Clenergy encourages clean eating with its wheat-free offering

The words “clean eating” do not automatically conjure up thoughts of tasty, filling meals that don’t make you feel like you’re cheating on your day-today diet.

However, founder of anti-ageing restaurant Clenergy, Abdullah Miya, is looking to change that in his newly-launched Greenside eatery. Deriving it’s name from a combination of the words “clean” and “energy”, the restaurant’s menu is based on three simple pillars.

Every dish is: sugar free, wheat free and low in carbohydrates. The decision was based on Miya’s own 25-year journey into healthy eating, which involved a lot of learning and unlearning before he settled upon an eating philosophy that served his needs .

“My journey started about 25 years ago in terms of looking at my kind of ailments that I started picking up, then I started looking at alternative remedies, going to homeopaths, naturopaths, iridologists etc and started understanding that eating was very much a part of wellbeing,” explained Miya.

“Slowly, I started to change the way I ate and obviously there were different fads that came along, and I followed some of those and started learning which ones actually suited me.

“I don’t believe in diets because I don’t think diets are the right way to go. It’s all about eating correctly and trying to eat as much as your body needs so that you’re not depriving it. I don’t believe that eating should be something where you deprive yourself.”

Along this journey, he fell in love with and married a personal trainer, who brought her own insights and expertise into his life. Together, the pair forged on with their passion for health and wellbeing.

They learned as much as they could, while applying their lessons to their own lives and that of those around them – even going so far as to open a skincare business called Celltone. The pair also developed a habit of reading the labels on everything they ate, even at establishments that were considered health-food eateries.

Eventually, they noticed that not everything that was used in some of the dishes adhered to the principles of clean eating. Having recently sold their skincare business, Miya and his wife were looking for a new challenge and they found it in Clenergy.

“I wanted to do two things that I thought would be unique. The first part is that I want this to be a safe space. A safe space in that you don’t ever have to read the labels or ask the waiter ‘what’s in this.’ I will personally guarantee three things: that it’s going to be wheat free, that there’s no added or refined sugar and low carb.”

Why those three things? Well, wheat is a high carb ingredient. Wheat, coupled with natural carbohydrates like rice and potatoes, converts into sugar as they are digested and that sugar often turns into energy that is stored as fat.

“The whole chain with the likes of Tim Noakes is that we’ve now learned to understand that fat is not your enemy, sugar is. Fat is actually good for you, it’s a good fuel for your body, however, even though sugar is also a fuel for the body, it comes with a whole lot of negatives.

“The challenge we set ourselves is ‘do those places offer you what you crave? Can you eat stuff that you crave that is healthy?’

“And that is the second component that we believe makes Clenergy unique.”

Thanks to that challenge, the restaurant has a decadent dessert menu that one can enjoy without the guilt often associated with sugary treats. It should be noted, however, that the plant-based sweeteners they use may have a laxative effect for some.

Unlike most other proponents of clean eating, Miya’s advice for the holidays is that one shouldn’t hold back on enjoying whatever meals are made available.

“You should think of it as a treat meal.”

Miya advises that you should just remember not to overdo it while promising yourself to get back on the wagon as soon as you can – as early as the next day if possible.

Clenergy is located at 51 Greenfield Road, Greenside. Top recommendations on their menu include fillet steak, grilled kingklip and keto creme brulee.

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