Perhaps one of the most over-used – and often wrongly used – hashtags on social media, the ‘clean eating’ trend and lifestyle has been a big theme of 2014. But what – apart from pictures of mounds of broccoli – does it actually mean in practice? I asked nutrition consultant Alice Mackintosh, who knows about these things.
“If you want to be 100% pure about it, clean eating would generally involve only choosing foods that offer you some form of goodness, and cutting out all those that either are either devoid of nutrients or could potentially be harmful to health,” she says. “The benefits of doing this properly are potentially very far-reaching and may support immunity, concentration, sleep, skin and athletic performance; as well as a host of over things that make us look and feel better.”
In other words, no Haribo.
Mackintosh’s explanation makes perfect sense, but if you’re wanting to eat more healthily and go searching for ‘clean eating’ recipes, be aware that the ‘cleanness’ can vary. “Anyone can hashtag food on Instagram and call it clean,” she says. “Clean eating is largely a subjective term because what is ‘clean’ to one person may not be to another.”
So where does that leave you? Just go for food that doesn’t look too different to how it occurs naturally. “Things that qualify are typically foods that haven’t been processed or overly refined,” explains Mackintosh. “Cutting these out should be the first step. Unrefined grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meat, fish, healthy oils, nuts and legumes all tend to feature heavily, so work to make these the predominant part of your diet.”
That might all sound easy enough, but what about when those Haribo cravings really dig in, leaving you sat rocking in the corner grinding your teeth? (Just me?) “The sustainability of ‘clean eating’ can be questionable,” admits Mackintosh. “People often find they go in all guns blazing and end up only sticking to it for 10 days, especially if they eat out or socialise. Aim to eat 80% clean, reserving the other 20% for things that may be a little less clean, and you may find the happy medium.”
Tangfastics, we may live happily ever after.
Take The Lunge 