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““Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving””
— Albert Einstein
Clean Eating: The Good & Bad Side

Clean Eating: The Good & Bad Side

Taya Bregant
Nutrition

Clean eating has once just been a nutrition related buzzword, but is now recognized as a social media fueled lifestyle. It is a hot topic of discussion among the conversation in the wellness world, however there is also a large lack of proper evidence and regulations when it comes to the term, which is what makes it potentially dangerous since it can be miss-used easily.

In this article I wanted to take a look first into what makes up a “clean eating” diet, what are the upsides of this kind of eating as well as what are some negative and potentially dangerous aspects of clean eating which have to be considered

I hope that with this article I can shed some light and help your understanding on this topic and use it to expand your awareness and knowledge on this topic

Enjoy 😊

WHAT IS CLEAN EATING?

With how prevalent the term “clean eating” has become, one would think that it carries a formally governmentally regulated definition; however, that is not the case.

Because of a lack of this formal definition, “clean eating” means slightly different things to different individuals, which is why it is also easy for it to get mixed up with other diet-related terms where this misinformation can rapidly spread through consumers.

In general, a diet that follows a “clean eating” pattern should follow the following principles:

  • Eating foods which are as close to their natural state as possible

  • Opting for organic foods when possible

  • Choosing foods which are minimally processed, termed as “natural” and which do not contain minimal chemical additives and preservatives (choosing foods which have as short of an ingredients list as possible)

Ideally, this kind of eating encourages eating whole fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats while at the same time limiting consumption of highly processed snacks, foods, and drinks.

Additionally, to many people, clean eating is associated with terms such as plant-based, grass-fed, sugar-free, or gluten-free.

A study published in 2020 took a look into how US adolescents and young adults viewed the term “clean eating,” where the findings showed overall that this demographic has a high level of awareness of the use of this term and also have an overall positive attitude towards this way of eating. Specifically, it showed that:

  • 55% of the 1266 respondents said that they have previously heard of the term “clean eating,” which most commonly done via social media and their peers.

  • 71% of respondents noted that they view “clean eating” as a healthy approach to eating, while 6% of responses said it was “unhealthy,” and 18% claimed it had both positive and negative aspects.

  • 40% of the participants said that they related “clean eating” with “non-processed” or “whole foods,” and 13% linked it with “non-GMO” products and “organic” farming.

  • A considerable percentage (41%) expressed that they would probably try this eating approach themselves, where this attitude was higher among female respondents than male.

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WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT IT?

In theory, the principle of “clean eating” sounds good and healthy, since we are all generally told to eat a diet which is high in predominantly whole foods that are rich in high-quality nutrients, while reducing our energy intake from highly processed and industrialized foods which have a high content of refined sugars, salt, and harmful fats.

This kind of approach can, in the main part, lead us to living an overall healthy lifestyle while promoting various aspects of our health and helping with weight management.

There is a current lack of research that focuses on the specific relationship between “clean eating” and the impact it has on our health; however, there are many studies which endorse the view that consumption of plenty of whole foods like vegetables, fruits, legumes, lean meats, and high-quality fat sources can promote general health and well-being while preventing many chronic diseases.

AND THE BAD SIDE?

So far, “clean eating” sounds like a rather good and healthful approach to our eating, but are there any downsides associated with it?

The main issue lies in the idea that as soon as you start using or following the term “clean,” it implies that some foods are “clean” while others are “dirty,” which creates this sharp dichotomy between good and bad foods.

Viewing what you eat as bad and good can cause many people to become preoccupied with what they are eating, to the point where it becomes very time-consuming and damaging to their mental health and later on, even to their physical health.

People who promote strict “clean eating” often advise to avoid and cut out all instances and sources of any sort of added sugars, high salt foods, foods that are high in processed fats and snacks, and ingredients that may contain many additives. While it is true that these things are generally not beneficial for our health, it is also most of the time not necessary to take it to the extreme where we forcefully limit ourselves from consuming foods of this kind. Some clean eating approaches go a step further and eliminate certain food groups altogether which can be seen as a very harsh and restrictive way of eating for most people, which not only gets in the way of enjoying the food you eat, but it can also worsen your mental health and make it harder to enjoy food outside, especially in social settings.

Furthermore, this kind of mindset can also trigger feelings of guilt whenever we think of wanting to eat a food which is considered as “bad” or “dirty,” since we all get cravings and at the end of the day, it is important to nurture our food cravings, albeit in moderation.

To top it all off, many celebrity bloggers and fitness influencers promote patterns of eating like this, which not only influence people's diet choices to a high degree, but often these people lack the much-needed credentials or proper scientific knowledge to back up the information they are promoting.

Overall, following too much of a restrictive “clean eating” approach does not just have the ability to seriously worsen our relationship with food and our enjoyment of it, but also can severely impact our mental well-being in the long term since we fall into a state of obsessiveness and needing to have perfect control of the foods we eat.

Symptoms of this kind are often recognized under the eating disorder Orthorexia nervosa which is a condition in which the individual is severely preoccupied with eating only strictly “healthy” foods in order to achieve a sense of nutritional “purity” which can lead to various forms of anxiety and distress for the individual.

Although this condition is still only now being recognized properly in the medical field, I believe it is something that is becoming ever more common in our society, where the issue is that it is often hard to identify, since on the surface, we perceive the individual to be healthy since they are only eating healthy foods. But true mental and physical well-being is so much more than how it looks on the surface.

FINAL NOTE

To conclude, clean eating is a health and wellness concept that encourages the consumption of minimally processed fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy proteins, and fats.

While all of this may sound great, a large issue behind this pattern of eating is that it lacks regulation, which leads to varying interpretations among individuals and the food industry.

Additionally, extreme adherence to clean eating is associated with the risk of disordered eating patterns like orthorexia nervosa which can have detrimental effects on the individual and their relationship to food.

Although enjoying healthful foods is not harmful, an obsession with clean eating can ironically be seriously damaging. It is crucial to find a balance between incorporating nutrient-dense whole foods into our diet but also realizing that if we indulge in something less healthy every once in a while, that is perfectly fine and healthy too.

Moderation is key, and remember to also enjoy your food and your life.

KEY IDEAS

In todays blog post we have discussed the popular idea of “clean eating” which arose from many internet based food blogs and nutrition influencers, where we look into what it is, what are the benefits associated with it as well as the potential down sides.

SOURCES

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