34 Clean Eating Recipes You'll Actually Want To Eat (2024)

FAQs

What is the 5 day clean eating challenge? ›

If you're looking to detox and get back to being healthy, you can make yourself a 5 day clean eating plan. Clean eating is a simple concept— you only consume whole foods. By that, we mean foods that aren't processed or refined or are at least minimally processed.

While focusing on whole foods and limiting some processed products is a good idea, it's important to distinguish clean eating from healthy eating. Clean eating is based on restriction — proponents think of “clean” foods as more pure and thus superior. This suggests that other foods are “dirty” or unhealthy.

There are a lot of variations to clean eating; but, basically, it refers to eating foods that are as close as possible to their natural state. This encourages us to make our meals from scratch to make them as “clean” as possible.

The Whole30 diet is a strict 30-day elimination diet that many people turn to for weight loss or help with digestive concerns. The program encourages you to cut out alcohol, sugar, grains, legumes, dairy, and additives from your diet for 30 days.

Dedicate yourself to the clean eating lifestyle, and you'll lose about 3 pounds a week, Reno says. The benefits go beyond weight loss. You'll stay healthy and have more energy.

Clean Proteins:

Eggs. Unflavored nuts: almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts. Plain nut butters with no added sugar. Dried beans.

Likewise, many whole grains qualify for a clean eating food list even though they may be somewhat processed. For example, whole rolled oats are a clean food, but the very outer coating of the oat, as you'd find with oat groats, has been removed.

The Bottom Line. It is totally fine to eat potatoes every day. While how you prepare and cook potatoes and how much you eat could possibly impact your health, whole potatoes with skin are a nutritious vegetable with health benefits.

Peanut butter is rich in a variety of nutrients. But commercial peanut butter brands often have added sugars, oils, and fats. For the best health benefits from peanut butter, look for all-natural products without these added ingredients.

A clean diet may include whole fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats while limiting highly processed snacks and other packaged foods with added sugar and salt. It may also be associated with terms like plant-based, grass-fed, sugar-free, or gluten-free.

Is bread clean eating? ›

Some things that are likely to be found on the table of clean food eaters are: Whole-grains instead of refined flour, as in bread, cookies, cakes, and pies.

For those who can tolerate dairy, cheeses can be a healthy and nutritious source of proteins and healthy fats if consumed in moderation. Cheese is allowed in the clean eating meal plan, but with an asterisk. Processed cheese slices or other packaged foods that contain cheese should be avoided.

Start by focusing on whole, unprocessed foods: Choose lean proteins such as chicken, fish, eggs, and beans. Whole grains like brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, whole wheat, fresh vegetables and fruits, bio-quality dairy products, healthy fats such as nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocados, and herbs and spices for flavoring.

Cottage cheese is often seen as a go-to food for dieters and “clean” eaters alike due to its high protein content and relatively low-calorie count.

A clean diet may include whole fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats while limiting highly processed snacks and other packaged foods with added sugar and salt. It may also be associated with terms like plant-based, grass-fed, sugar-free, or gluten-free.