Clean Sweep

*Disclaimer: I am not an expert on this topic. I just have an opinion I want to share. 

My new obsession is clean eating. (I say obsession because I'm really into it right now, but who knows how long this will last) There is no real specific definition or set of guidelines you have to follow to “eat clean”, but it basically means that you eat foods in their most whole and natural form. The less processed something is and the fewer ingredients it contains, the better off you are. So you mostly eat fresh fruits and veggies, less saturated fat, less added sugars, more lean proteins and whole-wheat grains. There are so many weird chemicals in our food it’s disgusting. Aspartame, Sucralose, and really any fake sugars scare me. In my mind I can feel myself getting cancer from them. Same goes for fake butters. Food dyes. Preservatives. Genetically modified foods. They are not from nature; therefore our bodies were not designed to process them. It only makes sense to eat what we were born to - natural foods in their whole form.

Like any new thing you try, it’s best to ease into it. Make one meal a day “clean” and increase from there until there are little to no processed foods left in your diet. It’s really difficult and inconvenient a lot of times, but in my mind I know it makes sense and is better for my body. It’s also really difficult when you are the only one in your house doing it. I cave to peer pressure a lot.

I also highly considered going without dairy. We are the only animals that drink another animal’s milk. Our bodies are not made to digest it, which is why so many people are lactose intolerant. Then I realized that this would mean no ice cream and no yogurt. Two things I might die without. Although I have switched to almond milk and I don’t use cheese all that often, so that’s a start I guess? I like the idea of not eating dairy; I just don’t like actually not eating it. Maybe one day I’ll get there.

If you want to learn more about this, I recommend watching Food Inc. It’s an awesome documentary that reveals the disgusting secrets behind how our food is made. Kind of along the same lines as Supersize Me. It focuses a lot on meats (a slight nod to Sinclair’s The Jungle), but it shows in general how twisted the food industry in our country is. Our food is becoming like our media; it's all distorted because it's all owned my a handful of large companies. It’s an important issue and it’s equally important to remember that you control what you put in your body as fuel.

Okay I think I'm getting too serious for this blog. Really I just want everyone to be happy and healthy and eating what is right for their body and right for our environment. It's easier said than done, but worth it in the end.