"Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage" (Weinstein Books, $26.95).

Should you eat like Raquel Welch? Raquel who? If you're under 30, it's quite possible you're unfamiliar with the movie icon, most recognizable for her partially clothed sex symbol roles in "One Million Years B.C." (1966), "The Three Musketeers" (1973) and "Mother, Jugs and Speed" (1976).

But if you are about 30, you probably couldn't receive better advice than to now start eating like Welch, who is a stunning 72. Currently being lauded in the press worldwide for her still-youthful appearance, Welch — who has not only always been a busy actress but a harried working mom — attributes it in her book, "Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage" (Weinstein Books), to little to very few minor "procedures" and very much to an incredibly clean diet and strategic exercise routine.

This was released a few years ago, as Welch turned 70, and, even with the much younger set of celebrities writing tomes of their advice (Lea Michele, who plays a recently graduated high school student on the hit TV series "Glee," is the latest to sign for one), with Welch's great ideas and down-to-earth tone, this one is still by far my favorite. Like many other issues in her life, Welch has bared it down to the bones of what works and repeated it daily. Her routine shows how quick and easy — not to mention satisfying, since she eats ample portions multiple times throughout the day — it can be to be a healthful gourmet. The mainstream medical community has recommended such a regime for decades.

"On a typical day, I wake up around 5 a.m. After a very light breakfast of egg whites and Bieler's Broth, I go to my yoga class that begins at 6:30 and goes until 8," she told AOL News. "After yoga, I feel energized, and I have my whole day ahead of me. Yoga really has an enormous rejuvenating quality to it because it affects the endocrine system. And for a woman who's aging, you need flexibility and you need to work your joints — and yoga does that. I do yoga six days a week.

"When I get back from yoga, I might have poached or grilled salmon and some green steamed vegetables. Later in the day, around 1 or 2 p.m., I might have a meal with larger portions: a big piece of protein, like fish, veal (or) chicken, and a big portion of vegetables. When you want to be lean and mean, you need to eat small portions throughout the day. It's called grazing. Then in the evening, I'll have a huge plate of steamed green, non-starch vegetables — celery, broccoli, snow peas, asparagus or spinach."

Her morning staple of Bieler's Broth is based on a famous recipe of the late Dr. Henry Bieler, a pioneering alternative health physician who wrote "Food Is Your Best Medicine" (Ballantine Books). Although credited with possibly helping to restore alkaline reserves, improve liver function and being a staple of what he recommended to asthma, cancer and diabetes patients, the type of fresh vegetable blend of green beans, celery, parsley and zucchini (recipe is below) is really just part of what today's physicians urge, if not beg, people to try to eat daily.

Ingredients like the salmon she loves, nutritionists widely credit not only with essential anti-inflammatory health properties, but also with the power to make skin glow.

Welch is quick to point out that she's not ideal when it comes to what she eats.

"The way I eat might sound too perfect for words," she continued. "And I don't do it every single day. I'm human."

Her book more than proves, too, that the ideal Welch was held up to in her life was often anything but real. She poignantly and deeply writes about issues that are much more than skin deep, sadly noting that the image that public relations flaks created was just that.

It's the story, she says, of how the real "she" (a self-described "prude," who threatened to sue if her "no-nudity" film contract clauses were violated) disappeared on the set of "One Million Years B.C." and the larger-than-life "She" that she could never shake was born.

Diet advice is some of the lightest fare in her memoir, but a big part, she notes, of what kept her focused through the years. Here is a rendition of her morning staple of Dr. Bieler's Broth:

DR. BIELER'S BROTH

Zucchini squash

Green beans

Celery

Clean, chemical-free water

Parsley

Extra virgin olive oil or unsalted organic butter

Varied seasonings, optional (see recipe instructions)

Yield depends on amounts used.

Cut up equal amounts of zucchini squash, green beans (frozen or fresh) and celery. (Chop the celery 1/2 inch or less to eliminate stringiness.)

Steam until soft using clean water (distilled or reverse-osmosis and carbon filtered) in a porcelain or stainless steel pot. Do not use aluminum or copper cookware.

Fill blender half-full with the vegetables and the water used for steaming. Add a small handful of chopped raw parsley. Blend to a consistency of pea soup (or as desired).

Add a small amount of unsalted organic raw butter or preferably extra virgin olive oil.

For variety and to suit your own taste, try adding garlic, onions, cayenne pepper, ginger, herbs, etc. Season with tamari or wheat-free soy sauce, etc. —Jeremy Kaslow, M.D. (www.drkaslow.com)

The following, from Food Network's Bobby Flay, is also a lot like what Welch says she eats daily:

GRILLED SALMON FILLET WITH HONEY-DOUBLE MUSTARD SAUCE

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

3 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, drained

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus to taste to season salmon and for watercress

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus to taste to season salmon and for watercress

2 pound fillet salmon, skin on

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 bunch watercress, coarsely chopped

1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons aged sherry vinegar

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Yields 4 servings.

Whisk together the mustards, honey, horseradish, mint and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a small bowl. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes before using. It can be made one day in advance and refrigerated, but do not add the mint until just before using. Bring to room temperature before using.

Heat the grill to high. Brush the salmon with the canola oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the salmon on the grill, skin-side down, and grill until golden brown and slightly charred, about 3 minutes.

While the salmon is cooking, place the watercress and onion in a medium bowl, and then add the vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Transfer the salad to a platter, top with the salmon fillet and drizzle each fillet with the mustard sauce.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "After-Work Gourmet" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.