Monthly Archives: December 2017

Best Clean Eats: Plant-based Clean Eating Food List for 2023

what is eating cleanWhen you claim to have created the world’s cleanest plant-based protein powder like we do, you better darn well know a thing or two about clean eats.

So with that said, I can tell you with conviction that I have spent countless hours reading labels, poring over nutrition research studies and articles, and dropping half my paychecks at Whole Foods in search of the healthiest “clean” products on the market that meet my dietary restrictions (I’m allergic to dairy and corn and avoid most products with gluten and soy too).

In this post, I will share my findings with you. You’ll discover:

1) What clean eating actually means.

2) How to spot and avoid brands posing as “clean.”

3) My 10 favorite clean eating packaged foods.

Let’s start with #1 …

Clean Eating Basics

What does it mean to “eat clean”?

clean eatsI’ll be the first to admit that the term clean eating is ambiguous … enough to elicit some scathing reactions.

Like this response from one of the top writers on Quora:

It’s a vague term for faddish eating, mostly with an orthorexic bent. It has no scientific basis and, like pretty much all food fads, is rooted in a fear of modernity.

And this one from a registered dietitian published in the British Medical Journal:

The command to eat cleanly implies that everyone else is filthy, being careless with their bodies and lives. It comes with promises of energy boosts, glowing skin, spirituality, purity, and possibly immortality. 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.

Ouch.

I disagree with both and I’ll tell you why in a minute.

First, here’s my definition of clean eating:

A whole food, plant-focused diet that’s low in sugar, refined carbohydrates, and other artificial ingredients.

The body of evidence that supports the health benefits of eating this way is enormous. So maybe eating “clean” is just another label … but it’s one that I believe can be of real, tangible benefit to people who don’t know how to eat healthy (or who do but aspire to eat better).

What’s the harm in that?

To me, there are bigger fish to fry anyway …

clean eats product marketing claimsThe real problem with clean eating

One of the underlying reasons for much of the aforementioned ambiguity and debate is Big Food coming in and slapping clean eating claims on all types of unhealthy packaged foods.

For example, some of my competitors in the protein powder industry sell sugar sweetened beverages to children that are marketed as clean and “all-natural”.

Not cool.

In addition to added sugar or artificial sugar, many so-called “clean” products on the market contain mystery ingredients and fillers like gums and “natural flavors,” which are now the fourth most common ingredient on food labels.

It should come as no surprise that those clever food product marketers have found ways to exploit the “all-natural” and “clean” claims, since the FDA doesn’t regulate use of these terms.

So how do you know what’s clean and what’s not?

Well, clearly “clean” is open to interpretation. But here’s what I look for:

  1. Organic ingredients I recognize as whole, real foods.
  2. No added sugar.
  3. No refined white flour.
  4. No lactose from dairy or corn-based ingredients.
  5. No mystery fillers like gums, “flavors”, and other additives.

If you stick with products that meet those criteria, it’s hard to go wrong.

When in doubt, the ingredients and nutrition facts label are the two objective sources of truth on any packaged food product.

If you don’t know what something is, don’t buy it until you research the safety of the ingredients. Check out credible sources that back their claims with peer-reviewed science (like the EWGCSPI and Pubmed).

10 Best Plant-based “Clean Label” Packaged Food Brands for 2023

I’m not saying you need to be a vegetarian or vegan to eat clean. But the focus on my clean eating approach is plants … because 99.9% of us can benefit from eating plant-based.

The clean eating brands I’m going to show you below contains food products with no or extremely minimal:

  • Added sugar
  • Artificial ingredients
  • Allergens like soy, dairy, gluten, and corn
  • Animal products
  • Highly processed ingredients posing as “natural” (e.g., flavors, gums, and other additives)

Malk: Their unsweetened almond and cashew milks are among the very few without gums, fillers, and additives. Here are the ingredients in the almond milk: organic almonds, Himalayan salt, filtered water. They also have a great almond milk/oat milk non-dairy creamer. Use their Store Finder to see if it’s available near you.

Made Good: Made Good Foods has a line of better-for-you granola products and delicious cookies that  are certified vegan, organic, and non-GMO with just 6 grams of sugar and 110 calories.

From the Ground Up: These guys sell some mighty tasty cauliflower crackers, pretzels, and potato chips. Their ingredients are plant-based, super simple, and contain no corn, wheat, dairy, or artificial junk.

Autumn’s Gold: Their grain-free, Paleo-certified granola and granola bars are very good tasting and contain much less sugar than your run-of-the-mill granola. Available on Amazon too.

Italian Volcano: Dream Foods International makes organic citrus juices and natural ethnic foods. The company began bottling juices near the Mt. Etna volcano in Sicily. I absolutely love their Italian Volcano Lemon Juice, which I add to my water (and it’s great for soups and sauces). They sell a 2-pack at Costco here in Michigan.

Nutiva: Great source for organic coconut oil and hemp seeds. Here’s the Store Locator. Most of their products can be found on Amazon as well. I love their coconut manna as a high fat dessert for all you keto people out there!

Bragg Organic: Bragg apple cider vinegar, “liquid aminos” (non-GMO, lower sodium soy sauce), coconut aminos (soy free), and nutritional yeast are staples in my clean eating recipes.

The Brinery: Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, their fermented products are among the best I’ve ever had. From their website: “People often hear “sauerkraut” and think of vinegary limp vegetables in a can or bag, but at The Brinery, we transform vegetables through the process of lacto-fermentation.  Our name tells you everything you need to know about this ancient art of food preservation – we add a natural salt brine to farm fresh vegetables. That’s it.” Love that.

Wildbrine: My co-favorite fermented foods company. Wildbrine now sells sauerkraut, kimchi, salsa, hot sauce, and plant-based cheese. They are all fantastic. This brand is legit … and so are the health benefits associated with all of its fermented products. Eat more fermented foods, people!

Alter Eco: Alter Eco’s dark blackout chocolate is dairy-free, has 4 simple, organic ingredients, and contains 85% cacao for a healthy dose of antioxidants. It has just 4 grams of sugar and also 4 grams of fiber per serving (a Snickers bar has 20 grams of sugar, for comparison’s sake). They also sell other chocolates, coconut truffles, quinoa, and rice.

Final Thoughts About Clean Eats

Hopefully this provides some inspiration and ideas to help you find cleaner products. It hasn’t been easy in the past but now you’re starting to see a lot of brands jumping on the clean eating bandwagon … and I think that’s a good thing.

Minimally processed foods with ingredients you can pronounce are generally (but not always) healthier.

If you have questions or want to share your favorite clean eating foods and/or packaged products, leave a comment below.

And don’t forget to hit those share buttons on the left if you found this post helpful. 🙂

Pure Food Healthy High Protein Muffins Recipe

One of our awesome Pure Food customers Traci shared this Pure Food protein muffins recipe with me and it was too good not to share.

Traci hails from Naw’lens, Lousiana (I bet people from New Orleans get annoyed with that real quick). She says she whipped up these healthy muffins as a cleaner, healthier alternative to beignets.

I made a few modifications with the ingredients I had on hand that I noted below (I still included the original recipe though).

Best part is, this high protein muffin recipe is nutritious. It’s low in sugar, high in fiber, and is soy, dairy, and gluten free … pretty awesome!

Here’s the ingredients and instructions:

Pure Food High Protein Muffins Recipe Ingredients

healthy high protein muffins ingredients1 scoop of Pure Food Vanilla Protein Powder (note: I added 2 scoops)

2 cups of old fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup of egg whites

1 banana

2 Tablespoons of hemp seeds

2 Tablespoons of chia seeds

2 Tablespoons of unsweetened coconut flakes

1 Tablespoons of light agave (note: I used organic coconut sugar)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (note: I used whole vanilla bean powder)

A pinch of pink Himalayan salt (note: I used plain sea salt)

How to Make the Muffins

  1. vanilla protein healthy muffinsMash one banana in a large bowl. Add one scoop of Pure Food Protein powder Vanilla. Stir.
  2. Add Agave (or coconut sugar), Vanilla, Hemp seeds, Chia seeds, and Coconut. Stir.
  3. Add two cups of oatmeal. Stir.
  4. Add egg whites to form a solid dough. Stir.
  5. Sprinkle sea salt.
  6. Take muffin pan. Spray with coconut oil. Create little muffins by rolling dough in your palms. Drop in muffin pan. Bake 8-10 minutes at 380 degrees. (note: I added about 5 minutes of cooking time since my muffins were larger. If you do 8 smaller ones stick with 8-10 minutes and see if they’re done).** 

Keep refrigerated after baked.

If you want them heated, heat them in microwave for 3 minutes at 20% power.

**I made 4 large muffins and ate one as a post-workout snack. As you’ll see below, if you go that route you get a solid 345 calories, 10 grams of fiber, and 19 grams of protein!

Here’s the final product …

gluten free muffin recipes

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 345

Carbs: 46 grams

Fiber: 10 grams

Sugar: 6 grams

Protein: 19 grams

Fat: 11 grams

Check out my other high protein recipes for more inspiration. And if you have a Pure Food recipe you love, please share it with me by replying to this post or shooting me an email at Scott@purefoodcompany.com!