5 Clean Eating Principles | Chefs At Heart

1 | Avoid deep fried food

• Why? Frying oil is by default full of unnecessary calories. And if you deep fry food that means that the oil that the food will absorb, will render it immediately more calorific and full of excess fat that you do not actually need nutritionally wise.
• Less is more in this case. The more fat you get through your nutrition, the more the increase in the risk of heart related conditions. It’s simple: More fat => increase in blood pressure => increase in bad cholesterol => increase the risk of heart related conditions/diabetes and obesity.
• Therefore, it’s OK to sauté vegetables i.e. onions, and meat i.e. chicken in a tablespoon of olive oil or two but it’s not OK to deep fry chicken in a cup of oil or more.

2 | Avoid packaged/canned/tinned food*

• Avoid having packaged food i.e. tinned/canned food, crisps, ketchup, mayonnaise and if you don’t, avoid having packaged food that is so complex that you cannot follow/understand what is on the ingredients list.
• Why? Have you ever cooked something and then stored it in a container for a few days in the fridge? Where you then in a mood to eat it? In theory not! And that because it did not feel fresh and healthy right? In most of the cases (exemptions exist*) in order to maintain an item in an edible condition lots of additives such as salt or sugar and preservatives are added and/or heated to a point to kill potentially harmful bacteria# to the point that nutrients are killed as well. Other than that, sometimes you get a package and there are so many unknown items that do not sound food related. Why risking eating those things?
• * Some of the exemptions could be of packaged food that is more innocent and clean
  • eating yogurt such as Greek Yogurt in moderation
  • using canned tomatoes i.e. chopped tomatoes sauce that release more antioxidants when heated making based on this article
  • using legumes i.e. lentils, beans etc
  • using simpler products such as RYVITA
  • using cows milk or plant based milk
• # Ready made baby food is unfortunately made by heated up extensively in order to have a shelf life and that is the reason that fresh food and/or frozen premade food, outbid this by far nutritionally.
• Therefore, its OK to eat some packaged food. However, it s important to read the labels i.e. the ingredients info as well as the nutritional composition. If an item has
  • too many products in its ingredients list and/or
  • products that you are uncertain what they actually are
  • excess of salt or sugar i.e. lucozate used to have 62 gr in a bottle of 500ml, that was the equivalent of 15 teaspoons of sugar or eating 3 doughnuts in one go!
  • its better to avoid eating it, at least regularly i.e. to be part of your weekly nutritional rituals.

3 | Avoid adding anything in excess and anything that could be skipped

• Avoid adding salt – I barely use salt, I do add flavour by using herbs and spices. Or if you cannot avoid using it, try to use a salt with less sodium such LoSalt which is a reduced sodium salt that has 60 percent less or Nezo Low Sodium Salt which has 70 percent less. Why? By reducing salt you are reducing the risk of hypertension, one of the factors that lead to heart attack and strokes.
• Always ask the question: “Do I need to add this ingredient?” i.e. Do I need to add this avocado? if yes, avoid using the whole avocado that is fatty and full of calories and use part of it i.e. just the half. Why? 1 avocado has about 300 calories so if a meal should be around 500 calories, that does not leave you enough room to use other ingredients. By using half, not only you are cutting down the calories while maintaining the flavour, you are allowing your self to be more creative and use other ingredients as well. Or at least use the whole avocado with a touch of olive oil and lemon and that can be one of your meals. The same principle can have application with other items.

4 | Avoid Readymade Dressings

• Avoid having dressings, mayonnaise, creams or sour creams. Or at least use the skinny and plant based alternatives i.e. Alpro soya cream is more innocent than the traditional one i.e. fat wise or make your own from scratch from simple ingredients i.e. instead of using mayo, mix some Greek yogurt with some olive oil and herbs i.e. dry mint. Why? Do you know what are the ingredients of mayo? The two major ones are oil and raw eggs. The implies that mayo is a high fat food – 1 tablespoon of mayo is about 100 calories where as 1 tablespoon of Greek yogurt is about 30 calories. And i doubt that only 1 tablespoon of mayo is used when that time comes. Its usually much more, so start adding up calories and fat…

5 | Avoid getting take away/eating out – embrace home cooking

• Avoid eating out. Why? Because you cannot really control what is put in the food. Restaurants do give a brief description in their menus but its up to them to do and use whatever ingredient they want in whatever quantity they want. And the norm is to sacrifice healthy and clean food in the altar of flavour by adding lots of salt/sugar/high fat dressings etc. Or if you do, choose a simple dish i.e. grilled chicken and/or a healthy salad that not much can go wrongly with that i.e. it will not contain as many hidden ingredients as other dishes i.e. stews, pies etc.
• Embrace home making and home cooking. In that way, you are in full control in what you are cooking and how. There are so many meals that you can do in 30 mins or less. If you are not inspired to do so or too drained to do so, having premade food helps to fight those instant cravings in a healthier and also cheaper way.