What is Clean Eating?

So I've mentioned several times in my blogs about "clean eating" and I just realized that I have failed to fully explain what that means.  This goes beyond low calorie/low fat.  Here are some rules of this eating lifestyle:



1.  Eat food as close to nature as possible or straight from nature:  lots of fruits and veggies.
2.  If eating meat, it must be organic, antibiotic and hormone free.  If possible, buy straight from the butcher.  Buy local as much as possible, such as from your farmer's market.  I usually buy my organic meats from Whole Foods, Target, and our local walmart carries organic chicken!
3.  Eat complete grains, ones that have not been broken down.  All pasta, rice, and bread must be whole wheat/whole grain.  Also, brown rice pasta, brown rice bread, and brown rice tortillas are great gluten free options.
4.  Read your labels.  If it says on the front of the package that it's whole wheat and the 2nd ingredient on the list is white flour, then ta-dah! it's not really whole wheat.  There's not a lot of regulations on what food companies can advertise on their packaging.  But the labels don't lie.  Read for yourself!
5.  Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water per day.  Dehydration can cut your metabolism by as much as 80%!
6.  Look for no salt added products or low sodium.  You'd be surprised by how much salt is in canned soup and other canned products. 
7.  Buy products with as few ingredients as possible.  If you can't pronounce some mystery ingredient, put the box down!  It's not real food!  Here is a quick list of chemicals and additives to avoid at all costs:

• Artificial colors (red, green, yellow, FD&C colors)
• Benzoate preservatives (BHA & BHT)
• Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO)
• Potassium Bromate
• Propylene glycol
• Propyl Gallate
• Sodium Nitrate & Sodium Nitrite (in 99% of all deli meats and hot dogs..this one is proven to cause cancer)
• Mono sodium glutamate (MSG)
• Olestra
• High Fructose Corn Syrup

Pantry and other clean eating staples you can't live without:
Flour

• Whole wheat flour
• Whole wheat pastry flour

Sugar & Alternative Sweetening products:

• Agave syrup

•  Raw honey

•  Pure maple syrup

•  Stevia

•  Sugar in the raw

 Oils:

• Olive oil
• Canola oil
• Coconut oil
• Safflower oil

Cheese

• Organic cheese, rennet free
• Buy cheese in block form & grate or shred yourself to avoid added chemicals

Non-dairy milk

• Light plain soymilk

• Almond milk
• Rice Milk
• Hemp milk
• Hazelnut milk
• ALL UNSWEETENED

 Bread

• Whole wheat bread with no high fructose corn syrup.
• Read label to make sure it's really 100% whole wheat
• The best one I have found at Walmart is Nature's Own

Still not great....buying at Whole Foods or making your own bread would be best.

• There are literally no approved tortillas you will find at you standard grocery store.  At a health food store, you can pick up brown rice tortillas.  These are the best if you must have them.

Other dairy:

Yogurt

• Plain organic greek yogurt is the absolute best.  You can even use this to substitute cream cheese in almost any recipe.
• My kids like fun fruity yogurt, so when I get them yogurt, I buy Chobani greek yogurt

eggs

• Organic cage free 

Pasta

• Whole wheat
• Or Brown Rice pasta

Now don't get too down if your pantry isn't filled with these whole foods...  it took me about 6 months to cycle out the un-clean foods and buy clean foods to stock up my fridge and pantry.  I hope this helps to explain what I look for when I go to the grocery store and how I prepare the meals for my family.  Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions!