This week, Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle site, Goop, unveiled a special breakfast smoothie that the actress supposedly drinks “every morning, whether or not she’s detoxing.”
Containing a wide variety of ingredients, including items such as Goop’s very own “moon dust” powder supplements — with each costing $60 — the Daily Mail calculated the drink to cost $223.
Since most of us don’t want to take out a mortgage for our breakfast, here’s a way to make a similar shake that is just as (if not more) healthy, while also costing a couple hundred dollars less.
Nyree Dardarian, a registered dietitian, assistant clinical professor and director of the Center for Integrated Nutrition & Performance in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, who was recently interviewed about the Goop smoothie, put the recipe together.
Gwyneth smoothie ingredient — 1 cup almond milk and 2 tablespoons vanilla mushroom protein powder
Nyree’s alternative ingredient — 1 cup soy milk
“Vanilla mushroom protein powder is a vegan source of protein, instead use soymilk, a less expensive substitute and a complete source of protein.”
Gwyneth smoothie ingredient — 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Nyree’s alternative ingredient — 1 teaspoon butter
“It sounds silly to add butter to your smoothie, right? Well, so does adding coconut oil. Coconut oil provides 39 calories and five grams of fat — 60 percent of which is saturated — while butter is only 34 calories and four grams of fat — 35 percent being saturated fat. Or, really, you could eliminate this ingredient entirely.”
Gwyneth smoothie ingredient — 1 tablespoon almond butter
Nyree’s alternative ingredient — 1 tablespoon almond butter
“You can actually leave that. It’s pretty good for you.”
Gwyneth smoothie ingredient — 1 teaspoon of maca
Nyree’s alternative ingredient — do some yoga.
“There are rumors of a world wide shortage of maca. Avoid being the difficulties of getting your hands on this root that is claimed to help reduce stress. Take a break from making your smoothie to meditate or hold downward dog to find your om.”
Gwyneth smoothie ingredient — 1 teaspoon of ashwagandha
Nyree’s alternative ingredient — 1 tablespoon of turmeric
“Ashwagandha means ‘the smell of a horse’ in Sanskrit. Skip the horse smell and give yourself an immunity boost with turmeric.”
Gwyneth smoothie ingredient — 1 teaspoon of ho shou wu
Nyree’s alternative ingredient — 1 teaspoon of buckwheat
“Ho shou wu is a member of the buckwheat family, so why not go to the source? It is actually a seed, not a wheat, and is rich in zinc, iron and selenium.”
Gwyneth smoothie ingredient — 1 teaspoon of cordryceps
Nyree’s alternative ingredient — 1 teaspoon of ground black tea leaves
“The tea leaves can give you a bit of energy.”
Gwyneth smoothie ingredient — 1 teaspoon of any of her “Moon Dusts,” from Action Dust to Beauty Dust to Sex Dust (no joke)
Nyree’s alternative ingredient — Vitamin D from the sun
“Just go outside and soak up a little sun to get vitamin D in the most natural way. Or, you could just look up another smoothie that doesn’t require weird powders.”
Total cost of the Nyree alternative: Going by shelf prices at the ShopRite on Snyder Avenue, buying all of the ingredients will cost a total of $21.45. The ingredients will make at least 10 smoothies — with some ingredients left over for the next batch — bringing the cost per smoothie to roughly $2.15.
Not a bad deal.
