Are You Eating Clean?

I’ve always considered “eating clean” an overused, cliché-like eating description. I’m warming up to it though. My issue with “eating clean” is that it means so many different things to different people. Some “eating clean” aficionados insist nutrition choices must  be friendly to our planet and not just our bodies. Others claim that adding anything to a food, which would include vitamin D fortification in milk, would violate the code. Some believe that a foods nutrient content must be high for it to be considered clean. I do agree that nutrient quality is a very good idea and should be a primary consideration for choosing food. I don’t believe poor nutrient value makes food unclean. On the other end of the continuum resides the belief that “minimally processed” foods are to be considered “clean”. This definition leaves much room for food health and safety violations. I believe that the first definitions are too strict and the latter too weak. I’ll try to apply the Goldilocks solution and identify a working definition that’s “just right”.

I ask a basic question to help me determine if a food is “clean” or not. I simply ask whether the food is presented exactly as nature intended. It may seem over simplistic, but it works well for me. Food is the biggest contributor of unhealthy contaminants entering our bodies. Prioritize the consumption of whole, unprocessed, organic foods. The organic label must be validly attached to both vegetables and meats. Avoid herbicides, pesticides, preservatives, antibiotics, hormones and all other unnatural substances that contaminate our foods. The only way to do that is purchasing from trusted sources that are 100%, verifiable, organic, grass-fed, free-range, pasture-raised, and wild-caught. Animals raised eating a biologically familiar (historically correct) diet for that species is optimal. Genetically modified foods also pose possible health risks and must be added to the list of “unclean” food choices.

As a health/wellness consumer advocate it’s my responsibility to know what companies are doing to meet these requirements. In my opinion, Open Pasture Meats doing business out of Charlotte, North Carolina is winning the race to provide consumers the safest, healthiest food on the planet. Increase your awareness and sophistication in this subject area, and purchase food from known organic sources.

Wayne Coolidge Jr., M.Ed., CHES is a scholar-practitioner, author, and speaker. He owns Healthy Dynamic Living, an innovative health promotion consulting firm.