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How to incorporate clean eating into your diet

Danette McPherson

If you’ve read any health and fitness magazines recently or searched online for healthy diets, you’ve likely bumped into the concept of “clean eating.” On the surface, it may seem complicated, expensive and only within reach for the Hollywood elite or fitness fanatics and bodybuilders. In reality, clean eating is simple and may be less expensive than the groceries you’re already buying. Plus, when it comes to your health, clean eating can serve as the foundation for significant improvements in a lot of different areas.

“Think of clean eating as a philosophy instead of a specific list of foods you should or shouldn’t eat,” said Danette McPherson, RD, LDN, of Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital. “It’s simple to get started with small changes you can build on over time.”

What is clean eating?

Clean eating is choosing whole, unprocessed foods over processed and packaged foods. Or, to think of it another way, clean eating is the act of being mindful about the pathway food takes from its origin to your dinner table – and opting mostly to eat foods that have gone through as few changes as possible during that journey.

The benefits of clean

eating

A commitment to living healthy involves two core components: diet and exercise. Both are important, but a healthy diet may be even more essential than exercise if you’re trying to lose weight and avoid health problems such as obesity, coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer and stroke.

“It’s true that you can’t out-exercise a bad diet,” said Danette. “So even if you’re spending hours at the gym, you’ll limit your benefits if you’re putting the wrong type of fuel in your body.”

In addition to helping you reduce your risk for certain diseases, clean eating helps you avoid the blood sugar spikes and resulting fatigue associated with eating highly processed carbohydrates and refined grains.

How to eat clean

“By keeping in mind a few basic principles the next time you shop for groceries, you can easily start eating cleaner without a lot of detailed planning,” said Danette. “You’ll still eat many of the same things, just a little less processed.”

The basic principles of clean eating:

r Avoid processed foods: Read labels and if the list is longer than five ingredients or has ingredients you can’t pronounce, choose something else.

r Eat more fruits and vegetables: Spend most of your shopping time in the produce aisle. Opt for organic when possible, especially for fruits and vegetables without a peel or rind.

r Reduce saturated fats: Saturated fats are found in cheese, red meat and butter. Instead, get your fats from fatty fish, such as salmon, and nuts.

r Avoid added sugars: Processed foods and sweetened drinks are loaded with added sugar. Keep added sugar under six teaspoons per day (24 grams) for women and nine teaspoons per day (36 grams) for men.

r Limit your alcohol: If you drink alcohol, stick to the recommended daily maximum of one drink per day for women and two for men.

r Avoid excess sodium: Most adults in the U.S. get more than the recommended 2300 mg of sodium per day in their diet. Eating fewer processed foods will help reduce salt intake.

r Choose whole grains: Processing grains for use in foods like white bread removes some of their important nutritional benefits. Look for the word “whole” as the first ingredient when buying bread and pasta.

r Being mindful of what you eat is the core of clean eating,” said Danette. “A few simple changes to your diet can make a world of difference in your health, and in how you look and feel.”

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Danette McPherson is a registered and licensed dietitian at Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital and can be reached by calling 570-398-5142.

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