Eating clean isn’t a diet; it’s a way of life. It’s choosing to nourish your body with foods that will fill you, meaning not just satiating your hunger, but giving you what you need from food — optimal function of your body and mind. There is so much information out there about how you should eat, what you should eat, and what you shouldn’t eat, it might feel like proper nutrition is a puzzle you need to solve. In reality, clean eating doesn’t have to be complicated. In this post, we will go over some stupidly simple ways you can adopt clean eating into your lifestyle.
Most people don’t get enough fruits and vegetables in their diet, which is a shame. These powerful foods are excellent at lowering risk of a variety of illnesses, including type-2 diabetes, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and heart disease. They are also great sources of fiber, which works to keep your good gut bacteria properly balanced.
Clean eating is about more, not less. Coming from a place of deprivation makes it difficult to sustain a healthy diet. Instead, think of abundance. Add a wide variety of vegetables to your plate. For example, when making a salad, add more color in the form of a diversity of veggies and fruits. Making it your aim to eat at least one veggie at each meal is a good place to start.
We’re not here to tell you that you need to go vegan in order to eat clean; just be thoughtful about the source of your meat. Factory farming, the norm here in the U.S., involves injecting animals with antibiotics and hormones to prevent infection from the crowded and dirty living conditions. In addition, cattle in these conditions are fed grains, despite the fact that grass is their natural diet. In fact, grass-fed beef has shown to be higher in omega-3s and antioxidants than grain-fed beef. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to purchase locally raised, humanely treated meat.
If you’re concerned about protein, consider the abundance of excellent plant-based sources, including hemp. You don’t have to completely kick your burger habit; just make sure you are choosing meat from naturally raised animals, and include more plant-based protein into your diet to reduce your dependence on meat.