In 2002 I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I was fortunate to have a progressive doctor who recommended I consider a change in diet when the prescribed steroids provided no relief, only weight gain. For years I was inconsistent in following his recommendations (found in Dr Dean Ornish’s “Eat More, Weigh Less”). Either I’m stubborn or the pain just wasn’t bad enough to force the change. Honestly I thought I could manage it by eating “right” for a period and then going back to it when my body had finally had enough of the “wrong” eating and rebelled with pain.
That approach has done nothing but exacerbate the problem and now I find that any move away from plant-based, whole foods results in pain and in a few instances, localized neuropathy. It’s scary shit, to be honest. I mean, I only just turned 50 this year! I’ve got a good 40+ years left on this planet and I want them to be filled with love and joy, not agony and pain meds.
In addition to fruits and veggies and whole grains and legumes, I’ve added this amazing smoothie to my morning for a powerful punch of vitamins & minerals straight from the source. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to fight this inflammation that tortures my body.
My version is adopted from this YouTube video:
Dr Brooke Goldner Best Ever Plant-Based Green Smoothie
Begin with enough greens to fill and tightly pack your blender to halfway. I like the mild flavor of spinach but I’ve also used a “power greens mix” or kale. The key is to pick one that you’ll drink – not one that tastes like grass, unless you’re into that. No judgment here.
Next, add some unsweetened frozen fruit. Mango is my absolute favorite in this smoothie. Blueberries taste great but I’m not fond of the brown color that results from using them.
After the frozen fruit, I add 1T each of chia seeds and whole flaxseeds. If you’re new to “fiber” in your diet, you may want to begin with less. Use whole flaxseeds (stored in the freezer or refrigerator for freshness) that will be ground when you mix the smoothie.
Next I add a VERY ripe banana. For smoothies I prefer bananas with a lot of dark spots – they’re the sweetest and easiest to digest I find. Perhaps not the prettiest sitting on top of the pile of ingredients but still delicious!
Here’s the most critical piece – HOW MUCH WATER DO I ADD? Remember that we’ve packed those greens in tightly, right? And just puked everything else on? Well the water is added until the top of the greens then STOP! Any more water and you may have an overflow / spill when you blend.
Blend it all together – I use the smoothie setting on my VitaMix – and enjoy!
This recipe made 60 ounces of smoothie. I had the first half for breakfast and the second for a snack later in the day.
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment below and let me know what you though of it.