All Processed Foods Are Off-Limits
The most common clean-eating myth out there is that all processed foods should be avoided at all costs. Not all processed foods are created equal. Some processed foods are good for you, such as nut butters, canned light tuna packed in water and plain flash-frozen fruits and vegetables. Think about it – a loaf of 100% whole-wheat bread might be a healthier choice than white bread, but both are equally processed. Your favorite hummus from the store? Technically processed, but it’s still packed with nutrients. Processed foods are on as spectrum, from minimally processed to ultra-processed, and not all processed foods are bad. Rather than becoming paranoid about food labels, focus on choosing whole foods most of the time while accepting that some processing can actually make foods more convenient and accessible without destroying their nutritional value.
Only Eat If You Recognize Every Ingredient
This rule sounds smart in theory, but it’s actually pretty flawed when you dig deeper. “Looking at a nutrition label will give you an idea if a food is ultraprocessed,” but “If you don’t recognize many of the ingredients listed, that can be a sign that there was a lot of processing involved.” However, many perfectly healthy foods contain ingredients with scientific names that sound scary but are completely harmless. Ascorbic acid is just vitamin C, and tocopherols are a form of vitamin E. Many nutrient-dense foods include “canned black beans, rye bread, nonfat milk, ground turkey, tofu, canned fruit and shredded cheese” that are considered ultraprocessed according to classification systems. Instead of playing ingredient detective, focus on the overall nutritional profile of foods and how they fit into your diet.
Frozen and Canned Foods Are Nutritionally Inferior
Research suggests that frozen, canned, and dried fruits and vegetables can provide just as much nutrition as fresh produce. In fact, freezing, canning, or drying them within hours of harvesting helps to keep their original quality as it ‘locks’ in nutrients at their peak ripeness. That bag of frozen broccoli in your freezer might actually be more nutritious than the “fresh” broccoli that’s been sitting in your fridge for a week. Frozen produce tends to be picked at the peak of ripeness, and studies show that frozen foods have as many vitamins and antioxidants as fresh ones, and in some cases even more. What’s more, the longer you store fresh produce, the more of its nutritional value it loses. Frozen and canned foods provide a quick, healthy way to eat more fruits and vegetables. Read labels to limit added sugars and sodium and excess fats.
Organic Is Always Better
When compared with conventionally farmed produce, organic produce has the same vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, proteins, lipids and other nutrients, as well as the same number of calories. Simply put, the health benefits of organic food are still unclear. Sure, choosing organic can reduce your exposure to pesticides, but it’s not a magic bullet for better health. “Whether you eat organic or conventionally grown produce, fruits and vegetables of all types are nature’s gift to us.” If the decision to buy certain produce comes down to price, both organic and non-organic produce are nutritious and beneficial to your health. What matters most is eating more fruits and vegetables, period. If choosing conventional produce means you’ll eat more of them because they fit your budget better, that’s the healthier choice for you.
Detox Diets Cleanse Your Body
There’s little evidence that dietary cleanses do any of the things they promise. The fact is you don’t need to purchase a product to cleanse your body. Your liver, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract do a good job of detoxing it every day. A 2014 review study found no evidence that detox diets eliminate toxins from the body or help with long-term weight loss. Even if you lose weight during a cleanse, a 2017 study found that most people actually gain weight when they resume eating normally. Your body is already equipped with an amazing detox system – it’s called your liver and kidneys. Your body can detox just fine on its own using your liver and kidneys. The human body is amazing so let your body do the work and not some detox diet or product you found on the internet.
Cut Out Entire Food Groups
Any diet or eating program that eliminates an entire food group gets a red flag as you likely will miss out on vital nutrients. Unless you have a specific medical condition, allergy, or intolerance, there’s usually no need to completely eliminate major food groups like grains, dairy, or legumes. Studies suggest that eating gluten may lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes, likely because such diets are higher in nutritious whole grains. If you don’t have a medical reason to avoid gluten, there’s no need to cut it out. Enjoy whole grains as part of healthy, balanced diet. Do not cut out entire food groups: Certain diets will urge you to cut out entire food groups, such as dairy, fruits, and wheat. You do not need to avoid these food groups unless you have an allergy, intolerance, or cultural or religious beliefs. Make sure you consume a variety of whole foods to get plenty of nutrients.
All Sugar Is Evil
While it’s smart to limit added sugars, completely demonizing all sugar – including natural sugars in fruit – is taking things too far. While fruit contains sugar, “It is naturally occurring sugar.” The naturally occurring sugar in whole fruits provides energy for the body, as well as fiber and essential nutrients including potassium, vitamin C and folate. “Whole fruit is an important part of a healthy diet, linked to lower rates of heart disease and some cancers.” Even with added sugars, there is actually a lot of disagreement about the recommended limit on added sugar, but across multiple studies, the people with the lowest median intake of added sugar still consumed up to 50 grams of added sugar per day. That’s about the amount in two giant chocolate-chip cookies, or two to three regular-size candy bars, or one 16-oz soda. The key is moderation, not complete elimination.
Eating After 8 PM Causes Weight Gain
Nighttime eating has commonly been associated with weight gain. The main idea behind this myth is that your body isn’t using energy and so your meal or snack(s) will get stored as fat. However, your body doesn’t just shut down at night. You may be using less energy at rest, but your heart is still pumping, your body continues to regulate its temperature, your lungs are still breathing and your brain is still functioning. This myth probably surfaced because late-night snacks are often unhealthy. In reality, the time of day is not as important as what you eat. If you’re bingeing on ice cream or chips and dip, you’ll gain weight — no matter what time of day it is. What matters more is what you’re eating and why, not the time on the clock.
Calories Don’t Matter If Food Is “Clean”
It’s true that if you burn more energy than you consume, you will probably lose weight, at least in the short term. But for your overall health, “calories in, calories out” is an oversimplified notion that doesn’t account for the influence different types of foods have on your overall health. However, that doesn’t mean calories become magically irrelevant just because food is labeled as “clean.” Our weight status is determined through complicated biological processes that include several factors: genetics, social determinants of health, total caloric intake and composition, physical activity, and muscle mass. “It is important to highlight that calories are not all created equal.” “So the same calories that you might get from eating an apple, for example, are very different than the calories you might get from eating an apple fruit bar. These might be equivalent in number, but what ultraprocessed calories represent and the nutrition that they provide your body is different.”
You Must Eat Six Small Meals a Day
The idea behind this myth is that eating small, frequent meals could boost your metabolism so you burn more calories. However, studies show that splitting the same number of calories into six meals rather than three does not help with daily energy expenditure, weight loss or fat loss. If you are healthy, the frequency of your meals does not matter as long as you meet your energy needs. In fact, University of Colorado researchers found that those who ate smaller, more frequent meals ended up feeling hungrier than their counterparts who ate less often. In the real world, if people are told to eat five or six small meals, they are just going to eat more, or eat more of the wrong things. Listen to your hunger cues and eat in a pattern that works for your lifestyle and preferences.
What would you have guessed about these so-called clean eating rules?
