Marie Lawson is a Registered Nurse, Ayurvedic Health Practitioner, Holistic Health and Wellness Consultant, International Best Selling Author, Speaker and Radio Show Hostess. She is the President of Blissful Living 4 U, which was founded to improve wellness, wisdom and wealth by utilizing ancient holistic principles that only lead to success.
