5 Clean Eating Trends to Shape Your Summer

Are you one of the many health-conscious eaters who checks every label before purchasing your food?

As “clean eating” moves from a buzzword into a lifestyle, consumers aren’t the only ones ensuring the products they invest in feature natural ingredients with profound nutritional value – it’s the brands, too! Nikken Foods breaks down 5 clean eating trends that show no sign of slowing down as this movement continues to gain momentum and shift people’s focus to clean, wholesome foods. Focus on one or lock in all five to transform your daily diet.

Keep It Natural

When considering a clean eating diet, the first lifestyle change that must be made is to avoid the packaged, processed goods that contain a flurry of unpronounceable ingredients. These processed foods are proven to be bad for our health thanks to an overload of sugar, corn syrup, artificial ingredients and refined carbohydrates and a lack of nutrients and fiber. Whole, natural foods lead to a healthier mind and body and more and more shoppers are placing the box back on the shelf and opting to keep it simple and natural.

Plant-Based Everything

We’ve discussed some interesting plant-based meat alternatives that have become commonplace in our diet. It’s part of an incredible reimagining of your favorite vegetables playing the starring role of your favorite proteins. These plant-based options play a significant role in reducing blood pressure, risk of heart disease and weight gain – wonderful benefits without sacrificing flavor. This trend goes beyond veganism to represent a broader change in how consumers approach their meal as an opportunity to reward their bodies with healthy, ethical options that deliver textured, satisfying flavor.

Sustainability First

Speaking of ethical – today’s consumer wants to know where their food came from. And the more local, the better! Brands have scrambled to change their sourcing and labeling to satisfy this demand and now more and more foods are grown, harvested and prepared around local farming practices that lead to a fresh result that satisfies the palate and the environment. From ethical treatments of everything from the soil to the animal, farmers are creating environmentally sustainable, traceable and socially conscious products that kick pesticides and herbicides to the curb and reduce our overall impact on the environment.

Gut Health Check

While it may not be appetizing to think about the trillions of bacteria we carry in our guts, it’s becoming easier to mitigate the negative health conditions that can result from not properly managing this collection of bacteria known as the microbiome. More than just sucking it up through a week-long gut cleanse, people are making gut-healthy probiotics and prebiotics part of their daily diet. From yogurt to kombucha to kimchi, consumers are selecting food choices that battle the harmful microorganisms in their body and develop clean digestive systems that has been proven to battle the big baddies like depression, diabetes, skin conditions and even cancer.

Whole Grains for the Win

While eating your fruits and vegetables will likely keep the doctor away, clean eating has placed a large focus on eating unprocessed whole grains like wild rice, barley, oats and quinoa as well. This goes back to the diligent label-reading consumer who knows that whole grains will typically be the first ingredient named and there shouldn’t be many other ingredients to follow. This is certainly a case where less is more so beware the added sugars! Whole grains have played a big role in the clean eating handbook due to their delivery of healthy carbs that fill you up and provide essential fibers and nutrition.

Start Your Clean Food Initiative with Nikken Foods

Nikken Foods makes it easy for you to produce natural, wholesome foods thanks to a large selection of all-natural ingredients in our Clean Label Pantry. These simple, easy-to-understand ingredients strive for a serious level of clean that never hold back on flavor. Contact us today to get started on your next clean food project.