FUEL: April 2012

Ask the Expert:

Addressed to the "nutrition brains" at the Fuel Good Cafe'.

Fine Print: We hope this information gives you additional resource with which to make the best decisions as you move along your health journey. This information is for the purpose of general health only, and is not meant to diagnose or treat illness or injury.

Q: What is “clean eating”?

A: Good question! There are tons of new (and old) “diets” in existence...all claiming they are the best for losing weight, fat or just for all around health. The proponents of “clean eating” claim that it’s not just a diet, but a lifestyle. We researched how this way of life originated, and most information points back to the late 60’s as part of a “Hippie rebellion” toward big business; namely those producing foods with lots of preservatives. After a time, clean eating came back into vogue in the 80’s, namely in gyms and health clubs where people were looking to “build a better you”.
Now fast forward to the present day; clean eating still holds tight to its “earthy” roots for some, but many people are adopting this way of life for other reasons:

- Desire for weight loss
- Boost to overall health
- Increase in energy
- Boost in overall mood/outlook
- Desire to “go green”

So, then...what IS “clean eating”?

Clean eating is consuming a diet of whole foods - or foods closest to their natural state such as fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and water. No commercially prepared fruit juices either, as processing often removes nutrients as well as fiber content and usually adds salt, fat, sug

ar & chemicals back in.

So in other words, Clean Eating is a practice of walking AWAY from pre-packaged, canned or processed foods, severely limiting (or eliminating entirely) fast food, avoiding trans-fats and minimizing (or eliminating) alcohol consumption. Sound dreadful? Well, it can be a big change if your c

urrent “eating style” is weighted more heavily toward convenience than health, but it’s often more doable than you think if you take it in steps and give your palate a little time to adjust. We often find that as people successfully take this step in their health journey they are shocked at how more flavorful their food is and how more enjoyable everyday eating becomes, not to mention the health gains. This of course makes perfect sense given the way the sensory part of the nervous system reacts to the “less clean” items in our diet.....but that’s a little beyond this article.

Go Ahead.....Take it for a Test Drive!

If you’re someone who consumes processed and/or fast food regularly, but would like to make some changes, there are ways to introduce whole foods into your diet gradually. Here are some simple changes some well known, others not as much:

1. Substitute whole wheat flour for all or ANY portion of white flour in any baking recipe......start small and increase the proportion over time.

2. Substitute one processed snack with a few servings of fruit or vegetables (apples, baby carrots, grapes, blueberries)......great milestones are the odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 servings per day.....gradually increase toward the next milestone, the higher the number the more you’ll see the benefits.

3. Plan to prepare one additional home-cooked meal during the week (packing a lunch TOTALLY counts), rather than eating out......these don’t have to be gourmet by any stretch, but as you prepare it you’ll be more and more mindful of the ingredients, how many little impurities are making their way into your body everyday, enlightening.

4. Swap out a soda or fruit drink with water.....we know: “water doesn’t have any flavor”, this is where we enter the nervous system discussion.....it shouldn’t and your body doesn’t need flavor all of the time. Sometimes it’s the worst thing for you, similar to the TV running all night long: if you don’t let the system DISENGAGE every so often (in this case deprive it of flavor here and there) your sensitivity to it dulls over time. If you’re on the baby-step path, ask yourself is it flavor you want or is it more sugar? Here’s an easy experiment: Add some fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice or perhaps even a green tea bag (none of that phony green-tea stuff).....if that doesn’t “do it for you”.....it’s likely the sugar you’re craving, not the flavor. This has bigger implications......that we can definitely delve into, but not today.

5. Infuse some low “energy density” foods.....Food is not just calories and flavors, texture matters too and we find that the texture of “clean food” can throw people off a bit at first. It’s usually best to tackle one aspect at a time, so if we can minimize the texture block, we can make the dish cleaner. Energy Density is calculated by dividing calories per serving by weight per serving. Generally speaking the less energy dense the food, the cleaner it is. For example: 0.6 or less (very low) --- includes lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, cooked broccoli, salsa, grapefruit, vegetarian vegetable soup, cantaloupe, winter squash, applesauce, carrots, vegetarian chili, oranges, blueberries and apples. Even if you have to process them a little bit at first (e.g. a Fuel Good Smoothie), high nutrient density, low energy density is a good strategy