The organic food movement is gaining popularity and with good reasons. However, big companies and marketers all want to jump in, and we start to see some organic foods aberrations. Organic white flour, organic cane sugar and organic processed mac’n cheese in a box or cookies offer little more nutritional value than their mainstream counterparts. Processed foods, organic or not, isn’t a healthy way to fuel your body.
What you should look for is what we call “clean food”. But what does it means? Essentially, it’s going back to what food was like about 100 years ago, when fruits and vegetables were grown on their own backyards before monster farms, pesticides and grain-fed meats. It’s food that is as close to nature as it can be.
How to eat clean
- Choose foods that are free of additives, preservatives, colorings, artificial ingredients or other engineered ingredients.
- Opt for organic foods that are in season and locally grown.
- If you must eat meat or animal products, at least choose products that come from animals that roam in pastures and eat grass.
- Choose single-ingredient, unprocessed foods over their processed counterparts. As example, you’re better eating organic oat groats than oat puffed cereals made with cane juice, even if it’s organic.
- Prefer foods that are gluten-free and free of common allergens such as corn and soy. Why? Because those crops are commonly genetically modified, and even the organic ones have doubled their chromosomes compared to what they were back then.
Is your diet clean?