What is clean eating, and how do you do it?
<p>Have you seen posts online about clean eating? Confused about what clean eating is? We used to think it just meant you gave your fruits and vegetables a rinse before eating them. But we’ve done our homework and found out what this trend it about, and why people swear by it.</p><p><strong>Guide:</strong></p><p>Clean eating is easiest to describe in terms of the things you should probably be avoiding.</p><ul><li>Most refined foods: things like refined flours and sugars, trans-fats, etc.</li><li>Artificial ingredients and preservatives: try this rule – if you look at the list of ingredients and can’t pronounce anything, you might not want to eat it.</li><li>Processed food: these are usually high in chemical additives, salts, refined sugars, and salt.</li><li>Alcohol, soft drink, and juice: we all know that alcohol isn’t really the best thing for our bodies, so we should be limiting our intake. Things like soft drinks and fruit juice have lots of sugar, both refined and natural, while diet soft drinks are usually loaded with artificial sweeteners.</li></ul><p>And now the things that you should try to do for most of the time.</p><ul><li>Eat plenty of veggies: try to make your plate look like a rainbow with all the different colours of vegetables you’ve got on there. Keep it varied and interesting for yourself.</li><li>Keep fruit intake moderate: while fruits can be a great alternative when you’re craving something sweet, they still carry a high amount of sugar, so you don’t want to eat too much too often.</li><li>Eat healthy fats: yes, there is such a thing as healthy fats! We’re talking things like fish (sardines, anchovies, etc.), avocados, oils (olive oil, coconut oil), eggs, nuts (walnuts, almonds, chia seeds), dairy products, and grass-fed beef.</li><li>Drink lots of water. Stay hydrated by drinking eight glasses of water each day.</li></ul><p><strong>It’s not:</strong></p><ul><li>A diet: the idea behind a diet is you use it to lose weigh in a short amount of time with a specific goal weight or event in mind. Clean eating isn’t focused on the short-term.</li><li>A meal or calorie-limiter: you can eat as much and as often as you want, just make sure you fulfil your metabolic requirements – you need enough energy to get through the day.</li><li>The law: you don’t have to follow the guidelines for clean eating 100 per cent of the time. Try to find a balance between doing what’s right for your body, and treating yourself to the occasional sweet treat or burger.</li></ul><p><strong>The benefits:</strong></p><p>There are many supposed benefits of living the clean eating lifestyle (which involves some form of regular exercise). Some proponents of clean diets claim people will lose over a kilogram a week, but there are other effects that might make you want to make the change. People who eat clean often claim to have more energy; bright, alert eyes; glowing skin and healthy teeth and gums. All the fruits and vegetables you’ll be eating are packed with vitamin C, fibre and antioxidants.</p><p><a href="/health/wellbeing/2015/01/2015-fitness-trends/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Here are four easy fitness tends to try in 2015.</strong></span></a></p>
