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What is clean eating?

Clean eating is an approach to eating that focuses on consuming whole, minimally processed foods, while avoiding foods that have been highly processed, refined, or contain artificial ingredients.

What foods are considered clean eating?

Organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats are all foods that are considered clean eating.

Save This Clean Eating Grocery List For Your Next Trip

Fruits + Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables play a big role in clean eating. In order to abide by the clean eating guidelines, shop for fruits and veggies that are organic and GMO-free.

• Spinach
• Kale
• Broccoli
• Bell peppers
• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• Berries
• Apples
• Bananas
• Avocados
• Garlic
• Onion
• Lemons

Whole Grains

Whole grains are an absolute powerhouse element to include in your clean eating regimen and meals. They provide important vitamins and minerals, and plenty of fiber that keeps you feeling regular.

• Quinoa
• Brown rice
• Whole grain pasta
• Whole wheat bread
• Whole wheat wraps
• Oats

Protein

Protein (whether animal- or plant-based) keeps you fuller for longer, sustains your energy throughout the day, and can help you build muscle. These clean eating protein sources will bulk up your meals perfectly, no matter how you use them. Again, keep an eye out for organic labels when grocery shopping.

• Chicken breast
• Grass-fed beef
• Salmon
• Eggs
• Lentils
• Chickpeas
• Black beans

Dairy + Dairy Alternatives

These dairy and dairy alternative essentials can be enjoyed easily on their own or incorporated into your fave clean eating recipes for a healthy bite.

• Greek yogurt (plain, unsweetened)
• Almond milk or other plant-based milk (unsweetened)
• Organic or grass-fed butter

Oils + Condiments

Keeping these oils and condiments on-hand allows for a seamless cooking process when making clean eating meals. You don't have to limit your next grocery trip to just these items, either – feel free to branch out with whatever wholesome ingredients your go-to recipes call for.

• Extra virgin olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Dijon mustard (no sugar)

Herbs + Spices

Spice things up with these must-have herbs and spices! Again, you're not limited to using only this short list for your dishes. Look for items that have been minimally processed!

• Basil
• Cilantro
• Garlic
• Turmeric
• Cinnamon
• Black pepper
• Sea salt

Parfait Popsicles

Popsicles are one of the best desserts you can enjoy on a hot summer's day, and with these low sugar desserts, you could be in for a treat every day if you wanted to! Crafted with fresh fruit, Greek yogurt, and granola, these frozen bars are easily made possible with some simple molds and popsicle sticks. They're naturally sweetened with honey, which makes 'em a delightfully light low sugar dessert! (via Brit + Co)

Blueberry Parfait Milkshake

Dessert for breakfast? Love it. Breakfast for dessert? Even better. This thick milkshake assumes the flavors of a classic blueberry parfait, but retains a more dessert-like sweetness for when the cravings really strike. Using frozen Greek yogurt for the base ensures a rich texture (and lots of protein) for sipping down as slow or as fast as you want! (via Brit + Co)

Baked Apples with Crumb Topping

Low sugar desserts have nothing on baked apples. They're just like apple pie, but healthier! Each tender bite of this recipe is doused in natural sweetness from maple syrup that mixes in with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla for a full flavor effect. You'll love this option even more alongside a scoop of sugar-free ice cream! (via The Real Food Dietitians)

Chocolate Olive Oil Sponge Cake

The creators of this recipe attest that the cake is "unbelievably light, perfectly moist, and decadently rich." If that's not enough detail to convince you to make it, the fact that it's also vegan, grain-free, and sugar-free will definitely help you decide. Once it's done, top it with fruit and flowers for crowd-pleasing curb appeal. (via No Eggs or Ham)

Raspberry Brie Dessert Pizza

Dessert pizza makes our hearts *so* happy! The crust of this dish is sweetened lightly with honey, while almost all of the toppings remain untouched by refined sugar. To make this dessert even lower in sugar, omit the candied pecans that get sprinkled on top. Low sugar desserts are truly what you make them, so each inclusion or exclusion should be based on what works best for you and your health! (via Completely Delicious)

Roasted Peaches with Vegan Ice Cream + Granola

Roasted peaches (or honestly, even grilled peaches) are like baked apples – when cooked, the fruit becomes more juicy and tender than it already was, unlocking unforgettable flavor after unforgettable flavor. What makes this healthy dessert even more enjoyable is the fact that it's low in sugar! Make sure to serve each half with some naturally-sweetened granola for some good crunch. (via Gastroplant)

Healthy Apple Cake

This healthy cake is a little bit different as far as low sugar desserts go. It swaps xylitol for granulated sugar, a naturally-derived sweetener that has fewer calories and doesn't spike your blood sugar as significantly as traditional granulated sugar. With notes of apples and cinnamon, you just have to make this easy cake. (via Where Is My Spoon?)

Rainbow Fruit Pizza

You can literally taste the rainbow when you prep this dessert pizza! To make it lower in sugar, opt for a lower sugar cookie dough (we like Sweet Loren's) and sub the powdered sugar in the cream cheese frosting for maple syrup or stevia. From there, go crazy with the colorful fruit, and dig in! (via Bowl of Delicious)

Tahini Date Shakes

Dates are a great healthy option for sweetening your low sugar desserts, and this homemade shake features them in the tastiest way. When paired with tahini, dates offer a satisfyingly sweet balance to the salty, nutty spread. These drinks also include a splash of strong coffee, making them great for a midday pick-me-up! (via The First Mess)

Banana Cream Pie Dessert Nachos

These lower-in-sugar dessert nachos give actual banana cream pie a run for its money! You'll start by making the cinnamon chips (so worth it, plus they taste like Taco Bell Cinnamon Twists), then drenching them in a rich pudding and dark chocolate drizzle. Each bite is crunchy yet smooth, plus there's chocolate involved, so how could you not love it?! (via Whole and Heavenly Oven)

Slow Cooker Coconut Milk Rice Pudding

This low sugar dessert is concocted in the slow cooker, giving it all that sweet time to slowly simmer in a mix of coconut milk, turmeric (which has great anti-inflammatory properties), cinnamon, and vanilla. The recipe includes granulated sugar, but you could easily swap it for a squirt of honey, which not only provides a healthier option, but gives each bite a boost in flavor! (via A Virtual Vegan)

Freedom Cookies

Low sugar desserts that double as low-carb desserts can be very tasty. Case in point: freedom cookies! These healthy baked bites are gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, sugar-free, and low-carb. There's no tricks here – only treats! These low sugar desserts taste just like OG sugar cookies without spiking your blood sugar. (via A Spicy Perspective)

Tang Yuan (Glutinous Rice Balls)

These chewy rice balls are about to become your new dessert obsession. They're sweet, but not too sweet, so you can truly savor every bite! Inside a glutinous outer layer of rice dough, you'll find a nutty black sesame filling that brings the ultimate comfort. These bites are traditionally served in a warm gingery broth, which you can optionally sweeten with maple syrup or honey for a healthier effect. (via Takes Two Eggs)

Healthy Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

Oh my gosh. We are salivating over these low sugar desserts! Instead of being packed with sugar-laden marshmallows, these bites are actually bound using a medley of sunflower butter, honey, and dark chocolate chips – all making for immaculate flavor! Opt for a healthy cereal of any kind to solidify these sweet treats. (via Munching with Mariyah)

Easy Homemade Frozen Yogurt

If you're resisting the urge to get fro yo based on your low sugar diet, resist no more. You don't even have to leave the house for this recipe! This frozen yogurt is make with an easy, painless mix of bananas, berries, Greek yogurt, and honey that form a refreshing bite every single time. Rainbow sprinkles are optional, but we're totally here for adding them in excess. (via The Girl on Bloor)

Single-Serving Blueberry Crisp

Let's hear some noise for easy low sugar desserts! This one only requires 8 ingredients (and none of them are sugar)! The crumble topping and blueberry filling part of this recipe are both sweetened up with a dash of maple syrup, which also speaks to the fruity, cinnamon-y notes included in each spoonful. This recipe is exceptionally awesome since it yields a single-serving for the times you're just wanting a little something. (via Earthly Provisions)

Cottage Cheese with Fruit

Cottage cheese has earned its title as a classic when it comes to high-protein desserts and low sugar desserts, but it doesn't taste super great on its own. Try doctoring it up with any fresh fruit you have on-hand and a squeeze of honey, and you'll fall in love! (via The Fast Recipe)

What happens in We Live in Time?

In We Live in Time, Almut, a chef and former figure skater, and Tobias, a Weetabix cereal employee, unexpectedly cross paths when Almut literally hits him with her car. All it takes is a single trip to the ER and a diner, followed by a visit to Almut's restaurant, for the couple to fall for each other. They embrace their newfound romance with reckless abandon, but their vision of the future comes to a screeching halt when Almut's ovarian cancer returns.

Instead of using a typical storytelling arc, the movie actually opens with the diagnosis, taking viewers by surprise almost as much as Tobias and Almut. The story jumps back and forth between their early relationship, starting a family, and life post-diagnosis, highlighting the beauty of both the boring and special moments of a life lived together — and it's way more hopeful than heartbreaking. (It's also pretty easy to keep up with thanks to the length of Florence Pugh's hair in any given scene).

The couple's relationship is marked by reveling in quiet moments, like Almut showing Tobias the perfect way to crack an egg or eating an entire sleeve of Jaffa Cakes in the bathtub while nine months pregnant. But those simpler moments are interspersed with parties and passion, and Almut, who'd rather live six incredible months than agree to chemo and wait for a remission that will never come, is determined to keep up the momentum.

She begins leading a sort of double life, hiding her involvement in a new cooking competition from Tobias, and hiding her cancer from her fellow chefs. (One moment of levity comes when Almut's second finds her throwing up in the bathroom and asks if she's on drugs).

But while many viewers can understand dedicating yourself to a goal, Almut's driving force goes much deeper than that: she's terrified of being forgotten. When competition training means she forgets to pick up their daughter Ella, and winds up fighting with Tobias, Almut reveals how scared she is of only being "the mom with cancer." She wants to give Ella another identity to remember her by. So, they move forward together and finally make it to the cooking competition — but despite all the work it took to get there, it's not the beautiful dishes or the applause or the overall success that make the greatest impact.

How does We Live in Time end?

Almut ditches the competition before it's over, taking her family to a nearby ice skating rink instead. After leaving Tobias and Ella at one end of the rink, she waves and takes off, and it's the final image we see of her — like an angel on ice skates.

When the film flashes forward to the period after Almut's implied death, we see Tobias teaching their daughter how to crack eggs the way Almut showed him at the beginning of their relationship. And that is the part that left me weeping. Instead of romanticizing death, We Live in Time truly romanticizes life in every sense of the word. It's a reminder that the simple ways we honor our loved ones, the inescapable moments that are totally interwoven in our lives, end up being the most powerful. And the fact that no matter what comes, memories mean we can live forever.

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