GOOP

I have to say that I am very often skeptical of celebrities who try to be an authority on food/nutrition, exercise, or life in general. Too often they know nothing about which they are speaking, and more often than not they are really trying to sell something. So when I read about Gwyneth Paltrow’s goop.com site, I was fully expecting to see some celebrity flaunting their celebrity and trying to make a buck. How refreshing to be wrong.

According to the website, goop is

a weekly lifestyle journal delivered straight to your inbox that gives you access to recipes, travel guides, fashion, wellness tips, cultural notes and more, curated by Gwyneth Paltrow.

I don’t like getting more email…I get enough already. So I didn’t really want to give them my email address, even my “junk” one, only to be inundated with daily emails. But you don’t need to sign up for the newsletter ~ the site itself is loaded with content (that presumably has been in previous newsletters). So I started looking around. The site contains six categories: Make, Go, Get, Do, Be & See. I haven’t looked at all of them in detail, other than the “make” category as this has to do with food. The first link I clicked on was “A Better Breakfast.” While I do not think you need to eat breakfast (see here and here), if you are a breakfast eater I actually thought the breakfast ideas were quite good (and you don’t even need to eat them in the morning ~ these are good ideas for any time). Gwyneth has Dr. Frank Lipman involved in this one, and I like his intro ~ he is not a fan of soy (yeah!) and is concerned about GMOs. My only caution with the recipes is that substituting gluten-free breads for regular breads might not be the healthy trade-off we are lead to believe. While there are many reasons why our wheat products are basically crap and not healthy in any way, shape or form, gluten-free products often rely on things such as rice flour or rice starch which can cause as much of a glucose spike as white bread…so use in moderation.

Next I looked at “Healthy Recipes.” Not only was I impressed with the general healthfulness of the recipes, there are a number of them I am excited to try. The first recipe listed, “My Ivy Chopped Salad Reinterpreted,” which serves two, calls for one whole avocado (yes!), 12 oz of chicken or salmon (not shying away from decent protein portions) and 3 T of olive oil (used to brush the chicken/salmon and the zucchini before grilling) in addition to more olive oil in the dressing. Emphasis is on vegetables, healthy fats and protein. Very, very refreshing. I now know what I’m doing with my first batch of beats from my CSA farm share this year (hint: Clean Beet Carpaccio with Marinated Bean Salad).

What else am I making? Lee’s Rocking Fish Tacos! I found this under “My Father’s Daughter,” which is the name of Gwyneth’s cookbook. I love fish tacos and am in search of the perfect recipe…this one looks like a contender. The sauce for the fish consists of olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, onion, garlic, jalapeño, garlic powder, cumin, paprika and salt….is your mouth watering?

I think I really fell in love with the site when I saw a topic called “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.” Here is Gwyneth’s intro:

Sigh. Jamie Oliver. I love Jamie Oliver. I love his food, I love his books, I love his app, I love the mission he is on. Jamie Oliver is trying to change the way we eat, and by doing so, he plans to deal a massive blow to the likes of obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. He is trying to encourage us to get back into the kitchen and cook for ourselves and our families, thereby cutting out the fast and overly processed foods that are making us sick. And fat. And depressed.

I too wrote about Jamie Oliver here. I too love Jamie Oliver. I love the mission he is on. Unfortunately I am not a celebrity and I can’t get him to do an interview on my blog. But Gwyneth can, and she did. Here is one thing he said that is worth sharing:

…forty years ago we ate mostly fresh, local food, and we knew where that food was coming from. But then fast and heavily processed foods crept in and totally changed our palettes and food businesses. And ultimately, this food is killing us. Obesity and weight gain are the most obvious symptoms, but the problem I have in telling this story is that there are also loads of skinny people suffering because the garbage they are eating is affecting them in a different, but equally dramatic way.

The interview also includes some great Jamie Oliver recipes such as “Spicy Moroccan Stewed Fish with Couscous,”"Asian Chicken Noodle Broth,” and “Jam Jar Dressings.” Check it out.

I have to admit, I am impressed, at least with the food information and recipes that I saw. I plan to do some more exploring of the site and experimenting with some of the recipes. I encourage you to do so as well. Let me know what you think and what you find that is worth sharing.

Oh, and if you’re wondering what “goop” means or stands for, here is what Gwyneth had to say in an interview: