Is 'clean-eating' all that's wrong with our attitude to food?

Many of you will have seen the BBC One doc last night 'Clean Eating's Dirty Secrets' and as a nutritionist with a qualification not bought off the internet ;-) I thought I'd share my thoughts on the #cleaneating phenomenon.

Eating Clean has taken over from veganism, raw food and Paleo in the 'buzz diets' of 2016 and you only have to take a look at Instagram to see how many people have jumped on the clean bandwagon. But what does eating clean actually mean?

There's no one set definition but clean eaters generally avoid the following:

• refined sugar 
• wheat
• dairy
• gluten
• alcohol
• caffeine
• any processed foods

The hardcore clean eaters will also not eat any animal products, grains and certain types of higher sugar fruit or vegetables. Others will eat animal products providing they're organic, grass-fed or free-range.

So in essence, many of the concepts of 'clean eating' are pretty sensible - eat whole foods, avoid processed foods, and don't drink too much caffeine or alcohol. All good so far.

What isn't so good (in my opinion) is the use of the word 'clean'. This implies that any food not on the 'ok list' is somehow dirty, sinful, unpure, bad, naughty and should come laden with guilt. With so many pressures already on us, do we really need to be feeling bad because we had a glass of wine after work or a slice of white non-spelt real toast for breakfast with actual bacon and actual ketchup?
And on the flip side should we feel any purer, better, more worthy than others because we had a green smoothie for breakfast rather than a croissant?

Unfortunately I do agree with the BBC doc that the extreme clean eaters are suffering from a new kind of eating disorder and due to the sheer number of followers it now seems that these obsessive habits have been normalised. So while I'm not saying that following the general principles of 'clean eating' is harmful, to stick to them so rigidly that you feel guilty if you don't, to miss out on a social life because it doesn't fit with your food plan,  to harm your long term health for short term gains and to miss eating the foods you actually love, definitely isn't good for your health or happiness.

While I may be guilty of posting #proteinbites #greenjuice  on #instafood from time to time I would always hope that my message of happiness over denial and balance and moderation over strict rules is the one that shines through.

I'd love if we could ban the phrase 'clean eating' and let's get back to focusing on enjoying the foods in a way that we know that will make us feel good now and in the future - whether that's chocolate or cauliflower rice!

I'd love to know your thoughts on this too - feel free to comment below.

How the body responds to the mind

The body is not stupid - in fact, it's pretty damn clever.

I've been thinking a lot recently about the link between what's going on in our heads and how that manifests itself in our bodies.

This past couple of weeks I've never felt such a strong link between physical and emotional happiness - and it's even made me reassess my whole outlook when it comes to what I'm practising, and preaching.

Over the past week, without going into too much detail, I haven't been the happiest of bunnies - and this has triggered a week long sore throat and lingering cold, a spasmed lower back (that I've never had before), breakouts, dry skin and poor sleep. *Plays small violin*

What's so interesting is the change in these conditions (particularly the pain) when I'm around positive, loving people, or listening to my favourite music (old school garage of course). Yet the increase in pain when I'm alone, feeling sad, or around people giving off negative vibes is way more than just a coincidence.

This is something that was spoken about at a great workshop I went to on Friday night, led by Tanya Goodman Bailey of The Belly Love Method. (Yes it was a wild Friday night out, exploring my digestion!) Tanya highlighted so many interesting links between digestive health and emotions, the management of pain, and simple techniques such as singing and using body scans to reduce and even eliminate pain completely.

While it's nothing new, the idea that your body is simply a reflection of your mental wellbeing, and that we can actually not only create pain, but also eliminate pain with the power of the mind, it's made me even more passionate that when it comes to health promotion if we can address what's going on in our minds, the rest will just follow naturally.

So with that in mind, I'm off to meditate for a few minutes before dinner with some people I love.

Here's to a happy mind in 2016.

Ruth xxx