Our Obsession with ‘Clean Eating’

When I made the decision to eat clean it felt like a drastic undertaking – but a desperate time called for a desperate measure. I felt fat, sick, tired, and in need of a change.

The way that I defined ‘clean eating’ was cutting out refined sugar, refined flour, and preservatives. I started off with a 21 day ‘cleanse’ (I hate that word) of no refined sugar/flour, no alcohol – and no cheating (I hate that word, too). I went through a few days of sugar withdrawal…headaches, crankiness, feeling shaky. Almost 2 years later I look back and believe doing this was the right decision…for me. I don’t buy or cook with refined sugar/flour but will eat it sparingly when I’m not eating at home, and don’t consider that a good or bad thing. I drink wine and beer. I don’t worry about what EXACTLY is in each bite I eat at a restaurant, but still take precautions if something has dairy (I’m intolerant) or is obviously made with refined ingredients.

I don’t like extremist plans because they aren’t sustainable, but I felt that my version of ‘clean eating’ was working for me. Not eating processed foods is a pretty basic argument I can get behind.

I started to link myself to this idea of clean eating, using the #cleaneating hashtag, searching clean eating recipes, creating a ‘clean eating’ section of my blog, and reading more about this booming trend. And that’s when it sunk in…I think I’m following a diet trend! No, not me! I’m just a normal gal who figured out that I felt a lot better when I ate clean! Am I going to turn into an annoying ‘dieter’ who has to turn away food and stick her nose up at people who don’t eat the way I do?

As if I didn’t already feel annoying with this trend, my health was compromised by certain medications, for which my naturopathic doctor put me on an anti-candida diet. My gut had become way overgrown with ‘bad bacteria’, and the ‘good bacteria’ was obliterated, leaving me with a whole host of health issues. This regime was drastic; no sugars of any kind (processed OR natural), no alcohol, no peanuts, no dried fruit, no wheat, nothing fermented, nothing canned, nothing with yeast, nothing…nothing….nothing….

The 5 week-long anti-candida diet, coupled with my lactose intolerance, left me with limited options. Absolutely no eating out, since I can’t be sure what’s in certain recipes (and a lot of wait staff and even cooks at restaurants couldn’t tell you every single ingredient). I was living on mostly veggies, organic meat, and protein shakes.

I was 110% eating clean, and HATING it.

I had to turn away most foods offered to me, turn away invites to dinner or drinks. Become anti-social. It was hard. It left me feeling like an asshole. Uptight. Too rigid with my eating. None of this food seems to be hurting others, so why can’t I just loosen up a bit and have some peanut butter for god’s sake? My heart goes out to those who have done this diet for a long time, it is really sucky and I believe can create a problematic relationship with food. I only did it for 5 weeks and was already feeling my relationship to food slowly shift from enjoyment and nourishment to depravity and shame.

I recently read two articles that made me question more about what ‘clean eating’ means and if it’s a term I/we should be using. Sally Kuzemchak, MS, RD argued in this Huffington Post article that clean eating can be more detrimental than beneficial for some, since it creates obsessive like habits that are akin to an eating disorder. Of course education is important, but becoming obsessed with whether food is organic or has GMOs or was treated fairly does not make a happy and healthy eater – it just creates constant fear and paranoia.

Moreover, calling food clean implies that other foods are dirty – in a Slate article, L.V. Anderson writes: “‘clean eating assigns moral value where none exists (since, contrary to popular belief, dieting does not actually make you a better person).”

With a relapse in my health that put me on SUCH a strict version of clean eating, it felt like a cruel joke. You want to eat clean, Maggie? Well, you’re going to eat so clean it’s going to make you F-ING miserable.

I don’t want to be someone who constantly talks about food. Who constantly says, “I can’t eat that”. Life shouldn’t revolve around what’s on the menu. I’m fortunate to have food security, the income to purchase fresh veggies and organic meats, a supportive partner, and the time to cook them for myself. My misery about this strict plan subsided the more I’ve put it into perspective.

Next time you or someone you know starts up their ‘clean eating is the only way to live’ rant, or is obsessing about ingredients, or is upset that they have to be restricted to a certain diet for health reasons – gently remind them of how lucky they are to have access to healthy food and that there’s so much more in life to talk about than #cleaneating.