The Truth About “Clean” Eating – Part One

The “clean eating” notion can be confusing. What foods actually merit the term? Most clean eating “experts” include meat/animal products in their guidelines. And yet, It could be soundly argued that animal products and clean eating are mutually exclusive.

How can foods that promote illness be considered either healthy or clean? Animal products are a causative factor in the most serious health issues Americans face today, from heart disease and diabetes to obesity and Alzheimer’s disease.¹

Numerous studies have also implicated animal foods in the development of many types of cancer,² which is logically grounds for automatic disqualification in any “clean” eating plan.

If you think a menu without animal products too limiting, consider that, as Garth Davis, M.D. notes in his book Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat Is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It, a mere 12 plants and 5 animals compose about 75% of the world’s food, and yet there are approximately 300,000 known edible plant species, only about 150 of which are used commonly around the world.

Clearly, we’ve scarcely scratched the surface of meat-free culinary possibilities! Next up, The Truth About “Clean” Eating – Part Two.

References: 

¹ Gac Med Mex. 2015 Mar-Apr;151(2):245-51

 ² http://www.pcrm.org/health/cancer-resources/diet-cancer/facts/meat-consumption-and-cancer-risk.