If I had to describe a “clean diet” in one sentence, it would be: "Freshly cooked or prepared meals made from whole food with an emphasis on plant-based foods and greens."

Fuel your body with fresh nutrients and avoiding overly-processed fast foods. After the holidays I did a big purge of my refrigerator and pantry cabinets. I cleaned out all of unhealthy and ultra-processed foods to make room for only fresh, nutrient-dense and whole foods. Today in my kitchen you'll find only good stuff.

The list of health benefits from eating a clean diet is long. Some of my favorite rewards from a clean diet include a slimmer figure (paired with exercise of course) and an overall better feeling of wellbeing.

Clean Eating Food Trends to Try

Mocktails

There’s no shame in cutting back on your booze, especially with so many places serving delectable (and oh so fancy!) booze-free libations. You can have just as much fun at happy hour and skip the hangover in the morning. Scroll below to see photos from our "mocktail hour" date at Hawks Public House in Sacramento.

I recently discovered shrubs, which are non-alcoholic concentrated fruit syrups mixed with a vinegar. This combination gives you a sweet and tangy flavor, and it makes a great base for fun cocktails. My favorite place to shop for artisan made shrubs is Etsy!

Probiotics

Probiotics are the healthy bacteria our bodies need to function properly. When our intestinal flora gets out of balance we can experience bloating, constipation, a slower metabolism and sluggishness. You can get probiotics naturally from your foods, but it’s best to also add probiotic supplements to your diet.

After a few weeks of eating clean and consistently taking your probiotics, I promise you’ll feel lighter and more energetic. See my beginner’s guide to taking daily probiotics.

Ghee

Also know as clarified butter, ghee has become popular recently because of its health benefits. The process of making ghee includes heating butter to remove the milk solids and water. Recent studies have found ghee is healthier for your heart and could possibly reduce unhealthy cholesterol levels. Health gurus such as Kelly LeVeque of Be Welll by Kelly are recommending ghee as the healthy fat in your diet.

When you’re cooking meals at home, just swap out butter and oil and replace with ghee. Easy!

Vegan Meals

Even when you aren't a vegan, there's a lot of benefit to eating a mostly plant based diet. While going vegan may seem like a new fad diet, there's solid evidence that eating more fresh greens will improve your health (and your waistline). When you start getting creative in the kitchen with veggies, you'll be amazed at how delicious they can be!

Avocado toast is one of my favorite fast and healthy vegan meals!

Turmeric Latté

Turmeric is another spice turned superfood we've been seeing pop up everywhere. There are two versions of this latté drink, one with coffee and one without coffee. I personally prefer the Goop recipe with ginger, which adds a little kick. Both ginger and turmeric have beneficial anti-inflammatory properties making this morning pick-me-up a healthy choice.

Activated Charcoal

At first I thought the idea of ingesting charcoal seemed on the risky side but this health trend has gone mainstream with brands like Pressed Juicery who make Activated Charcoal Lemonade. Once upon a time you only found activated charcoal in emergency rooms to treat poisoning or drug overdoses as it is extremely absorbent and can remove toxins.

Nowadays people use activated charcoal to clean out their gastrointestinal tract as it adheres to problematic particles and heavy metals to move them along. The downside is this absorption can be too effective as it can remove nutrients and even medication like birth control and make it ineffective.

The moral of the story is drink your black lemonade freely as long you're not taking important meds and you didn't just eat a kale salad (because you won't see any of the nutritional benefits).

Fresh tamales with poached eggs, beans, brown rice and avocado.

Kombucha and Drinking Vinegars

This fizzy beverage is made by fermenting sweet tea with a culture of yeast and bacteria. This pro-biotic drink is believed to aide in digestion among many other health benefits. Kombucha is one of my favorites because I find it to be quite refreshing, low calorie and due to its extremely low alcohol content it gives me a warm and "buzzy" sensation in my belly. In the midst of the latest mocktail craze, kombucha is now replacing booze in many drinks.

Drinking Vinegars

New to the market are drinking vinegars, which honestly taste pretty similar to kombucha. They’re high in probiotic and antioxidant properties making them both healthy and refreshing.

Buddha Bowl

Buddha bowls are large one-dish meal bowls consisting of whole grains, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds and a dressing.

While they are often vegetarian or vegan, you can add meat or fish if you’d like. The vegetables can be raw or roasted, I like a combo of both. The best part of Buddha bowls is that you’ll never get bored, the combination options of grains, veggies and proteins is endless.

Healthy Soups

I personally find homemade soups to be an easy and satisfying way to eat clean and healthy. In the fall and winter season I make big pots of soup and freeze them in batches so I can enjoy them all season.

Fresh herbs in soups can give the beans and vegetables a lot of great savory flavor. Soups made with hearty vegetables such as squash, pumpkin, beans, kale, lentils and whole grains are very filling and make a great meal.

Check out my recipe for butternut squash and green apple soup!

Bone Broth

Bone broth promises to deliver youthful skin, improved digestion, increased energy, a better night’s sleep, a more robust immune system and an overall better general feeling of wellbeing.

Since a lot of nutrients are stored in bones, this broth extracts all of them and puts them straight into the broth making the nutrients readily available for our consumption. Check out my blog post with a step-by-step guide to making your own bone broth at home.