Clean(ish) Book Summary - Clean(ish) Book explained in key points

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Clean(ish) summary

Name: Clean(ish)
Rating: 4.4 (332 reviews)
Author: Gin Stephens

Gin Stephens

Eat (Mostly) Clean, Live (Mainly) Clean, and Unlock Your Body's Natural Ability to Self-Clean

4.4 (332 ratings)

26 mins

Table of Contents

Clean(ish)
summarized in 7 key ideas

Audio & text in the Blinkist app

Key idea 1 of 7

A quick heads-up.

Before we get into this Blink, just a little heads-up: there’s some language about the restriction and avoidance of certain kinds of foods, so please read with care.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

why labels like “all natural” or “fragrance-free” are misleading;
why certain oils are healthier than others; and
the amazing health benefits of walking barefoot on the beach.

The world is full of harmful toxins – but our bodies are capable of cleaning themselves.

There’s no point in sugarcoating it: our relationship with food has become fraught. Choosing food has become kind of like a second job. It’s a mathematical task, and even an obsession to some: counting calories! It can be a fun little challenge trying to pronounce all the ingredients listed on your bag of chips.

But when you’re bombarded by articles decrying the obesity epidemic and social-media posts showing us all these idealized versions of perfect meals and bodies, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

We inhale and absorb toxins from our daily environments.

Most importantly, be sure to practice compassion with yourself as you try to make these changes. It’s a hard thing to feel like you’re getting right, and an impossible thing to feel like you’re getting perfect – and informing yourself is a step in the right direction. With that in mind, let’s step outside for a minute. Outside our bodies.

Being clean is largely about what we eat. But what we absorb also plays a role – what we breathe in, what we put on our skin, what we surround ourselves with. Along with the good and the harmless things, we also absorb hormone disruptors, respiratory toxins, development toxins, and carcinogens.

Real food always trumps processed food.

First, a little history lesson. As part of the New Deal after the Great Depression, crops like corn, wheat and soybeans were heavily subsidized by the American government. Obviously, that led farmers to focus more on these crops, so they came to occupy a huge share of farm production overall, which means they’re in just about every commercially produced food.

Then add in the fact that only about 15 big companies control most commercial food production.

The definition of “eating well” varies depending on the individual.

What is the best way to eat?

In the early 1900s, all these scientists and researchers were studying the diets and health of remote populations around the world. And they noticed that those who did not eat a Western diet had fewer cases of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer – all these scourges of the modern world. They even had better teeth!

The right food can help our bodies clean themselves naturally.

Now that we’ve talked about all the toxins floating in and around us every day, let’s get to the magical ways that our body naturally deals with them.

Think of your body as The Avengers, a group of superheroes fighting against toxins – both the ones in- and outside of our bodies.

Small lifestyle changes can lead to huge results – but compassion and patience are key.

Now that we know what to eat, let’s take a quick look at how to eat. Gin Stephens is a huge advocate of intermittent fasting.

You’ve probably heard of intermittent fasting. In case you haven’t, you basically set a time window for the hours that you can eat in. Most people go 16 hours without eating, so, for example, you could eat breakfast at 11 a.m. and stop eating by 7 p.m. Outside of those times, you limit yourself to water, black coffee, or plain tea.

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What is Clean(ish) about?

Clean(ish) (2022) is a guide to living a life that’s free from the pesticides and other toxins in our food and environment. Through anecdotes, tips, and exercises, it gently and compassionately lays out a road map to a cleaner lifestyle.

Who should read Clean(ish)?

Health-conscious individuals interested in living a cleaner lifestyle
People looking to get stronger or lose weight
Anyone who wants to reduce toxicity in their life

About the Author

Gin Stephens is the New York Times best-selling author of Fast. Feast. Repeat. A committed intermittent faster, she serves as a guide to those interested in the lifestyle. Stephens is also a mother and a teacher.

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Health & Nutrition

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