By Amie Valpone
As I mention in my best-selling cookbook, “Eating Clean: The 21-Day Plan to Detox, Fight Inflammation and Reset Your Body,” there is no one ideal diet.
I believe you can benefit from a cleaner, greener diet. But that doesn’t mean you need to eat exactly what I eat. While there are some precepts for clean, toxin-free eating, which you can read more about in my book, there are many ways to eat healthily.
I’m not into labels. This isn’t about being a vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian. If you want to come up with a name for what this is, knock yourself out, but the most important thing is to eat foods that make your body feel good, which is why I’m sharing with you a recipe I created just in time for your warm summer mornings.
Remember, you are the expert on what you can eat. Your friend, trainer or mom may swear up and down that unpasteurized dairy is the golden key to health, or that millet is king, but if it makes you feel ill, pass it up. After healing from a decade of chronic health issues, it took me years to realize that food was a huge piece of the puzzle and when I shifted to an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, I tossed all my processed foods and started eating clean, whole, organic foods. Try this smoothie below, and let us know what you think. Enjoy!
Serves 2
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, plus more if needed
- 1 green apple
- 1 cup diced honeydew melon
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 large cucumber
- 1 large frozen banana, cut into 1-inch pieces
- Ice cubes, as needed
Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and puree until smooth. Add more almond milk if you desire a thinner consistency. Add ice cubes as needed. Transfer to two serving glasses and serve immediately.
