Commandment #6: Educate yourself and Stay informed.
A full understanding what’s on the end of your fork is critical for a clean eating lifestyle. Your food can have both positive and negative impacts on your well-being. How it was grown or raised, the ingredients, and where it was sourced are all important factors. Furthermore, how certain foods interact with your unique biology can be a critical consideration when planning your weekly meals. It is important to educate yourself as much as possible. Knowledge is power!
There is a lot of information and mis-information on the web, and the scare tactics from various blogs and sites can be overwhelming. Probably the most difficult thing when beginning your “educational journey” for clean eating is how to filter out all the nonsense. Truthfully, it can be difficult. But the more time you spend doing research, the easier it gets. You will learn to trust certain bloggers and websites, and your “B.S. meter” will become more refined.
Getting Started:
- Watch the youtube videos we produce to get more detailed information about our blog topics. You can watch the youtube videos associated with each commandment here. Each week we create videos with clean recipes, tips and tricks, as well as a highly informative series called “clean eating: 101”. This series follows the 10 commandments and give a little bit of insight into each one.
- Find other like-minded companies or individuals on social media and follow them too. They will often share their favorite recipes, tips for success, as well as some of their favorite snacks and places to eat. Many will link to other helpful sites.
- Do as many searches on the foods you are interested in as you have time for. When you start researching, read as many opinions as you can. Read articles grounded in scientific fact, and read ones that aren’t. We say this because not everything has been proven scientifically. There may not be any firm studies on a particular topic, but there might be plenty of anecdotal information. Ultimately you will get a good sense of your favorite “go to” places.
Resources:
Here are a few great resources you can start with to educate yourself. You can follow people like Food Babe and Dave Asprey, as well as The Paleo Mom, and Dr. Axe. These people are at the forefront of health and nutrition and do not have any hidden agendas. Be cautious of documentaries that tell you specifically what diet to follow, because there are no one-size-fits-all plan. Each person will have a unique set of nutritional needs. The best people to learn from are the ones who stand to gain nothing from helping you on your journey.
We know that the current state of medicine leaves a lot to be desired. Pill prescriptions are at an all-time high. However, it is still worthwhile to get some medical perspective on food and supplements. If you are more inclined to follow the purely medical perspective you may want to consider the WebMD and Mayo Clinic sites. These sites do strive to present unbiased information.
All of those great people mentioned above have podcasts, youtube channels, blogs, and social media accounts that will serve to educate you. Continue to watch what those people are doing, reading and recommending. Their whole premise, and ours at www.iamacleaneater.com as well, is to help educate you on your personal journey without an agenda. What we, the educators, stand to gain, is an ever evolving world that we can all be healthier and more successful in. The happier and healthier you are, the better we all are!
There are so many people out there that will want you to try their new shakes, pill or diet. But one thing has remained stable throughout the centuries. When we eat real, whole and wholesome foods we live longer. We are healthier and we feel better! Doesn’t that sound like a better place to be? Stay hungry and keep learning!
At I am a Clean Eater, we do not want to tell you what lifestyle eating plan you should be on. We only want to help support you wherever you are on your journey. The message is about understanding what’s at the end of your fork and making the best and most informed decisions for yourself!
Further Resources.
If you would like more information about clean eating, CLICK HERE to visit our YouTube channel. While there, be sure to subscribe to stay up to date with all our new videos.
For more information on this commandment, watch this video:
