cover image Juicing for Life

Juicing for Life

Cherie Calbom. Avery Publishing Group, $14.95 (350pp) ISBN 978-0-89529-512-5

While Calbom and Keane promise no quick fix for various ailments, their simple-to-prepare natural ``potions'' fit the contemporary demand for instant--and healthful--gratification. Arranged alphabetically by ills (which range from acne to age spots to chronic fatigue syndrome, varicose veins and water retention), juice ``cures'' are touted here as ``vitamin and mineral cocktails'' that can detoxify the body and supplement the diet. Many of the same juice recipes work on sundry and specific ills; recipes for potassium broth, ``very veggie'' cocktail, ``Cherie's cleansing cocktail,'' ``ginger hopper,'' ``garlic express'' and ``chlorophyll cocktail'' are among the repeated panaceas. At the very least, juicing raw produce is a relatively direct means of introducing the vegetables recommended by nutritionists into daily habits. So while some will pigeonhole Juicing as just another New Age treatise, others--convinced of the place of the occasional juice fast in the diet--will find the volume fascinating, and well worth the investment in a juicer and organic produce. (Feb.)