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One may assume living a clean lifestyle encompasses nothing but neatly folded, “Konmaried” clothes, squeaky clean floors, or eating a proper diet. To an extent, that is true. But with this line of thinking, you will have barely scratched the surface of what this concept truly means.
Clean living surrounds the idea of self-awareness with what exactly you are putting on, and inside your body. Toxins and chemicals from the majority of common consumer products inch their way into our vulnerable immune systems, wreaking havoc on our health.
A clean lifestyle simply challenges this unfortunate norm and brings to light the importance of choosing brands that offer natural alternatives, and value transparency—those that have ruled in favor of people’s well-being rather than cutting corners. The ones that have truly found the balance between health and wealth.
Knowing how clean living can positively impact your health can give you a push in the right direction. Being more conscious and mindful at home can help you build healthy habits in no time.
One of the easiest ways to start your clean journey is by watching what you put in your body. At this point, we all already have an idea that as far as food is concerned, fresh is better than preserved, plant-based is better than animal-sourced, raw is better than refined. But a lot of young, healthy people are still wondering: I’m not a high-risk for heart disease and diabetes, why do I have to eat clean?
Other than the obvious reasons that we all need to do our part in creating a more sustainable world, here are some day-to-day benefits of being more mindful about what we eat.
Benefits of clean eats
- Better sleep
Can’t sleep? Your problem with restless nights might be found at the dining table, not your bed. Your circadian rhythm plays a big role in keeping your habits, behavior, and physicality in check. Thus, if anything particularly disrupts the natural pattern of your circadian rhythm, the whole operation is thrown off! Eating habits, if not careful, can affect how fast or slow you metabolize things, depending on how hard it is to digest. Dairy, red meats, and sugar are just some of the few food groups to avoid when seeking better quality sleep.
- Stronger Immunity
Having the right nutrition will fuel your immune system to fight off health-threatening pathogens. Integrating leafy greens, fruits, and proteins into your diet allows your body to work at peak capacity, with the vitamins and nutrients it obtained as its armor. Research has shown that reducing your intake of processed foods will significantly reduce inflammation and alter your immune system. Leaving your body more energy to put into healing and enhancing your overall health.
- Energy boost
Energy is heavily linked to metabolic rate. When your body is to the brim with all sorts of processed foods and toxins, the digestive system needs a little more time and a lot more energy to eliminate. As a result, your energy levels are lowered because your body is trying to compensate. But with food that contains the right nourishment, your body has the opposite reaction: your energy levels increase because it is getting the proper fuel it needs.
- Less risk of endorphin disruption
Endorphins, also known as the happy hormone, are essential to health. These stimulate the feeling of pleasure and relaxation, nature’s own pain reliever. It's a super hormone of sorts triggered by exercise, nutritious food, laughter, and music—all the things that make life a little brighter. But, as previously said, the intake of toxins and harsh chemicals can majorly disrupt the production of endorphins in your brain. And what happens when we don’t get enough endorphins? We feel down and out. So making the right decisions in the kitchen and out of it is essential to keeping a smile on your face.
- Lower risk of body burden
Having intensely sugary treats every day, or eating nothing but deep-fried food can build up the toxins in your body and cause body burden. This is not only limited to the food you eat but the things you put on your body—lotions and facial creams, the laundry detergent that touches your skin—can all build up to a point where your body has to work twice as hard to get rid of harmful or toxic chemicals that may be in them. Being more aware of what you intake and surround yourself with will reduce the risk and effects of body burden. Seeking out safe and natural alternatives then becomes an extension of a clean lifestyle.
So you see, all of us, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity -- we all stand to gain if we take that extra step to mind what we consume during our meals and all the snacks in between.
Stay tuned for Part 2 :)