In this well-organized, two-part volume that boasts an appealing cover and a clean presentation, Larry Trivieri, Jr. trumpets the healing powers of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV), providing both a cultural and historical context and a clearly laid-out, step-by-step process for its uses in the fight against 80 ailments.
Trivieri, who cured himself of a debilitating bronchitis and passed a kidney stone thanks to “alternative therapies,” has since then developed a lifelong focus on holistic approaches. When someone close to him cured themselves of GERD thanks to ACV, Trivieri took an added interest in both self-care and ACV.
Trivieri spends the first part of the book providing context for his work. Though his remarks on the positive nature of natural healing therapies, as a general group, remain a little too broad, Trivieri does raise some good political points when he bemoans the fact that alternative therapies “remain largely unknown to the average American” and that ACV is not advertised as a health agent as this claim would incur fines from the FDA or the FTC. Throughout history, starting with ancient civilizations, Trivieri shows that ACV has been used for anything from digestion problems to respiratory conditions to the dressing of wounds. Hippocrates himself advocated its use.
Trivieri takes us on a tour around the world to confirm his point: the use of ACV in healing has been longstanding and widespread. The question is, what are we waiting for? It is a potent antimicrobial, it possesses anti-glycemic and prebiotic properties (not to be confused with probiotic—a difference that the reader would have enjoyed a little more material on), and is best purchased in an unfiltered, unpasteurized state, and with “The Mother,” from a variety of quality outlets listed in the Resources section at the end of the book. Don’t bother with supplements, they’re crap, but if you want to make your own ACV, Trivieri has your back, delineating a step-by-step process for his new initiates.
Perhaps to avoid being criticized for making illegitimate claims, or for fear of people whose conditions should require them to take medicine, but are holding off in the hopes that a holistic method might help—or perhaps because he genuinely cares about individuals treating their health seriously and leaning toward prevention rather than cure—Trivieri spends almost twenty pages exposing Steps to Better Health, broad strokes of a familiar chorus on how to live a healthy life, a section the book could have done without. Though few and far between, a handful of typos make a straightforward claim of Trivieri’s confusing (“pasteurized” becomes “unpasteurized”), and then we’re not sure what he’s recommending anymore.
The second part of the book is, quite simply, a medical encyclopedia with ACV cures listed alongside alphabetically-arranged ailments. The ailments range from Acid Reflux, Insect Bites, and Sore Throat to Blood Sugar Issues, Coughs, and Cholesterol, not shying away from Body Odor, Flatulence, Hemorrhoids, Warts, or Yeast Infections. If it’s something gross, Trivieri has you covered. For pretty hair and a nice complexion, ACV has you covered too as, we now know it, its uses are manifold.
~Emily Martin for IndieReader