Thursday, December 30, 2010

Eating Clean Principles

There are a few hard and fast truths to eating clean:

Avoid all over-processed and refined foods (especially sugar, white rice, and white flour)
Avoid saturated and trans fat, instead consuming healthy fats
Avoid soda and other sugary juices and drinks
Avoid high-calorie, zero nutrient foods (i.e., junk food)

-Remove the processed, man-made foods from your diet and replace them with foods that naturally occur in Nature.
-If it grew on a bush, tree, or vine - or walked the Earth, eat it in its most natural state.
-Look for food as "un messed with" as possible.
-Switch items like regular dairy products for those labeled organic - they are free of hormones and potential filler ingredients ( like as in cheese, with starch fillers )
-Switch your ground beef and meats for free range meats, if possible. Lean meats like chicken, turkey, and seafoods are excellent.
-Switch sugars - don't replace regular sugar in your diet with an artificial sweetener; it is a man made chemical. Look for natural sweeteners like stevia, agave nectar, honey, molasses, and cane sugar juice.
-Drink water. Drink a lot of water. And then drink some more. Every day. Always.
-Learn to make your own - learn a simple but pleasing simple recipe for salad dressing ( olive oil, flavored vinegar, herbs ) - and learn to make a simple homemade tomato sauce.
-When you do buy things in cans and jars ( like beans ), rinse thoroughly to remove excess salt. Lean towards items in glass jars rather than cans, if possible.
- If you eat bread, look for whole grain breads, and eat in moderation.
- If looking towards a "processed product"  ( like a condiment, sauce, etc ) look for those that have the fewest ingredients with nothing you can't pronounce