Nicole Frain started CleanTreats back in 2013, just as the buzz words and lifestyles of ‘clean eating,’ ‘keto’ and ‘paleo’ were entering our standard vocab.
Nicole had moved out of home and found that cooking was a hobby she loved to do. She enjoyed the personal, quiet time, creating foods from scratch and taking inspiration from other recipes to form something unique.
What Nicole did find was that she naturally gravitated toward ‘clean,’ ‘healthier’ treats, so this quickly became her style (don’t be confused though, Nicole still loves to create buttery pastas and cakes).
CleanTreats was born after Nicole realized that’s not everyone, including her own family and friends, may not want to be swamped by recipes on an ongoing basis on her person Facebook and Instagram account. Facebook CleanTreats was soon born, followed by Instagram.
CleanTreats refers to a healthier alternative to an otherwise naughty treat.
One question commonly asked is that if they are healthy, does that mean we can eat an abundance of them? In short, no.
To explain, we have foods that are energy dense, nutrient dense, and those that lack these qualities. Nutrient dense refers to having an abundance of vitamins and minerals (and other good qualities like good fats, good protein source etc.) in the food consumed, while calorie dense refers to a high level of calories per unit of food.
For example; takeaway or cake will be energy dense, but lack nutrients, making it a poorer food choice. While bananas and pasta are energy dense foods, but they contain an array of vitamins and minerals like magnesium, potassium, fibre and Vitamin B.
Many CleanTreats are nutrient dense and energy dense, in particular those based with nuts (commonly raw cakes). This just means, just like eating chocolate, you eat them in moderation, and it isn’t a free rein to eat a whole cake (as much as we want to condone that). You simply get more of the good stuff when you choose to eat a treat!
Other benefits include less refined sugars and therefore less risk of a sugar crash, as well as slow absorption, meaning you stay full for longer and less likely to need another sugar hit mid-afternoon. Win win!
Nicole hasn’t just kept her talent isolated to CleanTreats social media though. Nicole has written articles and featured in Oxygen Magazine, Men’s Muscle and Fitness, Coconut Magic blog, Women’s Health and Fitness, Protein Bread Co Blog, and her most frequent posting as a contributor to Bulk Nutrients and Bioflex Nutrition weekly recipe blog posts.
Head to her social media and check out what all the fuss is about; Facebook / Instagram