Man Who 'Eats Clean' Cannot Define Clean, But Is Confident Bread Is Dirty

A man who has described his dietary philosophy as "clean eating" for the past three years has been unable, during a recorded interview, to provide a consistent definition of what "clean" means in a nutritional context, though he remains certain that bread is not it. Jordan Cleanse, 37, agreed to define his terms after a registered dietitian challenged him during a panel discussion at a community wellness fair. The resulting exchange, which lasted twelve minutes, produced no functional definition but did establish several things that clean eating is not. "Clean eating means eating foods that are natural, unprocessed, and close to their original state," Cleanse began. When asked whether olive oil, which is processed from olives, qualifies, he said yes. When asked whether bread, which is processed from wheat, qualifies, he said no. "Olive oil is different," Cleanse said. "It's pressed. Bread is baked. Those are different processes." He was unable to explain why pressing is clean and baking is not. The interview continued. Cheese, which is processed from milk using bacteria and rennet: "Clean if it's organic." Protein powder, which is processed from milk using industrial filtration: "Clean, obviously." A banana: "Very clean." A banana that has been sliced and dehydrated: "Depends on whether sugar was added." A banana that was dehydrated without sugar: "I'd need to see the label." "What I realized during this conversation is that 'clean' has no nutritional meaning," said the interviewing dietitian, Dr. Fiona Fiber. "It's an aesthetic judgment. Foods that look simple, that photograph well, that come in earth tones or clear containers: those are clean. Foods that come in plastic packaging with ingredient lists: those are dirty. It's Instagram, not nutrition." Cleanse has since updated his Instagram bio from "Clean Eater" to "Intentional Eater," which he describes as "basically the same thing but harder to argue with."