While ringing in the new year brings celebration, it also promotes many Americans to make resolutions. This plan focuses on not only watching calories but also eating fresh, whole foods and eliminating processed items. 

Eating clean encourages people to eat foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains and healthy fats. It also encourages people to steer away from red meat such as beef, and promotes more chicken, fish and turkey based meals. 

Going whole is another step to clean eating since they have been touched by the processing process the  least amount compared to other foods. Think of foods like oats, wild grain rice, as well as wheat pasta and whole grain bread. 

TheGuardian.com stated, “a survey sent out this month from the not-for-profit International Food Information Council found “clean eating” to be the most widely followed diet among American consumers.”

It’s important to remember that everyone diets differently and needs to do different things to get where they want to be. For example, one person could buy a few more organic items and cut out most processed foods. Whereas another person could need to cut calories, and really focus on the more organic foods. 

For many it could be they are just not getting enough nutrients. According to EatingWell.com, “76 percent of Americans don’t get enough fruit each day and a whopping 87 percent aren’t getting enough servings of vegetables.”

Eating more fruits and vegetables can significantly help reduce your risk of numerous health issues including high blood pressure, type two diabetes, heart disease, obesity and cancer. The different fibers in whole produce can also keep your microbiome, the collection of good bacteria that live in your gut, happy. 

Clean eating promotes families to cook at home more, developing a culture that leads to meals that taste better and are healthier for you. What some may realize is that clean eating can be price restricting as some items are very expensive to get enough for the whole family. 

 Isabella Rozzi, english teacher and advocate of clean eating stated, “Clean eating can be expensive if you follow the trendy side of it, but everyone can do it if you go the other way. You go to a store like Aldi and get the chicken and regular veggies, it only gets highly expensive when you go to stores such as Whole Foods. You can get the same thing at other stores and still accomplish the same on a budget.”

My family and I keep eating clean on a budget by going to the grocery store with planned meals for the next week or two weeks. This strategy helps us get in and get out with items we need, it also keeps us from purchasing the processed foods that we normally would if we just decided at the store what we needed. 

For 75% of the population they stated their goal is to clean eat, by February 68% of those individuals end going back to their previous eating habits. For those 7% that follow through with their goal, they stated that finding a partner to do it with or doing it with your household makes it easier to continue. 

With this process you will not see results right away, that all comes with time. As people all we need to do is commit to it as much as you can and find items you love and keep an open mind. It is a new year and that means a new you, start it right by eating clean.