Neither brand new nor totally revolutionary, the Clean Eating trend, which simply translates to "eating clean", resonates as a positive and beneficial evidence. Eating "healthy" and balanced by following a few principles? It's a yes with appetite!

What is the definition of Clean Eating? Literally, the expression is not right, right… but ideal to challenge and lead in a virtuous movement that gives the rules of a healthy diet. In summary, eating clean is above all banning processed foods, preferring raw 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 in health and nutrition.

The Origin of Clean Eating

It is impossible to understand this trend without mentioning a woman, Tosca Reno. If she is not the inventor of the fundamentals of this diet (healthy eating was already clearly advocated in the United States in the 60s to stay healthy), she claimed its name and principles.

At the beginning, a story of kilos

Tosca, born in 1959, had a chaotic and inspiring journey that she calls "a counter-fairy tale". Born into a Dutch family who immigrated to Canada, in a family of four girls, Tosca had weight problems. A few years later, married and mother of three daughters, she decided at almost 40 years old to divorce and take her life (and her body) in hand. She could no longer stand either one. She then began her studies, became a teacher and met her mentor, Robert Kennedy, as if by "chance" the editor of many magazines specializing in fitness. Accompanied by Robert's precepts, Tosca began a long journey combining weight loss, bodybuilding and... healthy eating. More than a diet , this completely revisited diet has become the symbol of her resilience and her metamorphosis.

Then, a real movement

A few years later, faced with new personal dramas, Tosca went further, expanding her lifestyle, based on sport and diet, with a spiritual dimension. She then officially launched her Clean Eating movement , imbued with all the teachings she had received, experienced and integrated. In 2010, she decided to pass them on and began publishing around ten books, including the famous Clean Eating bible, "Eat-Clean Diet" in 2007. The fundamentals were laid down... Today, Clean Eating is represented by other leading figures such as Gwyneth Paltrow , author of the best-selling book The Clean Plate : eat, reset, heal. In addition to her advice based on Clean Eating, she brings together eating plans around key themes such as heart health, candida, Ayurveda, etc. To take action, she offers "clean" recipes for soups, smoothies, main dishes, snacks and desserts.

The 14 Principles of Clean Eating

As with any diet, even if it is more of an approach in the case of Clean Eating, there are basics to respect.

1. Fatty acids. Choose your added fats carefully to hunt down saturated fatty acids found in fried foods, margarine and even butter. Vegetable oils from nuts, coconut, camelina and flax, added in a drizzle on vegetables and fish, provide all their capital of good lipids. Be careful when choosing olive or rapeseed oils, which can be transformed and fall into the camp of non-clean foods.
2. Organic . Choose organic foods whenever possible. Complying with a specific charter, organic guarantees to be free of chemical fertilizers, GMOs and pesticides. Since organic rhymes with eco-friendly, it is logical that clean eaters demand foods produced locally, in an eco-responsible, ethical, fair way with packaging that has the least negative impact on the environment. Applicable to fruits and vegetables as well as animal proteins (by favoring fish and white meats, less acidifying for the body).
3. Breakfast. Breakfast is a pillar of Clean Eating. It is even considered the basic meal, a sort of cornerstone of the entire healthy food pyramid. It is what provides fuel to the engine for the whole day and allows the metabolism to launch and maintain action and reflection.
4. Cereals . They must be whole to be included in the Clean Eating list! To do this, look at the number that classifies the flour: between 45 and 150, it measures the rate of debris, called ash, in the flour. The lower it is, the whiter and more refined the flour. The bran and germ, rich in nutrients, have been removed, unlike wholemeal flour where everything is preserved (bran, endosperm, germ, fiber, B vitamins, proteins and minerals beneficial in preventing colon cancer in particular). Clean Eating recommends making your own bread in order to choose your flour, the amount of salt added and especially without adding additives. Whole grains promote healthy intestinal flora and reduce excess abdominal fat.
5. Colors. If they bring joy to the plate made in Clean Eating, they above all guarantee variety in the menu and therefore, a wider supply of vitamins and nutrients. By adding for example fresh herbs like chives (green), a spice like turmeric (yellow) on a cauliflower (white) you already bring three colors and three different nutrients.
6. Cooking . It determines the preservation of the nutritional qualities of food. Cooking at too high a temperature, for too long or in too much water and the nutrients are altered. Tip: when you cook vegetables in water, use it as a sauce base or add it to a soup or broth to recover the lost nutrients.
7. Water. Essential, fundamental, it guarantees the functioning of all organs, good transit, cellular communication and above all without additives that would disturb the messages. Tea, herbal teas and a little unsweetened coffee complete the right amount of water but do not replace it in any case. The apostles of clean Food advise drinking plenty of water, even advocating drinking up to two to three liters per day... We of course avoid alcohol, rich in sugars and empty calories, inflammatory, causing liver and cardiovascular problems.
8. Labels. Get into the habit of reading them and, above all, decoding them . Track down colorants, additives, sugar even in salty foods, salt even in sweet foods!
9. Fractionation. Go beyond the three basic meals and add snacks (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) to limit the energy slump that makes you want to grab whatever is in the cupboards. Clean Eating followers eat up to 6 meals a day.
10. Homemade. Cook yourself and adopt the lunch box if you work outside. Take inspiration from batch cooking, this method which consists of preparing the meals of an entire week in one day. If the idea of ​​spending an entire day cooking 6 or 7 dishes displeases you, at a minimum, cook basics which will save you time in preparing your menus: rice, quinoa, lentils (but without exceeding 3 days in the refrigerator), prepare vegetables and fresh herbs so that they are ready to eat (peeled, washed, drained salad stored in a box in the refrigerator, with a sheet of absorbent paper to remove excess moisture), cook a few hard-boiled eggs, get ahead with a chicken which, once cooked, will serve as a base for several meals and even a delicious broth with the carcass. In short, have the reflexes of the ancients who mastered the art of using leftovers.
11. Pleasure . Tosca Reno, who has undergone many holistic approaches and therapies, insists on the non-negotiable nature of any food “diet”: pleasure. It awakens the senses and promotes excellent assimilation of nutrients.
12. Satiety. Rediscover the notion of satiety and hunger, you listen to your body, its feelings, its desires and the pleasure of eating this or that food. Linked to this notion of pleasure, the fact of eating mindfully, chewing carefully and taking your time to enjoy each meal or snack.
13. Salt. As little salt as possible added, raw foods already contain it naturally. To spice up your dishes, prefer fresh herbs and spices.
14. Sugar . Without obviously! Or as little as possible. Better, choose a substitute sugar: honey, agave syrup, coconut sugar, ground dehydrated apple. No question of using a sweetener, a real decoy for the brain which feels the sweet taste without registering the calories and which then always asks for more.

Clean Eating Health Foods

The list of healthy eating food categories is long:

• Whole grains: brown rice, oats, and pseudo grains like quinoa
• Water or lemon water
• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Quality vegetable oils: first-pressed olive oil, coconut oil, rapeseed oil, hemp oil, camelina oil
• Legumes: dried beans, lentils
• Oilseeds: flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts
• Fish and meat from organic farming
• Dairy products
• Superfoods: matcha, maca, goji… contested by other fooding movements because of the distant origin of some
• Unsweetened tea and coffee
• Alternatives to sugar: honey, coconut blossom

Clean Eating Forbidden Foods

These are all foods that are processed and full of additives (such as colorings, artificial flavors, sweeteners). At a minimum, foods must be very little processed, therefore as close as possible to the producer and their terroir in order to avoid the many stages of processing.
To avoid:

• Alcohol
• Sugary drinks: sodas, industrially sweetened fruit juices, even those called “natural”
• White cereals made with highly refined white flour
• Fast and Junk Food
• Hydrogenated fats: frying oil, margarine
• Prepared meals
• Sugar

The Benefits of Clean Eating

The Disadvantages of Clean Eating

There are, of course. Even if eating healthy is confusingly logical, adopting Clean Eating can require effort, even inconvenience. But in the balance of benefits / risks, the choice is quickly made! Of course, home-made takes more time than opening your fridge, freezer or cupboard and taking out a ready-made meal. Critics put forward the economic argument that eating organic, local, healthy, raw is expensive. But… think about it because a prepared meal, full of salt (which weighs everything down by gorging itself with water), rich in empty calories and sugar, encourages cravings and snacking… which is expensive in the end. The 5 to 6 meals a day can become a constraint if they do not correspond to your lifestyle or your metabolism. Finally, like any “principle” or model, if you want to respect it drastically, a binary and Manichean approach can set in. And if it activates or reactivates fears, it can lead to eating disorders, which is exactly what we should avoid.

Clean Eating, more than a trend that risks going out of fashion, is a respectful way of treating your body by providing it with all the healthy nutrients it needs to function, with a view to preventing diseases linked to junk food.
But eating healthy and balanced is also one of the pillars of self-care, as Tosca Reno advocates, alongsidephysical exercise and various well-being practices. A virtuous circle to achieve harmony.