Is polenta (cornmeal creation) and butter okay in clean eating?

I love to make my own version of polenta - I make it with water, cornmeal and a bouillon cube. I was wondering if this is "clean" to eat, as I am hoping to start a clean eating regime monday and don't want to give up my delicious polenta!

Also, my dad adds butter to his polenta, and I know extra virgin olive oil is fine for clean eating, but what about butter?

Thanks for your help!

I wouldn't do butter... but then it all depends on you and your goals. For me I need fat, I don't take in nearly enough, so I add olive oil to two meals a day. I would suggest adding oilive oil, or if you have to go with butter, then go for brummel & brown if you can... it's made from yogurt and tastes great like butter with much less cals.

Good luck and btw tomatoes are great too in there :). or pesto!

the polenta sounds fine...but no butter--try substituting extra virgin olive oil if you can....

there is evidence that the dangers of saturated fats are overrated. IMO polenta in moderation is fine.  However, polenta with butter or olive oil isn't a balanced diet :-)  you also need fiber, protein, vegetables.

Original Post by alevin:

there is evidence that the dangers of saturated fats are overrated. IMO polenta in moderation is fine.  However, polenta with butter or olive oil isn't a balanced diet :-)  you also need fiber, protein, vegetables.

 lol, alevin, I think she's saying she's doing clean eating and only allowing polenta in as a break to her clean eating... lol. I'm sure she has the fiber/protein/veggies down. And fyi: polenta = corn meal = fiber/veggies & protein.

Ok, I just looked it up. Cornmeal is higher in protein and fiber than I thought :-)  Maybe it's time for some tasty polenta. 

If you're going by 'clean' eating principles the butter and cornmeal are both extremely natural products i.e. just one or two ingredients.  The bouillon cube, on the other hand, could be the one that isn't technically so clean... if it contains a lot of flavouring and preservatives etc.  Home-made stock would theoretically be a lot cleaner.

Leaving the hair-splitting aside, polenta is a lovely food.  Go easy on the butter if you're watching your weight and go easy on the total amount of the finished dish you serve for the same reason.  Enjoy.

Polenta is a traditional Romanian meal which substitues bread...I absolutely hate it no matter HOW it's cooked. I had maybe 150 grams a while ago at a Romanian restaurant but don't want to eat it again soon lol

In it's simplest form you only cook it in water and add some salt. Then you can put some parmezan on top (low-fat ideally). Or you can even eat it wt low-fat yogurt.

butters fine, just make sure its good quality.

remember butter isnt the devil it was made to be, it does have vitamins, good fats ( grass fed cows produce butter with less artery clogging sat fat, and more benefical sat fat)

besides, it tastes great!!!!!!!

i use coconut oil alot, and extra virgin olive oil alot, but butter is another great fat. MUCH better than canola or soy oil for example.

i love polenta, served with tomato sauce and a good salad, yum!

Thanks for the input you guys! I won't use butter (I don't normally anyway).

gi-jane - good point about the bouillon cube. I never considered that it may be "unclean" - I just thought, "ooo, spices to make my meal more flavourful". I shall have to check the ingredients.

Thanks again!! I'm gonna go have some polenta with chicken and tomatoes. Yum!