It’s all the rage to speak of “clean eating.” We’ve got cookbooks, magazine series, and blogs devoted to the topic. So what could be wrong with the idea of eating clean? Plenty.
It encourages food obsession.
If some food is clean, with that word’s connotations of purity, goodness, and virtue, other food must be dirty, unclean, impure, and vile.
Is that rational talk? Does it even make sense?
No and no.
No, it’s not rational because it assigns moral virtues to food. And by extension, it encourages us to think that we are virtuous and good by eating “clean.” So if we’ve sworn we’ll eat clean and then we go out and enjoy burritos and beer (I’m assuming they qualify as dirty), doesn’t that mean we’ve fallen from grace and become unclean?
Women have enough food issues without that sort of sophistry.
No, it doesn’t make sense because food can’t be clean or unclean (and I’m not talking about what happens when, for example, you drop your apple slices on the sidewalk) but only somewhere on a continuum of nutrient quality.
Assigning value judgments to food encourages us to think about food in irrational ways. Food is just fuel. It provides calories and nutrients and yes, pleasure.
Some kinds of food are more nutrient dense than others, and we can compare foods in an objective way. X has more protein than Y but fewer vitamins. A has more monosaturated fat, whereas B is a better source of complex carbohydrates. But which is “cleaner”? Who can say?
It’s purely a matter of opinion.
Your “clean” might be my “dirty.” As I posted on Facebook recently, I’d read a blog post in which the author praised the virtues of some form of “natural” brown sugar and said that brownies prepared with it would be “clean,” whereas conventional brownies made with white sugar wouldn’t be.
Oh please.
Sucrose is sucrose is sucrose, with apologies to Gertrude Stein. The brown sugar may have minuscule traces of vitamins and be minimally less processed, but all sucrose—whether it’s white sugar, brown sugar, or “turbinado” sugar (the fallaciously named “raw” sugar that was a favorite of health nuts during my youth)—is metabolized in exactly the same way.
Eating a certain amount of sugar isn’t going to kill anyone, but let’s not tell ourselves silly stories about the supposed virtues of “clean” desserts.
It doesn’t take food quantity into account.
Often discussions of “clean” eating take place in the context of fat loss. And plenty of women have the mistaken notion that eating “clean” automatically causes fat loss. Nope, sorry.
Ten years ago I was one of those deluded people. I knew better, but I had persuaded myself that counting calories would be too much work. My food choices were all certifiably “clean,” yet my weight had plateaued.
After a good long period (many months) of complete frustration, I began tracking my intake and discovered that, lo and behold, I was eating enough “clean” calories to maintain my weight.
Once I began eating the same foods but at a moderate caloric deficit, the fat began to burn.
Just something to think about if you’re wondering why “clean” eating isn’t making you leaner.
Now that I’ve had my rant, let me clarify that I’m not saying we shouldn’t eat nutritiously. Of course we should. If we want to achieve good health as well as leanness, most of our calories should pull their weight, pardon the pun.
You know what we need: sufficient protein, vegetables and fruits, whole grains, fats that aren’t hydrogenated—and in the proper amounts and proportions.
I’d just like to see us focus on what can be quantified: as in, this meal contains 450 calories, 20 grams of high-quality protein, three servings of vegetables, eight grams of fiber, and so on.
And if there’s room in the caloric budget, sure, we can have a serving of ice cream too or some butter on our brown rice.
So what do you think? Have I opened a can of worms? (Now, that would be a dirty food.)
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: Linda_Mattacks
January 23, 2012 at 9:42 am
Oh I don’t know: A can of worms wouldn’t be dirty to most birds, would it?
Twitter: themusclediva
January 23, 2012 at 9:44 am
You’re right!
Love this. What also must be taken into consideration are the boundaries of the western food system. “Clean” and primal eating force people to swim too hard against the current of that system. It’s really not that hard to live within the food system and still eat well. “Eat well”. I like the sound of that much more than “eat clean”.
Choices. How much? How often? These matter as much as: Where grown? How processed?
Clean and primal eating are just another form of dogma pushed into the world by religious zealots with excess agenda and too much narcissism.
Wait, we are allowed to respond to a rant with a rant, yes…?
Twitter: themusclediva
January 23, 2012 at 9:44 am
Abso-fraggin-lutely. I like that you use the term “religious zealots.” Because that’s what all this food purity reminds me of. I already have a religion, thank you, and my eating and exercise habits don’t have a heck of a lot to do with it.
BTW, I’m so frustrated with my WP theme that I could scream. So everyone, please excuse the non-standard appearance of this blog while I attempt to make Thesis behave itself. I should know better than to assume an upgrade would cause no problems.
Theme schmeme — you right good stuff, regarldess of how it’s wrapped!
Give me dirty food or give me death….
This whole clean food thing really burns me. Food is food. Pick good stuff, enjoy it and exercise, that is all.
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Twitter: ChristineMiller
January 23, 2012 at 12:27 pm
I was reading one of Paulo Coelho’s books, ‘Like the Flowing River’ this weekend, in which there’s a short essay about the dangers of the spiritual path. He speaks of the myths, and the ‘rules’ than get imposed, and food was one of the topics he tackled.
Whilst respecting the established rules of certain religions, he went on to have a bit of rant about how the world is being flooded with a wave of ‘purification through food’.
He ended with a quote from Jesus:
“It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth…”.
I’ve done various raw food and cleansing type programmes, usually short term and for a very specific purpose, (rapid weight loss usually! I know, I know….) but I have never not eaten any type of food as a matter of principle (not since fish on Friday days as a child, anyway) even if I have refused food of which I doubt the provenance.
I try to remember to always say grace for my food, to bless it and hold the intention for it to be beneficial, and I give thanks for the variety available to me, and enjoy it.
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Twitter: WorkoutNirvana
January 23, 2012 at 1:41 pm
If you’ve read any of my clean eating posts, you’ll see that I’m clearly not obsessed with food or eating. In fact, I hate thinking about food and am not much of a cook… I prefer to simply know what is healthy and what is not, how to have all-day energy, and not have to agonize.
Other bloggers have also tried to demonize clean eating, saying it’s an unhealthy way of thinking and causes food obsession. To me, it’s obsessive to know exactly how many calories are in every meal. And if you’re wired to be obsessed, you can do it with just about any eating style or diet. Why not just have an idea of what foods contain and moderate your intake, tracking calories once in awhile as needed?
The only definitive guide to clean eating lifestyle is Tosca Reno’s The Eat Clean Diet. If critics read this book, they’d see what real clean eating is: as unprocessed as possible, low in fat, sugar, and sodium, and spacing out meals so that your sugar levels don’t get too low. That’s really it.
The clean eating approach gets a bad rap from a few weird people. In reality, it’s exactly what you’re a proponent of, Mary – healthy choices. Let’s not create a witch hunt about a particular eating approach just because a few people like to use it in an extreme way.
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Twitter: themusclediva
January 23, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Excellent points! I appreciate your feedback!
I agree with you, Suzanne. I’m new to the whole “clean eating” thing, so I haven’t been exposed to the zealots mentioned in the article. As far as I understand, clean eating is simply eating whole and natural foods as often as possible, avoiding processed food or factory-made chemicals, and eating smaller meals more often. It could also be called “How my Grandmother used to eat.”
It sounds like the author has an issue with the zealots rather than the actual way of eating. And I agree – anyone who takes anything too far is irritating. This can include religion, political parties, fitness regimens, work, hipsters, and yes, diets. (I’m specifically thinking of my vegan friend who loudly proclaimed to my dairy farmer uncle that, “Milking cows is the rape of cows!”) The “assigning virtue to food” argument is also a bit hollow for me. Some foods are better than others. Full stop. Like a whole apple vs. sugar-added apple juice. Is this a matter of “virtue?” Not for me. I see it as a matter of nutrients or what is good for the body.
My experience with clean eating so far has been positive – in 8 weeks I’ve lost weight and inches, and gained tons of energy. I’m not perfect with it, but I try to eat this way the majority of the time. So call it “clean,” call it “dirty,” or call it whatever you want. But please don’t vilify a healthy way of eating because of extremists or an unfortunate (yet marketable) name.
Twitter: lisaeirene
March 15, 2012 at 11:47 pm
Suzanne, you know I *LOVE* you but I have to disagree that it’s obsessive to know how many calories are in meals. As someone who struggled for most of her life with obesity, portion control and knowing WHEN to stop eating, calorie counting has made me a success in losing and keeping off 100 pounds. I will *always* count my calories. I need to be accountable to myself. I may “Estimate” a lot of my calorie counting these days, but I still try hard to do it at each meal. It’s a way of life for me now. Intuitive eating never worked for me because intuitively I want to overeat. Calorie counting keeps it in check.
And while I may disagree with you, I still love you.
Twitter: Lisawood
January 27, 2012 at 1:33 pm
I like to eat healthy foods because I feel better physically when I eat well. But I don’t obsess about it. If I want something sweet, I’ll have it in moderation.
I used to count calories, carbs, etc religiously. After a long plateau, it was only when I stopped counting that I lost weight. now I have an idea of where’s I’m at each day but don’t obsess.
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Twitter: saraharrow
January 28, 2012 at 6:29 am
Ah, another myth blasted out the water Mary
Anything ending in “ose” isn’t good for us, no matter how the mad men dress it up!
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Twitter: lisaeirene
March 15, 2012 at 11:50 pm
I wanted to leave a comment on the topic of “clean” eating. I have to agree with you on the concept of it making it seem like some foods are “dirty” or bad. As someone who is now maintaining a tremendous weight loss, I learned that restricting foods altogether doesn’t work–so I eat them in moderation. That also means cheeseburgers, pizza and dessert. Those things are still in my diet, just not as often and I eat them in moderation.
I wrote a post (I think) last summer…about the concept of “cheat days”. I think it’s similar to your stance on clean food. Food should just be food–eaten in moderation and looked at in a healthy way–not “this food is bad” or “I can’t eat that, I’m on a DIET”. I am not on a diet! I’m living my life and eating what I want in reasonable portions.
Great post!
Twitter: themusclediva
March 16, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Thanks! I know that post was a bit controversial. It was sparked by the prevalent idea that if we eat certain virtuous foods, we’ll automatically lose fat. So not true!
I’m with you on making room for cheeseburgers and pizza in moderation.
Twitter: themusclediva
March 16, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Oh, and dessert!
Thanks for this. I tried to do “clean eating” for a while, but I found it so strict that I couldn’t stick with it. It’s much easier to do like 75-80% “clean” – that way I can still eat at restaurants and indulge occasionally in junk food like ice cream or fries. If someone wants to go full “clean” that’s cool, but I think you can still be very healthy without the strict adherence.
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