Nourish with NorthBay Dietitians

Nourish is a blog written each week by NorthBay Healthcare dietitians. It focuses on health and nutrition with educational information, tips and advice as well as an occasional recipe.

Hot 'Eating' Trends

December 20, 2017
 

By Kathleen Shafer, M.A., R.D.

"Clean eating" or "eating clean" has been getting more and more press lately. If you search on the internet you can find many sites touting books, articles, and specialized diet plans telling you how to change your life. So what does clean eating entail? Is it really a Miracle Cure for all that ails you?

While not really a miracle cure - clean eating is based on simple healthy eating concepts. Trying to eat foods as close to their natural form as possible with minimal to no processing. There are variations to the overall concept and, depending on where you live and what your lifestyle is, you might make various choices.

The "eat local" trend shares the concepts of clean eating. The foods that are grown the closest to you and arrive to your farmer's market, your CSA basket, or your produce stand have the best chance of having a higher nutrient content and greater flavor. They should be fresher than supermarket produce and are definitely worth considering.

Local produce has enhanced flavor as it is able to stay in the fields or on the vine to ripen longer allowing the flavors and the nutrients to concentrate and develop. Have you ever eaten a carrot fresh from the garden? The taste and smell of it is completely different from a store bought carrot. It is vibrant and crunchy and sweet and those intense flavors mellow while in transit and while hanging out in a grocery store. Don't get me wrong, grocery store carrots are still good, it is just not quite as good tasting or fresh as one just picked.

Certain foods such as tomatoes are picked green and allowed to ripen through the use of ethylene gas. Yep, they keep the tomatoes green to protect them from bruising or breaking down during the transport process and then they zap them with controlled amounts of gas to get them to ripen. If you cut open a store bought tomato next to a farm or garden picked tomato you'll see quite a color difference and your nose should be able to identify the ripe sweet smell of the one just picked.

If your plan is to "eat clean" then you probably aren't looking for added chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Certified organic produce is now more widely available and is grown without added chemicals. Organic produce is known to cost more than its counterpart but certain farmer's markets have competitive pricing on their organic items. Another way to avoid added chemical fertilizers and pesticides is to have your own garden. If you have room to plant in your yard you can personalize your planting to items you and your family will enjoy. No space? Try container gardening. You can even find fabric containers of all different sizes on the internet for affordable prices. Pick what size fits for what you want to grow and voila, you are a gardener. The nice thing about these pots is that they can be emptied, folded up, and removed when not in use. Don't forget other types of organic foods too - products that are animal based can also be certified organic.

The USDA recommendations for health encourage a more plant-based diet. This falls into line with clean eating by encouraging people to assure that enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes are present in their diet. By choosing whole grains like quinoa, farro, and barley and by picking legumes like lentils, beans, or split peas, you are adding in fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidents.

There are some great ideas out there about eating clean, but there is also unhealthy, non-evidence based, rather obsessive information available too. Stick to the facts, make good choices for you and your family, try new things and when in doubt, check in with a registered dietitian for professional advice.

The author is Director of Nutrition Services with NorthBay Healthcare.
 

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