When clean eating goes dirty

“It’s Healthy Because It’s Natural.” Perceptions of “Clean” Eating among U.S. Adolescents and Emerging Adults

“…Dietary fads such as “clean” eating have potentially wide-reaching public health implications, ranging from increased eating disorder risk [ 17 ] to the potential for nutritional deficiencies among vulnerable individuals [ 24 ]. Our findings suggest high levels of awareness, largely favorable impressions, and high levels of interest in pursuing “clean” eating in a large, diverse sample of U.S. adolescents and young adults.…”

“…Moreover, the National Eating Disorder Association suggests that the “clean” eating trend may be associated with ON [ 20 ], and scholars often describe ON as an extreme variant of “clean” eating (e.g., [ 6 , 21 , 22 ]). Thus, “clean” eating may involve excessive dietary restriction resembling an eating disorder [ 23 ] and thereby increase risk for nutritional deficiencies [ 24 ]. Even more concerning is the potentially expansive reach of “clean” diets: individuals who may not have been susceptible to dietary restriction for weight loss may be vulnerable to new diet approaches promoting the obsessive pursuit of wellbeing [ 3 ].…”

Is #cleaneating a healthy or harmful dietary strategy? Perceptions of clean eating and associations with disordered eating among young adults

“…One such factor may be the trendy “clean eating” diet, which although poorly defined in the scholarly literature, is widely disseminated through the popular media. A recent editorial drew attention to the pseudoscientific basis of “clean eating” and cautioned against the potential for harm, noting, “it is imperative for health providers to understand when an obsession with a healthy diet transforms from a solution to becoming part of the problem” (p. 668) [4]. Indeed, the paucity of scientific research on “clean eating” has contributed to an overall lack of clarity regarding the phenomenon: is it a healthful dietary strategy, or could it reflect increased eating disorder risk?…”

“…Similarly, one of the few empirical investigations of “clean eating” defined it as “eating behaviors that are centered on proper nutrition, restrictive eating patterns, and strict avoidance of foods considered to be unhealthy or impure”(p.1) [18], but then cited ON research, thereby conflating the two (arguably related) concepts. Recently proposed diagnostic criteria for ON highlight the propensity for dietary preoccupation to escalate and “involve progressively more frequent and/or severe ‘cleanses’ (partial fasts) [sic] regarded as purifying or detoxifying” (p. 16) [19] and others suggest that ON may represent a more extreme, more dysfunctional variant of “clean eating” [4]. Moreover, like ON, “clean eating” also appears to bestow an element of moral superiority [18].…”

“…But this nonsense is all based on a loose interpretation of facts and a desire to make the pursuit of wellbeing an obsessive, full time occupation” (p.1) [20]. Given the lack of evidence on “clean eating,” the potential for nutritional deficiencies conferred by this dietary strategy, and the dearth of scholarly literature regarding treatment options for ON [4], there is an urgent need to better understand the nature of this cultural phenomenon.…”