The health hazards behind the clean eating craze

The phenomenon of so-called 'clean eating' has developed a huge following in recent years, spawning its own celebrity chefs as well as a host of new restaurants keen to capitalise on the trend.

But a leading UK bone charity has warned that the clean eating fad may lead to a future where broken bones are the "norm".

What is clean eating?

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Clean eating is more of an ethos than a specific diet. Rather than following a set of rules, practitioners are encouraged to take a back-to-basics approach to eating by eliminating refined sugars or processed foods.

Clean eating expert Diane Welland told the health website CookingLight.com that processed foods include "anything in a box, bag, can, or package".

But many adherents go further, cutting out or minimising gluten and dairy in order to subsist entirely on "clean" foods, such as vegetables, whole grains and protein.

How did it get so popular?

As with other recent diet fads like paleo and keto, the phenomenon owes much of its meteoric rise to the internet, where a huge community of converts swap tips and spread the gospel to newcomers.

Clean eating "can attribute a lot of its popularity to food photos and social-media hashtagging", says Good Housekeeping, while "clean" food bloggers and YouTube stars have won millions of fans.

Ella Woodward, known as Deliciously Ella, and the Hemsley sisters, Jasmine and Melissa, became idols of the clean eating movement for their low-carb, low-sugar recipes using simple, natural ingredients.

What's the problem?

Research carried out by the National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) shows that 40 per cent of people aged 18-24 have tried clean eating. Half of those say they cut out dairy products as part of the diet.

But as bones are still developing in early adulthood, eliminating calcium-rich dairy foods during this period could have catastrophic consequences for bone health, NOS advisor Professor Susan Lanham-New told the Daily Telegraph:

"Young adults have just one chance to build strong bones and reduce their risk of developing severe problems in later life." She added: "We are facing a future where broken bones will become just the 'norm'.

The warning comes as part of a wider backlash against the movement. In January, the BBC's Horizon documentary Clean Eating: The Dirty Truth cast a critical eye on the nutritional value of the clean eating lifestyle.

Ella Woodward rejected the clean eating label earlier this year and removed the word from her website.

"It has become too complicated. It has become too loaded," she told the Daily Mail.

"When I first read the term, it meant natural, unprocessed. Now it doesn't mean that at all. It means diet. It means fad."

The Hemsley sisters have also sought to distance themselves from the movement, echoing Woodward's complaint.

"It is a media-coined term," Jasmine Hemsley told the London Evening Standard. "We have never, ever used the phrase 'clean eating'."