If you love fresh mint, you are going to love this recipe. This smoothie is part of Dr. Gundry's Plant Paradox three day cleanse. I love it for a morning refreshing smoothie and you do not have to be on a cleanse to enjoy it.

This is not an advertisement for the source of this recipe. However, I want to give credit where it is due and I have used Dr. Gundry's program with complicated clients with good results.

Since I do not like to recommend something I am unfamiliar with, my husband and I tried his program for ourselves. The three day cleanse is really just very clean eating to withdraw your body from sugar addiction and clean up your gut. By the way, if you feel terrible on any cleanse, you probably have a lot of cleaning up going on and need to change something about the way you have been eating. 

I actually felt good on his program, and realized that what I missed was some "reward" eating. This signifies low endorphins/dopamine. I know that I struggle with this and need to take my DLPA more often! Sometimes the carpenter's house is the last one to get remodeled.

This particular smoothie is something I have enjoyed long after trying the cleanse. There's something about it that my body craves and I usually have it a couple times a week when I am not traveling. 

It could be the fresh mint (so delicious!), or the lemon juice (which, although its acidic, balances your body's ph and actually lowers your gut ph), or the healthy fat from the avocado that keeps me full. This smoothie encourages good gut bacteria growth.

But please do not eat anything you hate. Food is supposed to be about nourishment, community, pleasure, and connection. Having recently returned from Italy, I can attest to this first hand! 

This is an encouragement for you to try new things and to see what works for you and your individualized body. And a way for me to share a fun recipe. If you don’t like spinach or can’t tolerate the high oxalates in it, just skip it and increase the romaine lettuce quantity. All credit to The Plant Paradox, although I do suggest my own personal twist.

To your best (mental) health!

Green Smoothie

(adapted from The Plant Paradox by Dr. Steven Gundry)

1 cup chopped romaine lettuce

1/2 cup baby spinach

2 mint sprigs, with stem (original recipe says “1”-I like 2)

1/2 avocado

4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (I often go a little heavy on this too)

8 drops stevia extract (original recipe says 3 to 6)

2-3 ice cubes

1 cup water

Blend together for about 10 seconds. Enjoy!