Clean eating is a nutritional approach that emphasizes whole foods over processed ones, prioritizing vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean protein sources like olive oil and nuts and discouraging artificial sweeteners and flavors.
Clean eating can quickly become obsessive and lead to disordered eating, leading to weight gain, hypertension and nutritional deficiencies.
It’s not a fad
When trying to eat healthily, it’s essential not to fall prey to diet fads. Doing so could put your relationship with food at risk and could ultimately result in health complications over time.
Gluten-free, sugar-free and plant-based diets are among the many “clean” diet trends currently trending, yet this can often rely on falsehoods – for instance coconut oil may seem healthy when in reality it contains high amounts of saturated fat that may increase risk of cardiovascular disease.
Clean eating advocates a more mindful approach to food consumption and focus on nutrient-rich options. Unfortunately, however, many critics view it as a trend that encourages unhealthy lifestyles while making some people feel like they’re depriving themselves and creating unhealthy eating patterns.
It’s not a diet
Many people view clean eating as an approach that prioritizes whole foods over processed items, but this concept varies considerably in its dietary content. It could include organic, natural, non-GMO and unprocessed foods; vegetables and fruit; lean proteins; healthy fats and reduced consumption of sugar, salt, preservatives and gluten; these patterns could even lead to orthorexia nervosa — an eating disorder characterized by an extreme preoccupation with dietary purity and avoidance of certain foods.
One study asked participants to rate three stories about three protagonists’ approaches to clean eating. Of all three stories, participants rated “meal substitution” as least clean and most unhealthy; yet still supported it positively. Such positive attitude may mask harmful effects of restrictive behaviors that promote an imbalanced view of food – something which may prove deadly for vulnerable individuals who suffer from eating psychopathology; this could result in nutritional deficiency leading to further disorders like anorexia.
It’s not a lifestyle
Clean eating may be a popular trend, but it can sometimes lead to unhealthy behaviors like demonizing certain foods or restricting certain food groups. At times this diet may even lead to nutritional deficiencies; for instance, certain versions ban salt even though most pre-packaged meals contain too much.
There is no set definition of what “clean eating” entails, but most agree it entails eating more whole foods and less processed items; avoiding artificial ingredients; prioritizing organic products over conventional ones; limiting sugar and alcohol consumption and seeking healthier lifestyle options as part of this lifestyle change.
Research participants participated in responding to a series of vignettes depicting various interpretations of clean eating concepts and were then asked to assess their reactions and identify clinical phenomena, in order to gauge how these practices might contribute to eating disorders. Results from the study demonstrated that participants’ responses varied dramatically, from highly positive ones like some to highly negative responses like others.
It’s not a religion
If a friend of yours is consumed by an obsession for clean eating, be mindful that their behavior could be indicative of an eating disorder (ED). Adherence to an ideal diet at the expense of social, school and emotional functioning may indicate psychopathology within an ED.
These food trends tend to promote behaviors that have led a generation away from religion: judgement, self-righteousness and an us-versus-them mentality. Furthermore, they can create an air of moral superiority which could result in social isolation or depression.
Alice Liveing, a former Instagram influencer who was forced to adapt a restrictive diet in order to maintain an ideal image on Instagram, experienced poor sleep and chronic anxiety as a result of keeping this up for too long. Due to this unhealthy habit becoming too much for her to bear, Alice decided to remove both her food blog and Instagram account as evidence that it had gone too far.
