Eating clean has never been more important or popular than today. The topic is popping up behind every blade of grass; at the gym, supermarket even when dining out someone is talking about how cleaning the diet is good for the health.
But what is all this chatter about “Clean Eating”, my food is as clean as the next guy’s!
Cleaning up the diet, or Eating Clean, is not about effecting a change in your diet to drop some holiday pounds in time for Aunt Edna’s wedding in March. Those who truly clean their diets are beginning a lifestyle.
The “Eating Clean LifeStyle” is all about eliminating certain products from the diet that can harm the body, foods that have been processed even minimally or treated with additives, artificial flavour enhancers and sweeteners.
This would be all about eating corn on the cob rather than cornflakes or a grass-fed homemade hamburger rather than tossing your bucks at Ronald McDonald for some meat-like products that tabloid magazines are still writing stories about.
This is the kind of diet our great grandparents would eat back when they walked a mile and a half to school and back, uphill both ways — and it’s good for the health.
Advocates of a cleaner diet can’t stop talking about the numerous benefits of adjusting your diet towards better health rather than sweet indulgence or convenience. Women have noticed fuller healthier hair and many have experienced a reduction and loss of unpleasant skin conditions they thought they would never be rid of after eating healthier.
Then of course there is the loss of weight that comes by fine-tune the fuel consumption in regards to the output required each day. Then their are the improved blood sugar levels and cholesterol profiles that have become a major concern for public health in recent year which can also be reduced by eating in a more natural way.
Eating clean is not a difficult or unpleasant task of giving up your pleasures in exchange for a life of strict monastic rations and grinding down on hard packing nuts and tree bark.
Quite the contrary; with all the emphasis on healthy eating currently in importance there are more delicious options than ever for delicious meals and tasty desserts.
Following are 6 simple rules to getting started on eating healthy. Try this for a few weeks and you will never want to go back to those crispy tasty treato’s ever again.
Guide to Clean Eating in 6 Easy Steps
1. Try Foraging
There was time when three hots and a cot were enough to live off; today we know that it is healthier to eat smaller meals and more of them. 5 to 6 smaller meals in a day will keep your body fuelled well and keep your blood sugar from dipping at the most inopportune time, which often leads to the need for a sugary donut or coffee to give the kick to finish the day.
Healthy eating means that each snack or meal contains the proteins and healthy fats and complex carbs that will keep your body running well and balanced without times of excessively high energy and other times when all stores are depleted.
2. Drink Up that H2O
Water is highly important and in today’s consumer driven society it is often overlooked for sugary soft drinks, caffeinated power drinks and flashy sports drinks. But even tea with all its benefits can’t replace the body’s need for a minimum of 2 litres of water each day. Think of this, the body will survive for a couple of weeks with no food but only a matter of days without water.
Set a quota, get one litre before lunch and another before dinner. Have a refillable bottle in your car, at your desk and on your kitchen counter. Improve your water by slicing cucumbers and lemons into your water; throw in some mint leaves for a refreshing all day drink.
3. Plan to Succeed
It is not a problem at all to keep your clean eating commitments with a well stocked fridge at arms length, but when commuting and rushing on the job the terrible convenience of the processed food industry sometimes just wins out against our better judgement.
The only way to beat out the convenience store and snack machine is by preparing against them. By planning out your meals and snacks you can be sure you will always have a bite to eat right when you need it most.
Pack the food you will eat throughout the day the night before. By setting up regular times for food preparation you will find the convenience store has nothing over little organization. Saving time, money and health is what this guide to clean eating is all about.
4. Be a Label Reader
Most of the foods that are clean are the kinds of foods that look like they just fell of the tree or are otherwise in a neutral condition. It is additives that improve shelf life or contain flavourings that should be avoided. When you are in a store selecting products read the labels.
Beware of veritable poisons like HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) that can show up in just about any food stuff from crackers to dairy products. Trans-fats are taking their leave of the food industry, but hydrogenated oils are still there and should be avoided.
There has also been some concern about the amount of GMOs that have been included in the food production industry. Although the research has produced divided results, most proponents of clean eating will suggest they be left out of the diet altogether.
Although it may not be in everyone’s budget, this guide to clean eating highly recommends eating organic food products whenever possible. As often as you can, choose the organic varieties of tomatoes, apples, berries and cucumbers. Organic milk and free-range chicken is worth the extra cost.
5. Don’t Be Pompous about your Healthy Choices
The choice to take the healthy route is a decision you make with yourself, this does not imply that your friends and family should follow suit. When you are invited to eat and go out to dine as a group avoid making a big deal about your choices; most places have healthy alternatives on the menu or are willing to make substitutions — try to be unassuming about making your requests known.
Eat salads topped with grilled chicken and leaner proteins even fish. Don’t worry about it being organic or not, unless you are forced to eat out regularly. When eating salads dip the fork in the dressing before grabbing a bite of salad, this way you enjoy a little “harmful” dressing along with each bite of salad.
6. Remember, It’s Ok to Indulge every once in a While
On a related point to the last point, the body is a strong living machine; if you maintain it well and keep clean eating as your default program, your health won’t go berserk after the occasional pizza or splurge on fancy desserts.
The point of all this healthy eating is to shift the balance to primarily healthy choices so the body has no problem ridding itself of the occasional Red No. 5 or Chocolate Bear Paw Delight. The best thing about it, you will enjoy the occasional indulgence far more if they are few and far between.
3 FOOD TRAPS
Some of these may sound like clean eating, but be warned there are toxic substances lurking in the aisles of your local shopping mall.
Trap No. 1: Energy or breakfast bars
What a healthy way to start your day with a fruit and cereal bar. The only thing is, there probably isn’t a natural product inside, or it has been thoroughly processed as to be stripped of nutrition and then fortified artificially, another food trap.
Trap No.2: Sports Drinks
These are full of artificial colours and sweeteners and many other additives that your body would do far better without. Besides, the body was made for water and water is all you need. Drink water !
Trap No.3: Flavoured Yogurt
Often carrying enough sugar to sweeten the MidEast Crisis, these yogurt products are rarely the health food many people assume they will be. Opt for the unsweetened variety and add a tablespoon of natural honey.
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