For some, these food trends are synonymous withhealthy nutrition , healthy and responsible eating. For others, they evoke a hint of restriction... So slow food, raw food, vegan , organic, clean food, diets or lifestyles?
Come on, let's dare to say it, we don't always clearly know what's behind these pretty names, promises of healthy eating and guilt-free dishes. But before getting started, or even accumulating or combining, it's essential to know what you're getting into... or rather, your fork!
Clean Eating
We remind you, Clean Eating is eating cleanly, it is above all banning processed foods , preferring raw, local, seasonal foods, without additives and as fresh as possible. A sort of return to the sources, to common sense, in the light of our current knowledge of health and nutrition.
With one goal that should never be lost sight of, the happy alliance between healthy nutrition and pleasure. So we start with what is logical. No pleasure without tasting, without awakening the senses, the major asset of the Slow Food trend.
Slow Food
Slow Food is more than a diet, it is an art of living that is unanimously accepted by experts. With one voice, nutritionists, naturopaths , and dieticians praise the benefits of the art of eating slowly. Launched by an Italian food journalist in 1989, Carlo Petrini, annoyed by the establishment of yet another fast food restaurant in Rome, uttered his war cry which has since become an international organization. Logically, slow food involves slowly chewing carefully selected healthy foods, enjoyed in a Zen atmosphere conducive to concentration on tasting the food.
By enjoying a polysensory and conscious way, not only does digestion begin earlier but vitamins and minerals are better assimilated. As a result, we eat less (because satiety comes faster) and our weight is affected. Without being called a diet, slow food is the best ally for our figure and our shape .
- Concretely? In the approach, opposed to fast food, everything is slow: start by taking the time to choose your food distribution circuit, favor local, quality, stamped organic. Take the time (again!) to cook the fruit of your healthy shopping, you will have understood that slow food is totally allergic to processed foods. Allergic, so to speak, but allergic all the same. Anything that obtains a catastrophic number in the Nutriscore test (it measures the level of food processing) has no place on the shopping list of slow food fans. Then, take the time to prepare the dining area: whether at the table or on a picnic blanket, this art of living involves the art of presenting dishes and the table. Obviously, no slow meals taken in front of the TV or in a noisy environment. Stress being the cause of muscle contractions and acid reflux. Do you have little time to cook? Plan a time in the week to get ahead, favor raw foods and simple menus. The main thing is to stay true to the previous principles.
- In one forkful: Slow food aims to raise awareness of the art of eating healthy, local, sustainable, natural while respecting biodiversity. Intuitively, it leads to switching everything to slow mode: life is better!
Raw food
Does eating healthy and raw make you a raw foodist? We'll see! Like all trends, this one may seem like a fad. With the explosion of online yoga classes, training in living, revitalizing food, the boom in pokebowls , raw food has very quickly become all the rage. But what's the point? Here again... logic must infuse. Cooking is good, it's tasty. But too much cooking or improper cooking destroys all or part of the nutrients. This is the key argument for not cooking food , from vegetables to certain animal proteins. Not everything is eaten raw, but cooking is capped at 42°, which is more like gentle reheating than cooking, thereby transforming the food. A trend made in the USA in the 80s that placed fruits and vegetables at the heart of this approach. At a time when fertilizers were used without precaution, raw foodism went hand in hand with organic.
- Concretely? Like slow fooders or Clean Eating enthusiasts, buy your food in short, local circuits, favoring quality and the organic label. Logical, since without cooking which preserves nutrients and enzymes, we retain certain pollutants. Organic, fruits can be eaten whole, offering without restriction the antioxidants nestled in their skin, normal it is the one which acts as a shield against the sun's rays, essential for ripening but also responsible for oxidation. Then, vary the pleasures by alternating the presentations: pass the fruits and vegetables through the juice extractor, the dehydrator, the blender, the grater, the slicer, the mandolin, the lacto-fermenter, the germinator and you have the juices, the crackers, the natural chips, the compotes, the fruit and vegetable lasagnas, the sauerkraut, kimshi and kombucha, the sprouted seeds. In short, prepare endless plates of explosive vitality (normal, raw food is living food).
- In a nutshell: Eating raw is a sustainable approach that favors zero pesticides, local and seasonal food. While many raw foodists are vegetarians, those who are not alternate between meat carpaccios, fish, sushi, sashimi, and seafood. The only problem is that this diet is very similar to the way our distant ancestors ate, holed up in their caves, without fire, but since then our digestive system has evolved and has gotten out of the habit of eating raw food. So… balance, again and again, with an alternation of raw and cooked in the right way (no more than 180°, steam cooking, wok cooking) to preserve your digestive system and microbiome. In any case, gradually introduce raw foods into your routine. But don't give up on (properly) cooked food.
Vegan
Did you say vegan? We'll enlighten you. Becoming vegan often happens out of conviction, when we realize that excessive animal-based diets have reached their limits, ecological or even ethical for some. Do you tend to confuse vegan and vegetarian? No wonder. In short, vegetarians do not eat meat, fish or seafood. For vegans, out goes meat, fish, seafood, eggs but also everything, absolutely everything, that comes from animals: milk, honey, certain wines (whose production introduces albumin from eggs, pork or bovine gelatin, casein from milk, isinglass, a type of fish glue). Vegans, on the other hand, go further, they push the coherence to the point of excluding animal products in other consumer goods: out goes wool, leather, wax and all products from the hive whether in fashion or cosmetics.
We can consider that the source of veganism is vegetarianism, advocated by Pythagoras and many philosophers of Ancient Greece, before, closer to us, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein followed suit! Oh yes, there are also flexitarians who are essentially vegetarians but eat meat and fish... from time to time.
- Concretely? If you are vegetarian, you may adopt a variation of this approach by choosing to be lacto-ovo-vegetarian (OK for milk, eggs), lacto-vegetarian (OK for dairy products but not eggs) or semi-vegetarian (OK for fish, seafood and even for some white poultry meat). If you go further and become vegan, know that it is not a diet but a lifestyle rooted in ecological values. Consider supplementing with vitamin B12 but the most prudent thing is to do a dosage during a blood test in order to detect a possible deficiency.
- In one bite: You protect the animal kingdom, preserve the planet and prevent the onset of cardiovascular diseases, you limit excess weight in particular by supplementing your diet with legumes, oilseeds rich in essential fatty acids and by favoring quality fruits and vegetables. Just remember to warn your guests so that they do not introduce animal proteins into their menu.
Gluten free
Eating gluten-free is a vital imperative for some, linked to a real allergy, a diet adapted to celiac patients (autoimmune disease of the intestine generated by intolerance to gluten) is then essential. Exit gluten then. But what is gluten? Its name comes from the word glutinum, bond or glue in Latin. It is a substance that is created during the hydration and kneading of a flour that contains it, mainly wheat but also other cereals such as barley and rye. During hydration, a substance appears, resulting from the association of two proteins: gliadins and glutenins. We can say that gluten is manufactured and when we mention it, it is by analogy to cite the gluten of wheat whose characteristics are specific.
Indeed, it is the only gluten that gives the dough obtained after hydration and kneading, this elasticity, this mesh and therefore this stability. But those intolerant to gluten (celiac disease or hypersensitivity) react to contact with one of the proteins or both of the proteins constituting gluten. What are their symptoms? Transit disorders, bloating, abdominal pain, but also chronic fatigue (accentuated by the intake of foods containing gluten) and weight loss. To confirm or rule out the diagnosis, a blood test to isolate the immunoglobulin antibody, IgA, is carried out.
- Concretely? Be careful because it's up to you to play detective. In fact, the composition of foods does not systematically mention the presence of gluten. Conversely, more and more brands indicate by a crossed-out wheat ear that gluten is absent from the recipe. This logo is reliable because it was registered by AFDIAG, the French Association of Gluten Intolerants. The treasure hunt is not easy because gluten is included in the composition of pastries, most breads and pastas, semolina, beer, certain cheeses, dried figs (often rolled in flour!), industrial cooked dishes (flour is used to bind and thicken sauces) and even cold meats. For flour, choose between that from rice, oats, sorghum, millet, corn. Beware of barley which, without containing gluten as it is defined, is made of proteins whose structure is identical to gluten proteins and cause the same intolerances. On the other hand, if nothing defines you as intolerant, there is no point in embarking on a "gluten free" diet, which is more complicated and often more expensive than a clean, organic or slow approach. In reality, only 1% of the population is affected by celiac disease. If you are diagnosed with celiac disease, you will be recommended to supplement with probiotics in order to reduce intestinal disorders. Support from a gastroenterologist, nutritionist or naturopath is essential.
- In a nutshell: Listen to your body and especially to your second brain, the intestine, which will show you possible signs of intolerance. Then, if the need to exclude gluten is proven, refer to the AFDIAG website to follow the news that concerns you. If you discover that you are intolerant, also exclude (even temporarily) lactose. Indeed, irritated by gluten, the intestinal mucosa can also have difficulty tolerating lactose.
Organic
Whether you are a gluten-free fan, excited by clean, seduced by slow or simply convinced that eating healthy is a necessity, you almost instinctively go to the organic section. Organic is a product, a crop that does not use any synthetic fertilizers or pesticides in its composition. If we talk about organic farming , it is always without chemicals known to be toxic to health and most of the time ethically, respecting the rhythm of the seasons. This diet does not only involve a reasoned choice of distributors stamped organic but is consciously associated with a coherent lifestyle. Harmonizing shopping cart and life is the organic "way of life". A small downside (often cited by consumers), organic costs more and is not sold in all stores, even if the number of dedicated sections tends to multiply in all brands, outside of those that are 100% devoted to it.
Labels matter, those that indicate the food composition, the Nutriscore and other nutritional information. On the other hand, be careful with the labels that you endorse under the guise of a diet or trend.
Keep your eyes open, test, discover, invent and keep healthy, balanced, ethical and delicious food in your sights.
Clean and happy, we tell you!
