The Baack Paack

In the past several years there has been a huge resurgence in the attitude of “clean eating”.

The notion that ‘eating clean’ is one half of the health and wellness equation, with the other half being exercise and the choices that you make in living your daily lifestyle.

So what is “clean eating?”

Fitnessmagazine.com defines clean eating as:  ” An idea is more about being mindful of the foods pathway between its origin and your plate. At its simplest, clean eating is about eating whole foods, or “real” foods — those that are un- or minimally processed, refined, and handled, making them as close to their natural form as possible”

Cleaneatingmag.com defines clean eating as: ” is consuming food in its most natural state, or as close to it as possible.”

Clean eating for dummies (yes, the makers of the ‘Computers for Dummies’ books) defines clean eating as: “The practice of avoiding processed and refined foods and basing your diet on whole foods.”

 

In all three examples (and there are thousands more) you can see the constant theme of “whole foods”.  Well, what is a whole food?  Does a whole food cover my whole plate?  Does a whole food leave me satisfied?  Does a whole food complete all aspects that the US Food pyramid recommends?

What is a whole food?

noun: wholefood; plural noun: wholefoods; noun: whole food; plural noun: whole foods
Food that has been processed or refined as little as possible and is free from additives or other artificial substances.

WebMD lists whole food as:”Foods that are as close to their natural form as possible.”

Ok, so, from what we are reading whole foods are foods that are not refined or free from additives or natural.  Break it down more Jay.

Ok, how about this.  Whole foods spoil if left on their own. (Yes, except for honey..)
Bananas, apple, oranges, will all drop from the tree and spoil.  Leafy greens will rot if left on the ground and not collected.  Meats, (once butchered) will become rancid sitting out on the table.  See where I am going here?   Whole foods are perishable foods.
YES, a pizza will get moldy if left out.  A plate of money bread will get hard and dry if left out as well.  One could make the argument that these are whole foods as well, due to this point – however, both of those items have been heavily processed, which flies against the notion of whole foods.

“I was told as long as I eat Paleo, I am eating healthy.” 

That comment is true to a point.  Yes, you are eating healthy, as Paleo eating (in all the variations of it) does put a lot of focus on clean, unprocessed foods.  However, while Paleo eating is a healthier alternative to heavily processed, “Americanized” foods, you still need to watch what you consume if your goal is to loose weight.  I know several folks who live the crossfit lifestyle.  Workout everyday with a lot of high energy, look great, and eat a paleo lifestyle.  They have a low body fat percentage, a lot of muscle and great skin.  They eat  nothing processed, drink their water and live very healthy.  However, that combination works because of the food as well as the exercise and the lifestyle combined.  Even eating paleo, you can eat too many ‘clean’ things and still gain weight!
Just because the steak was grass fed, you can’t eat 40 ounces of it each day.  Or just because the cashews are organic, does not mean you can eat a pound of them each day.

One premise that some folks miss when they start eating clean – Clean eating still means that there are calories attached to the foods that they are consuming.

Yes, eating an apple (a clean option) chemically is better for you than a twinkie, and has about 1/2 the calories (116 for a large apple and 135 calories (one cake) for the “new” smaller and lighter twinkies.  But there is still 116 calories in the apple.
Ingredients comparison: Apple: 1   Twinkie: 37.

This is where most folks who migrate to a clean eating plan stumble.  They do not take into the account the calories in the foods, rather rely on the notion that it is “clean” so they can eat more of it.  This can lead to weight gain, which is why a lot of new “clean eaters” get so frustrated when they switch from a processed food eating plan to one of clean eating.

“Jay, I have been eating clean for a week and I have gained weight!  What the hell!”

When we look at what they have been eating, on the surface it looks totally natural and great options:

• Grass fed or Certified organic beef
• Organic chicken
• Fruits (apples, bananas, grapes)
• Leafy greens
• Nuts
• Healthy grains

However, when we look at the amounts, the portions that we consume, this is where we get into trouble.  Eating clean is about eating non processed foods and reaping the health benefits of that life style, which is why you see a lot of physicians recommend this to patients who need to loose a lot of weight, or who have food allergies.  At the same time we still need to pay attention to the calories as well as the macro break downs of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that each food has.

“What percentages should I be eating of those Jay?”  Well, that depends on a number of things.  How active you are, what are your dietary goals, what is your medical history, etc.  I will talk about percentages of PFC (protein, fats, and carbohydrates) in a later post.

What we need to remember right now, as we look at starting to eat clean,  is that these foods STILL have calories.

4 oz of peanuts is 644 calories
4 oz of almonds is 652 calories
4 oz of chicken is 250 calories
4 oz of beef is 253 calories
4 oz or brown rice is 215 calories
4 oz of spinach is 7 calories

Add that all up:  2021 calories

I am NOT suggesting that the foods listed above is what you should eat every day. I only listed them as an example of what their calorie content is per item.

Every food that you consume has calories.  ‘Clean eating’ foods also have them.  They just have less processing and “other ingredients” associated with them, which makes them a better alternative for you to consume them.  Trying to eat clean goes beyond calories counts, but rather what is “in” the food that you are consuming, and making a conscious decision to eat things that are natural and / or, with minimal processing.

After all, if you can’t pronounce or do not know what an ingredient listed in the ‘food’ that you that you are thinking of consuming, do you really want to put that into your body?