Clean Eating, Not the Soap and Shower Variety

Clean Eating can be simply defined: If you could have hunted for it, fished for it, plucked it, or gathered it, it belongs on your table. The remaining processed foods that make up our modern American diet have been attributed to the modern illnesses and diseases.

Much like a well-trained army, your body will perform at its best when it’s given the right equipment. That begins with the right foods, rich in all the substances that protect and support the cells, organs, tissues, and blood vessels.

1. No Trans Fats

Is there any doubt left that man-made trans fats are the worst fats on the planet? Trans fats are found in hydrogenated margarine, baked goods, packaged snacks, and in oils commonly used to cook french fries and other fast foods. Approximately 30,000 deaths due to coronary heart disease each year are directly linked to the consumption of trans fatty acids, and trans fats promote not only heart disease and obesity, but may also increase the likelihood of cancer, diabetes, and immune dysfunction. What else do you need to start checking food labels and eliminate trans fats from your diet? Look for the words “partially hydrogenated” on the food labels and don’t buy it or eat it!

2. No Sugar

If I asked you what the main ingredient is in an unhealthy diet, you would probably say “fat”, right? Well, you would be wrong! The percentage of total fat in your diet turns out to have very little correlation to poor health (it’s the type of fat that’s the problem – see above). But one thing that does correlate to poor health is SUGAR.

Experts are beginning to see that a lot of what’s bad about the standard American diet has more to do with processed sugar and carbs than it does with fat. Sugar – and any fast-dissolving carb like white bread, processed cereals, or potatoes, which turn into to sugar quickly in the digestive process – does two things to your body.

First, sugar and processed carbs raise blood sugar (even in people without diabetes) and clog up the works, especially in small capilaries. Second, a high sugar intake raises the hormone level of insulin, which is the body’s main mechanism for removing sugar from the bloodstream and getting it into cells (again, even in people without diabetes). A high level of insulin raises blood pressure and closes the door to the fat cells, making “burning” fat impossible.

A diet made up of the right proportion of protein, good fats, and low-glycemic carbs (meaning carbs that take longer to digest) is the way to go. High-glycemic carbs (meaning carbs that digest quickly and turn into sugar) are linked to diabetes, obesity, some cancers, and macular degeneration.

3. Eat more plant foods.

What do type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, cancer, heart disease, stroke, Parkinson’s, and rheumatoid arthritis all have in common? Research shows that all of these conditions may begin with an inflammatory process. A diet high in hydrogenated fats, lacking in omega-3 essential fats and fresh produce, and high levels of daily stress are all thought to promote chronic inflammation. Plant foods are loaded with powerful anti-inflamatories that will improve overall health by reducing the inflammation we naturally encounter, as well as that we have the ability to avoid but don’t.

4. Eat foods high in anti-oxidants.

Have you ever burped after drinking beer or carbonated beverages? The gas is a byproduct of ingesting the carbonation, right? The same process happens in your body when your cells process the nutrients you eat, the byproducts are called “free-radicals”. These free-radicals are naturally occurring, but can also be caused by stress or exposure to pollution, smoke, or other environmental conditions. Over years of exposure, free-radicals wander around the body, causing problems ranging from simply aging to cancer. Anti-oxidants are like a broom that sweeps up the free-radicals in the body and neutralizes their destructive capabilities.

The most powerful anti-oxidants are Vitamins C and E and the minerals selenium and zinc. A simple rule of thumb for choosing foods high in anti-oxidants is “the more color the better”. For example, iceberg lettuce is very pale green and low in anti-oxidants; spinach is bright, dark green and high in anti-oxidants.

Anti-oxidant rich foods include:

Vegetables:

Sweet yellow, red or green peppers

Broccoli

Brussel sprouts

Squash

Kale

Spinach

Mustard greens

Artichokes

Carrots

Zucchini

Fruits:

Strawberries

Kiwis

Berries

Tomatoes

Grapefruit

Oranges

Apricots

Peaches

Nuts and Seeds:

Dry-roasted almonds

Sunflower seeds

Brazil nuts

Pecans

So, if you want to continue improving your health, but don’t know where to start, begin by simply eliminating sugar, processed carbs, and trans fats from your diet. Add foods that are plant-based or high in anti-oxidants. Disease prevention – and Clean Eating – doesn’t get any simpler than that.

Adapted from “Add 6.6 Years to Your Life with Clean Eating” by Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., CNS, Clean Eating Magazine, Vol 1, Issue 2, Spring 2008.