For many people, clean eating is not only an important part of their diet, but of their life in general. It is not only popular as a long-term eating pattern, but also as a short-term diet. Clean eating is often mentioned in the same breath when it comes to the topic of ‘losing weight’.
Below, you can find out exactly what clean eating is all about. We have also looked at whether clean eating is really a suitable way to lose weight. Finally, we present you with various clean eating recipes that can help you with your plan.
Start your clean diet with porridge now.
Clean eating – what is it anyway?
The name ‘clean eating’ is almost self-explanatory: ‘clean’ refers to food that is little or not processed at all. Accordingly, it is a diet that focuses on fresh, unprocessed products. It is assumed that these are very rich in healthy nutrients that would be lost through any processing.
If you want to know more about clean eating in general and its general benefits, check out our blog post.
Forbidden and recommended foods
To make it easier for you to understand what is forbidden and what is allowed, we want to provide a brief overview.
Prohibited products
All ready meals are forbidden because, in addition to being heavily processed, they often contain additives and preservatives.
But this category also includes foods that you wouldn't expect to be overly processed at first glance. For example, would you have thought that jam, certain types of cheese or sweets like biscuits are not recommended?
Depending on the variant of clean eating, gluten, meat or fish products and certain dairy products should also be avoided.
Permitted foods
Perhaps you are now justifiably asking yourself: ‘What can you eat with clean eating?’ Well, by implication, anything that is processed as little as possible and is all the more nutritious for it. More specifically, this includes fresh fruit and vegetables, dry pulses or wholemeal products.
In addition, it is recommended to eat various types of nuts as a snack.
Why is clean eating recommended by experts?
Various experts agree: these days, we often eat too unhealthily! We often resort to ready meals or processed foods due to a lack of time or motivation. As already briefly mentioned, these not only sometimes contain additives such as flavour enhancers – they often also contain too much salt and sugar.
Salt is essential for a variety of bodily processes, such as electrolyte balance, but only in certain quantities. The German Nutrition Society recommends a daily intake of 6 grams, while the average amount is 10 grams.
In the long term, this can lead to high blood pressure or have a negative effect on the gastrointestinal tract. It can also promote obesity, as excessive salt stimulates the appetite and also inhibits the feeling of satiety.
Clean eating promises a healthy alternative to all this, because with unprocessed foods, you know exactly what's inside! Another plus: the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients are contained 1:1 as in the raw materials.
Last but not least, clean eating also creates awareness of the different preparation methods and ingredients, as you automatically pay more attention to the foods you eat. So you always know what nutrients are being supplied to your body.
Clean eating – how does it affect your health?
What you should bear in mind with clean eating
Nevertheless, there are some disadvantages to this diet. The fact that processed foods should not be eaten as much as possible means that more time is needed for cooking.
Under no circumstances should you allow yourself to be put under pressure by clean eating. Especially at the beginning, this form of nutrition can easily be overwhelming. Therefore, a gentle, step-by-step transition is recommended.
In this blog post, we will explain the most common mistakes made by clean eaters, and how to easily avoid them.
Losing weight with clean eating
Now that you know all about clean eating, let's get back to the question of whether you can lose weight with it.
Generally speaking, weight loss occurs when either fewer calories are consumed than are expended, or when more exercise is done with the same amount of calories consumed. The amount depends on individual factors such as gender, age, and physical factors.
If you're not sure about your calorie needs, it's best to try out our handy calorie calculator for free.
You can lose weight healthily if you not only look at the calories, but also at the nutritional values. In particular, ‘empty calories’, i.e. foods that contain very few nutrients such as proteins or vitamins apart from energy, should be avoided. Since clean eating means that you always know exactly what you are putting into your body, you can easily avoid this.
As already briefly mentioned, no or only light pre-processing means that most of the nutrients remain, which also helps you lose weight.
Losing weight with clean eating – can it work?
Our conclusion: Losing weight and clean eating easily go hand in hand, because foods that should not be eaten when losing weight are also not recommended with clean eating.
Generally speaking, it is up to you whether you choose this type of holistic nutrition to lose weight or leave out certain things such as crisps, biscuits or ready meals.
Clean Eating Plan for Losing Weight
As promised, we will now give you a few examples of what your nutrition plan could look like in a clean eating format for losing weight.
Breakfast:
- Porridge with fresh fruit and nuts
- Smoothie made from fresh fruit and vegetables
- Various egg dishes (fried egg, soft-boiled egg, scrambled egg) with avocado
If you are looking for more clean eating recipes for breakfast, check out our detailed blog post on the subject.
Lunch and dinner:
- Salad with quinoa and vegetables
- Vegetable soup with seed topping
- Fried chicken with salad and vegetables
- Vegetarian chilli with vegetables
As you can see, clean eating doesn't have to mean restriction. However, there are a few things to keep in mind. When it comes to chilli, for example, you should buy the various beans dry and soak and cook them yourself, instead of buying them ready-made from a tin, where they are preserved with preservatives. It's as easy as that!
Why is a healthy breakfast important for clean eating?
A healthy breakfast that also tastes good is not only important for losing weight, but is also generally recommended to recharge your energy reserves for the day. However, if you want to lose a few kilos, you should place a particular focus on this.
Often, people make the mistake of skipping breakfast to suppress their hunger. However, this increases your desire for food, and you may not feel full from lunch or overeat – and of course you want to avoid this effect when losing weight!
So what should your ideal clean eating breakfast look like? Ideally, it should be warm! Because warm breakfasts offer numerous advantages that can make the process easier for you. Porridge is particularly good here! Delicious oat porridge can provide the basis for breakfast and, topped with seasonal, fresh and therefore clean fruits or nuts, it also offers plenty of variety!
