Eating Clean in the New Year

By Renee Korczak Ph.D., RDN, CSSD, LD

It’s a new year and with that typically comes some health and wellness resolutions. As a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN), I’ve spent a good chunk of my career helping everyday people meet their nutrition goals and January is always the time of year when my clients ask me how they can be healthier.

For some individuals, that might mean cutting back on sugar-sweetened beverages and/or alcohol, adding more fruits and vegetables to the diet or simply just getting in the kitchen more and getting takeout less. For others, being healthy might mean eating less processed foods and eating clean. Whatever your health and nutrition goals are, just remember that being part of a supportive community and having a positive mindset in order to make changes that impact your daily health and wellness are key to your success.

For those of you who are interested in clean eating, I thought I would provide some insight as to what clean eating means and how I advise my clients to eat clean. For more specific guidance, I created a One Week Clean Eating Guide for our Le Health Club members that is an amazing jumpstart to clean eating.

Clean Eating Defined

If you search the terms “clean eating” on the internet, you will get thousands of hits and likely read variations of what the term means. For example, The Mayo Clinic defines clean eating as “Eating foods that are as close to possible to their natural state”; whereas the Harvard Nutrition Source defines clean eating as “A type of eating style…a clean diet may include whole fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, healthy fats, while limiting highly processed snacks and other packaged foods with added sugar and salt” (1-2).

The variety of definitions found on the internet for clean eating may leave some confused, but what these definitions seem to have in common is that clean eating collectively means that you are taking steps towards eating more wholesome and minimally processed foods more often than foods that are processed and may contain added sugars, unhealthy fats and/or high levels of sodium.

Here are my top 3 tips to help you eat clean this month and for the entire year

Read nutrition labels on packaged foods and avoid choosing foods that contain 20% or more of the Daily Value for nutrients such as Sodium and Saturated Fat. Packaged or processed foods can certainly fit into your diet, and they do have a purpose since it is not always possible to eat fresh produce, lean meat, etc. Packaged or processed foods are often fortified or enriched with nutrients to ensure that the general population are getting nutrients such as Folic Acid, other B Vitamins, Vitamin C, and D, for example. When selecting packaged foods, try to avoid foods that contain 20% or more of the daily value for sodium and saturated fat as these nutrients are associated with adverse health effects. Instead, aim for foods that contain higher amounts of dietary fiber, Vitamin D, Calcium, Iron and Potassium. Remember the Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods is required to list this information, so you can always take a look.
Eat your fruits and veggies-and I mean any fruits and veggies: Fruits and vegetables are full of nutrients, such as fiber that most Americans just don’t get enough of. Beyond fiber, fruits and vegetables contain important Vitamins and Minerals such as Vitamin C and Potassium, as well as antioxidants to help keep inflammation in the body at bay. When choosing fruits and vegetables, aim for fresh or frozen. Canned fruit can be ok but avoid buying fruit that is in syrup as this can be a major source of added sugar.
Get back in the kitchen and commit to trying one new recipe a week: Making nutrient-dense choices doesn’t have to be hard and giving yourself that time in the kitchen to experiment with new recipes will help fuel success in the New Year. Make a goal to try one new recipe each week (Le Health Club members have access to ah.mi’s 100+ easy healthy recipes!) to increase variety in your diet and help prevent boredom, who knows, you might even surprise yourself with your cooking skills.