ENTERTAINMENT REALM

Soupelina’s Soup Cleanse by Elina Fuhrman. Da Capo Press| February 2016| 265 pages | $24.99| ISBN: 978-0-7382-1888-5

RATING: *****/5*

The subtitle: Plant-Based Soups and Broths to Heal Your Body, Calm Your Mind, and Transform Your Life. Who doesn’t want all that? I’m in! Soupelina’s Soup Cleanse is packed with data about a plant-based diet to absorb before even diving into the cleanse. Why are cooking vegetables better than raw? Less bacteria, easier to digest and easier mineral absorption. In the chapter Diving In, author Elina Fuhrman discusses various tools and ingredients. She includes fascinating and useful facts about tons of veggies, fungi, legumes, fruits, spices and oils.

Arugula and romaine alkalize your system and clear your colon. Avocado has amino acids needed for effective liver detox. Cauliflower contains vitamin K and omega-3 fatty acids! Cucumber flushes toxins and reduces heat and inflammation. Cabbage is another anti-inflammatory. Sweet potatoes “are known to fight cancer, but also elevate mood and slow down aging.” Onion boosts immunity and also has anti-inflammatory properties.

My favorite and most-used spices are cardamom, coriander, turmeric and cumin. Cardamom: “In Ayurveda, cardamom is prescribed to bring joy and clarity to the mind.” Coriander stimulates blood and relieves infections. Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-aging power spice! Cumin operates as a digestive aid that “is an antidote to weakness and fatigue.”

Fuhrman explains: “Even though my delicious soups began as a way to heal myself, they became so much more than that.” She writes: “Healthy plant-based, veg-centered eating and wellness are taking the world by storm, infusing the media and pop culture and raising a new generation of healthy eaters. I’m so very proud to be a voice in this wellness revolution that I believe will transform the world and our health.”

Here’s the Soupelina’s Soup Cleanse summary:

Eat—eat one soup at each meal

Snack—snack on broths and some raw veggies

Drink—drink plenty of water between meals

Eliminate—you should have two bowel movements per day during the soup cleanse

Rest—“energy levels will fluctuate on a day-to-day and moment-to-moment basis. Listen to your gut.”

Avoid—avoid coffee, any sugar, animal protein, dairy, alcohol, wheat, nicotine, processed foods and fried foods

Consider—add wheatgrass and turmeric shots into the plan

Sleep—focus on how WELL you sleep not how long

Soupelina’s Soup Cleanse is divided into these sections: Introduction: My Walk into Wellness; Soup Up; The Balancing Act; Diving In; Soup-Rises; Soupelina Secrets—Make It Your Soup Cleanse; Time to Soup; The Recipes—Blended Soups, Chunky Soups, Broths, Raw Soups; I Am Done with the Cleanse; Now What?; Listen to Your Gut; Find Your Soup-Er Calm.

Recipes include: Cauliflower Me, Maybe?!; And the Beet Goes On; I Yam Who I Yam; With My Chick-a-Peas; Oh Snap!; The Perks of Being a Purple Cauliflower; I Don’t Carrot All What They Say.

This is a cleanse I’ll definitely do and soups I will make and enjoy. Soup is easy and filling and nutritious and delicious. Fuhrman uses a Vitamix which a costly appliance for many [$300-4600]. I’ll do what I can with the blender I own. You can eat these healthy and healing soups anytime not just on a cleanse. I highly recommend this #Soupelina cleanse and cookbook.

Elina Fuhrman is the founder and chef of Soupelina.

 FTC Disclosure: I received these cookbooks for review from Da Capo Press.

–review by Amy Steele

purchase at Amazon: Soupelina’s Soup Cleanse: Plant-Based Soups and Broths to Heal Your Body, Calm Your Mind, and Transform Your Life