To Eat Clean means staying away from most processed, factory produced foods. These foods are often either stripped of valuable nutrients or contain ingredients that simply cannot be defined as food. Find out about the different ways food is being manipulated and turned into “non clean” edibles.
Empty foods
My dirty list includes white sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, white flour and all products made with them. I consider these foods to be most threatening to our health.
White sugar triggers the excretion of B vitamins and most minerals. Eating sugar therefore can lead to the depletion of the body and thus sets the stage for all kinds of illnesses. For up to 5 hours after eating sugar, it destroys the germ-killing ability of white blood cells and reduces the production of antibodies. It literally paralyzes our immune system.
Foods that have unwanted non-food items added to them
The ingredient list contains words that you cannot pronounce or define. These could be any number of chemicals, preservatives, dyes, toxic taste enhancers, artificial flavors or fillers. Words and initials to look out for and avoid are nitrates or nitrites, sulfites, potassium bromate, monosodium glutamate (MSG), BHA, BHT, and TBHQ.
When you see the words fortified, enhanced or enriched on the package, or when vitamins are listed among a food’s ingredients, be suspicious. The product has most likely been stripped of essential nutrients during processing and then supplemented with artificial nutrients to compensate for the loss. White flour and white flour products belong to that grouping. Please note, that artificial vitamins, produced in laboratories and then added to various products, are never an adequate replacement for the natural nutrients stripped in processing.
Be wary of sugar-free and diet products. It only means that sugar has been replaced with artificial sweeteners. Those are serious nerve toxins and have no business in our bodies.
Animal products
Be aware of products coming from animals that have been fed an unnatural diet. Their feed might include GMO corn or soy. The animals might have been administered antibiotics on a routine basis and might have been injected with growth hormones. This concerns eggs, dairy products, meats, poultry and farm raised fish. Instead, look for wordings such as organic and grass-fed for meats and dairy. Look for wild caught fish and free-range eggs.
Questionable processing done to food
High pressure and high temperatures are used to hydrogenate oils to create margarine. This renders the original oil rancid and turns its color grey. In further steps this grey mass is then deodorized with chemicals to remove the bad smell. Then they are bleached to remove the grey coloring. And lastly, a yellow dye is added to make it look more butter-like. Not a pretty picture!
By staying away from these questionable foods and EATING CLEAN instead, simply is a way of providing your body with natural and appropriate nourishment.
Feed your body foods that are vibrant and minimally processed – all clean foods are just that
Your body craves these foods and recognizes them as a good fit. They will provide you with plenty of energy, even blood sugar levels and a good mood. In addition, you will enjoy great concentration, excellent mental capacity, a well-functioning happy body, clear skin and strong bones. Furthermore: these nutrient-rich foods do not put on the pounds. Instead, they allow you to let go of some extra weight without having to starve or deprive yourself, without having to go on a diet.
If you would like to give eating clean a try, then I invite you to join my online guided EAT CLEAN Summer Challenge. Join us to experience what it is like to truly eat well and feel nourished on all levels. This year, the 15 day program will start on July 10.