You’re a nutritionist?!
I feel the #cleaneating brigade has given rise to many pseudoscientific claims, food shaming, and the misguided notion that if you’re not eating in this ‘clean’ way you are doing wrong. I do believe in food for wellness, otherwise I wouldn’t be studying nutrition, but this is not just the food you put in your mouth but the overall relationship with food. This guilt ridden feeling when choosing food, or anxiety when being asked to eat out, or counting calories and macros, swapping rice for cauliflower bits, or seeing a #cleaneating bikini clad model having a ‘health’ shake for lunch does not encourage a healthy mindset around diet. Orthorexia (an obsession with a healthful eating) has reached headlines over the recent years as a result of this cleaner diet and lifestyle campaign, whereby a person’s diet behaviour becomes compulsive to reduce the guilt and anxiety surrounding ‘unhealthy’ foods.
Nutrition is far more than just healthy food it’s having a healthy balance and positive mindset around life, food and health overall. It is enjoying what you eat, when you eat and who you eat with. It’s a balance and guilt should not play a part. I don’t believe that any one person’s diet should be bashed, that’s not my job, but I will not use the term clean eating. So yeah you’ll see me eating a pizza, a burger or chugging a couple of glasses of vino. Sue me.
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