Eating Clean. What Does It Mean?

#FusionIsBetterMedicine #FusionIsBetterMedicine FUSION PHARMACY FUSION PHARMACY Santa Clara (435) 703-9680 | St. George (435) 656-2059 | www.FusionSpecialtyPharmacy.com Santa Clara (435) 703-9680 | St. George (435) 656-2059 | www.FusionSpecialtyPharmacy.com

Eating clean isn’t a new diet fad nor is it something that dietitians, physicians, or any health practitioner will tell you isn’t good for you. When you google “eating clean,” you’re bound to find pages of good information: apps, news articles, blogs, recipes, and videos about eating clean. What I like about these two words is that they perfectly describe what eating clean means.

Eating clean means avoiding processed foods and anything with refined sugars. Eating clean means eating foods that are as close to their natural state as possible.

Some of you will remember what meals were like at your parents’ or grandparents’ homes. Every meal was prepared from scratch. When I think back, simple things like pancakes or waffles didn’t come from a box; they came from separate ingredients being mixed together in the kitchen.

Over time, as our lives presumably got busier, food manufacturers made meals easier and quicker. Along came boxed and canned foods and pre-made frozen meals. Then came the advent of the microwave oven! I remember my family’s purchase of our first microwave oven. Corn on the cob or baked potatoes were cooked and ready to eat in minutes. Faster cooking somehow became synonymous with “more time with the family.”

I often think about how drastically our food and eating habits have changed us as a society in just my lifetime. Based on this reflection, our hurried pace is not helping us save time or money, and it is not healthy for us. We eat in our cars. We eat in front of our computers. We eat from our microwaves. We eat from boxed foods out of our freezers and refrigerators. Somehow, we’ve lost sight of nourishing ourselves with real, whole foods.

To eat clean or not to eat clean

Let’s make this simple. To really eat clean, you’re looking at going back to the old ways: growing food from your own garden, home canning your food for the winter, and utilizing your local butcher for locally sourced meat products. I know this sounds impossible, but with a few adjustments to your way of thinking and eating, it may not be.

I understand that many of you don’t have a garden. I certainly don’t. But buying fruits and vegetables that are certified organic and non-GMO is a start. Grass-fed, free-range, growth-hormone-free meat and poultry are also better options. Yes, these items can be more expensive, but if you can make the switch in small increments, I believe the additional expense outweighs the possible costly health complications in the long run.

Have you ever heard the quote “Plans are nothing; planning is everything”? Eating clean takes planning and some prep work. Let’s use your favorite family recipe for chili as an example. Rather than buying the canned beans (which have been sitting in a metal can for a period of time), try buying the dry beans, soaking them yourself, and making your recipe from scratch. Switch your thinking; it is possible to make anything you buy in a can. The added bonus is that a few bags of beans cost less, won’t expire, and will go further than a single can of beans. It’s a simple, budget-friendly switch.

Planning and prepping can also bring you closer to your food. By this I mean that it will bring an appreciation for and awareness of what you’re feeding yourself and your family.

Will your cravings for soda and potato chips vanish? Probably not. But another way to take one small step toward eating clean is to limit these indulgences or stop treating them as staples to your family’s grocery list.

Marketing for unhealthy appetites is part of our culture. Ads portray some foods as fortified with vitamins and minerals that they claim are necessary for a healthy body. In fact, if foods need to be “fortified” with something, it means that “ingredient” is either not naturally found in the food or has been so depleted by processing that it needs to be added back in. The right packaging and the right catchphrases are helpful for profit margins but usually are not good for your health or your grocery budget.

Getting back to basics isn’t hard. It just requires that you slow down and be a little more conscientious about what you and your family are eating. Do some super sleuthing about eating clean, and have some fun with it. Too often, I hear patients say that they wish they could slow down. What better way than to start with your food?

My favorite easy, clean popcorn recipe from CleanFoodCrush.com

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unrefined organic coconut oil, ghee, or avocado oil • 1/2 cup organic popcorn kernels • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Instructions

Place a heavy-bottomed pot on your stovetop. 1. Add oil and heat over medium-high heat. 2. Once hot, CAREFULLY add 2–3 popcorn kernels as a test round. Once the first kernel pops, stir in the remaining 1/2 cup of popcorn. Carefully stir to evenly coat all the kernels with oil, then cover with a lid. 3. Next, allow the pot to sit undisturbed over medium heat. You’ll hear the popcorn pop continuously for about a minute or so. 4. Once the popping stops or slows drastically, immediately take the pot off the heat. Burnt popcorn is the worst, so tend to your batch! 5. Sprinkle with sea salt and paprika or seasonings of your choice, then toss to coat.

About the Author

Koby Taylor, PharmD, is the owner and pharmacist of Fusion Pharmacy. Working as a retail pharmacist early in his career, Koby began to see that pharmacy patients needed to have access to available alternative medications. He realized that pharmacy in its truest form is compounding, and he wanted to be able to provide patients with customized medications. He also desired more personalized interactions with patients in order to truly help their health and wellbeing. To fulfill his passion for improving the health of patients and educating them about compounding, Koby opened the doors of Fusion Pharmacy in 2013. Today, Fusion is nationally accredited with PCAB and NABP. It is licensed in and ships to 27 states. Fusion is proud to have two locations to better serve the southern Utah community. Koby graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in molecular biology in 1995 and from the University of Utah with his Doctorate of Pharmacy in 2000.