Nutrition & Exercise
What Does it Mean to Eat Clean?
April 2022
Photo Credit: Marika Blossfeldt
By Marika Blossfeldt
To Eat Clean means staying away from most processed, factory-produced foods. These foods are often either stripped of valuable nutrients or contain ingredients that simply cannot be defined as food. Find out about the different ways food is being manipulated and turned into “non-clean” edibles.
Empty Foods
My dirty list includes white sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, white flour and all products made with them. I consider these foods to be most threatening to our health.
White sugar triggers the excretion of B vitamins and most minerals. Eating sugar, therefore, can lead to the depletion of the body and thus sets the stage for all kinds of illnesses. For up to five hours after it is consumed, our white blood cells can work at only 50% capacity to kill germs. It also curtails antibody production, interferes with vitamin C metabolism, causes mineral imbalances, and makes our cells more vulnerable to bacteria and allergens.
Corn syrup is a highly processed sweetener that contains unbound glucose and fructose molecules. These isolated molecules are highly reactive, turn into free radicals, can change the DNA of our cells and promote premature aging and cancer.
Fructose leads to higher levels of triglycerides, a blood fat that is a risk factor for heart disease.
The other bad news about high fructose corn syrup is that it is made from genetically modified corn and contains traces of mercury. Mercury has been associated with autism in children as well as Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, dementia, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, heart failure, Parkinson's disease, and cancer in adults.
White flour is made from the wheat kernel. Unlike other grains, where nutrients are distributed evenly, wheat has a starchy center, and most minerals, vitamins and fiber are located in the outer layer. In processing, this nutrition-filled outer layer is removed and what is left is the inner starchy part. There is nothing so very bad about the starch; it is a complex carbohydrate, but in the production of white flour, this starchy part gets ground into a very fine powder. When you look at white flour, it is almost impossible to discern the tiny particles with the naked eye. When eating white flour products, the tiny starch particles are quickly broken down into sugars in our digestive tract and therefore have the same detrimental effect as white sugar (which may lead to sudden high blood sugar levels and paralyzing the immune system). In addition, white flour most often is bleached, which leaves traces of bleach behind.
Processed Foods with Unwanted Non-Food Items Added to Them
The ingredient list contains words that you cannot pronounce or define. These could be any number of chemicals, preservatives, dyes, toxic taste enhancers, artificial flavors or fillers. Words and initials to look out for and avoid are nitrates, nitrites, sulfites, potassium bromate, monosodium glutamate (MSG), BHA, BHT, and TBHQ.
When you see the words fortified, enhanced or enriched on the package, or when vitamins are listed among a food’s ingredient list, be suspicious. The product has most likely been stripped of essential nutrients during processing and then supplemented with artificial nutrients to compensate for the loss. Please note that artificial vitamins, produced in laboratories and then added to various products, are never an adequate replacement for the natural nutrients stripped in processing.
Be wary of sugar-free and diet products. It only means that sugar has been replaced with artificial sweeteners, such as Aspartame, Alitame, Equal, Neotame, NutraSweet, Nutrinova, Saccharin, Splenda, Sorbitol, Sucralose, Twinsweet, Sweet ‘N Low or Xylitol. These chemicals may actually increase weight and lead to metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes. Artificial sweeteners are also associated with atherosclerosis, by promoting plaque buildup inside the arteries which potentially can lead to strokes and heart attacks.
Animal Products
Be aware of products coming from animals that have been fed an unnatural diet. Their feed might include GMO corn or soy. The animals might have been administered antibiotics on a routine basis and might have been injected with growth hormones. This concerns eggs, dairy products, meats, poultry and farm raised fish. Instead, look for wordings such as organic and grass-fed for meats and dairy. Look for wild caught fish and free-range eggs.
Questionable Processing Done to Food
High pressure and high temperatures are used to hydrogenate oils to create margarine. This renders the original oil rancid and turns its color grey. In further steps this grey mass is then deodorized with chemicals to remove the bad smell. Then they are bleached to remove the grey coloring. And lastly, a yellow dye is added to make it look more butter-like.
Staying away from these questionable foods and "eating clean" instead is a way of providing your body with natural and appropriate nourishment.
Empty Foods
My dirty list includes white sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, white flour and all products made with them. I consider these foods to be most threatening to our health.
White sugar triggers the excretion of B vitamins and most minerals. Eating sugar, therefore, can lead to the depletion of the body and thus sets the stage for all kinds of illnesses. For up to five hours after it is consumed, our white blood cells can work at only 50% capacity to kill germs. It also curtails antibody production, interferes with vitamin C metabolism, causes mineral imbalances, and makes our cells more vulnerable to bacteria and allergens.
Corn syrup is a highly processed sweetener that contains unbound glucose and fructose molecules. These isolated molecules are highly reactive, turn into free radicals, can change the DNA of our cells and promote premature aging and cancer.
Fructose leads to higher levels of triglycerides, a blood fat that is a risk factor for heart disease.
The other bad news about high fructose corn syrup is that it is made from genetically modified corn and contains traces of mercury. Mercury has been associated with autism in children as well as Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, dementia, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, heart failure, Parkinson's disease, and cancer in adults.
White flour is made from the wheat kernel. Unlike other grains, where nutrients are distributed evenly, wheat has a starchy center, and most minerals, vitamins and fiber are located in the outer layer. In processing, this nutrition-filled outer layer is removed and what is left is the inner starchy part. There is nothing so very bad about the starch; it is a complex carbohydrate, but in the production of white flour, this starchy part gets ground into a very fine powder. When you look at white flour, it is almost impossible to discern the tiny particles with the naked eye. When eating white flour products, the tiny starch particles are quickly broken down into sugars in our digestive tract and therefore have the same detrimental effect as white sugar (which may lead to sudden high blood sugar levels and paralyzing the immune system). In addition, white flour most often is bleached, which leaves traces of bleach behind.
Processed Foods with Unwanted Non-Food Items Added to Them
The ingredient list contains words that you cannot pronounce or define. These could be any number of chemicals, preservatives, dyes, toxic taste enhancers, artificial flavors or fillers. Words and initials to look out for and avoid are nitrates, nitrites, sulfites, potassium bromate, monosodium glutamate (MSG), BHA, BHT, and TBHQ.
When you see the words fortified, enhanced or enriched on the package, or when vitamins are listed among a food’s ingredient list, be suspicious. The product has most likely been stripped of essential nutrients during processing and then supplemented with artificial nutrients to compensate for the loss. Please note that artificial vitamins, produced in laboratories and then added to various products, are never an adequate replacement for the natural nutrients stripped in processing.
Be wary of sugar-free and diet products. It only means that sugar has been replaced with artificial sweeteners, such as Aspartame, Alitame, Equal, Neotame, NutraSweet, Nutrinova, Saccharin, Splenda, Sorbitol, Sucralose, Twinsweet, Sweet ‘N Low or Xylitol. These chemicals may actually increase weight and lead to metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes. Artificial sweeteners are also associated with atherosclerosis, by promoting plaque buildup inside the arteries which potentially can lead to strokes and heart attacks.
Animal Products
Be aware of products coming from animals that have been fed an unnatural diet. Their feed might include GMO corn or soy. The animals might have been administered antibiotics on a routine basis and might have been injected with growth hormones. This concerns eggs, dairy products, meats, poultry and farm raised fish. Instead, look for wordings such as organic and grass-fed for meats and dairy. Look for wild caught fish and free-range eggs.
Questionable Processing Done to Food
High pressure and high temperatures are used to hydrogenate oils to create margarine. This renders the original oil rancid and turns its color grey. In further steps this grey mass is then deodorized with chemicals to remove the bad smell. Then they are bleached to remove the grey coloring. And lastly, a yellow dye is added to make it look more butter-like.
Staying away from these questionable foods and "eating clean" instead is a way of providing your body with natural and appropriate nourishment.
Eat Foods that are Vibrant and Minimally Processed
Your body craves these natural foods and recognizes them as a good fit. They provide you with plenty of energy, even blood sugar levels, and result a good mood. In addition, you will enjoy great concentration, excellent mental capacity, a well-functioning happy body, clear skin and strong bones. Furthermore, these nutrient-rich foods do not put on the pounds. Instead, they allow you to let go of some extra weight without having to go on a diet. Eat predominantly whole foods in their natural state - complete and as-is, just the way Mother Nature provides them. You will find them in the forests, in natural waters, at farms and in the garden. They have not been artificially processed, stripped of nutrients, or pumped with additives. Clean whole foods provide all the essential nutrients the body needs for those manifold tasks that keep us healthy and alive. |
A List of Clean Whole Foods: vegetables grains legumes leafy greens salad greens fruits berries herbs mushrooms nuts seeds seaweeds organic grass-fed meat free range poultry and eggs organic whole milk and dairy products |
Want to learn more about clean eating?
Join Marika for her EAT CLEAN SUMMER CHALLENGE. Get to know how great it feels to give your body a clean eating experience that is not only healthy, nutrient-dense and balanced, but delectable and satisfying as well. This program starts on July 12. SIGN UP NOW!
Join Marika for her EAT CLEAN SUMMER CHALLENGE. Get to know how great it feels to give your body a clean eating experience that is not only healthy, nutrient-dense and balanced, but delectable and satisfying as well. This program starts on July 12. SIGN UP NOW!
Click book cover to purchase.
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Marika Blossfeldt is an award-winning author and Certified Holistic Health Coach. Reviews of her artistic and culinary skills have appeared in the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, and The Village Voice as well as in European editions of health, lifestyle and cooking magazines. COOKING WITH MARIKA: Clean Cuisine from an Estonian Farm is her second book (released in 2020) and is the winner of the 2020 Living Now Gold Medal, the 2020 American Book Fest Best Book Award, the 2020 Best Indie Book Award and the 2020 Kops-Fertherling Gold Award.
Marika graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and maintains a private practice in Beacon, NY, where she resides during the winter months. June through September, she pampers guests at her farm and retreat center Polli Talu in Estonia. An excerpt of Cooking with Marika was published in SANCTUARY'S March issue.
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