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The Master Cleanse/Lemonade Diet

I'm considering embarking on The Master Cleanse, which is not primarily focused on weight loss, but rather focused on ridding the intestines of built up bacteria. Weight loss is an effect of the Cleanse because it's basically a fast where one drinks a mixture of fresh lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and water for a recommended minimum of ten days.

I'm interested in any feedback from those who have done the Cleanse themselves or know anyone who has done it. I know this is generally not in line with the mentality of this website and I know that maintaining any benefits gained from a cleanse of this nature requires lifestyle maintenance.

Thanks so much for the feedback! If you've never heard of The Master Cleanse, Google it! There's a ton of information.

Keep on keepin' on folks! Whatever you wish is achievable and YOU ARE WORTH IT!! :D

i tried it for awhile but i was working at a mexican restaurant at the time and it was hard to keep my mind off food :/

also, drinking the salt water was kinda gross.

some people dont mind it though and have had success. it just wasnt for me.

I only have one piece of advice for you:
Always contact a medical professional before starting any type of dieting, excerise, or cleansing program.  Cleansing programs can flush out nutrients needed.  Too much water can reduce salt levels to dangerous levels.  Contact a registered physician before starting this plan.

You don't need to cleanse your colon of bacteria.  They are there for a purpose, and messing with the balance of benign flora in your gut can lead to diarrhea and other unpleasantness.

If you want to drink lemonade for days, that's fine.  Just be aware that exactly none of the purported health benefits of cleansing stands up to close scrutiny.  It doesn't remove "toxins".  It doesn't remove encrusted feces.  It doesn't flush out mysterious parasites.  It's just a sugar water fast.

Many people claim to feel marvelous during/after the cleanse.  That's probably true.  Fasting affects mental states, and many people fast for religious reasons because of those altered states. 

Otherwise, cleanses have no verifiable benefit.

I did this last Summer and had great results.  I did the 7 day fast and while I went through detox for 3 days which left me feeling pretty crummy.  But the following 4 days and beyond (even to this day) produced wonderful results.  I feel better, less weighted (if that is a term) and I found my hair was shinier and my nails grew faster and my skin improved tremendously.

I had a hard time with the salt water too but got used to it and it was better when the water was warm.

Good luck!

Talk to a nutritionist or someone who works at a healthfood/supplement store who is knowledgeable about the cleanse.  I worked at a nutrition center and we had several people who benefited greatly from this cleanse because they had years worth of toxic buildup in the body and they swore by them.  Other people didn't need this intense of an regimen because they had maintained overall good health and simple dietary and lifestyle changes were equally effective. 

Done properly following the instructions this cleanse is NOT dangerous and will not harm you.  Talk to someone like a nutritionist or those familiar with it.  Doctors are good for treating diseases but most of them know very little or focus very little on nutrition and vitamins/nutrients cleanses etc.  I have a doctor who fortunately is open to the idea and that has helped me greatly in overcoming some challenges I had. 

I've attempted (and failed) --- but I know many close friends who've done it successfully and have said it was definately a life experience. 

I wouldn't recommend it as a way to lose weight ----- that's not really a good idea.  But if you're looking for a detox I've heard good things.  Me - I attempted for the experience, and my head wasn't really in a good place at the time, but I fully intend to try again when my life settles down a little.   

Advice I've heard:  Make SURE you do the salt-water rinses, or drink your laxative tea ----- that's how all the toxins get out of your body.   Otherwise, just be prepared.   I'd recommend getting the book (it's about $5 or so) --- because it has lots of good information in it.

Oh --- and when in doubt - don't mix your juice too strong.  That was my killer in the end - the thought of the juice just make me want to vomit.......

Things that are medically proven to help the intestinal flora are:

1. Drink lots of water (obviously)
2. Eat lots of fibre (obviously)
3. FRESH Sauerkraut - Yep, sauerkraut (only fresh) is one of the best foods to "cleanse your intestine" because it's partially fermented.  The good bacteria in sauerkraut help to get rid of the bad bacteria.
4. Yogurt with an active bacterial culture like "Activa"
5. Cinnamon - has anti-microbial properties and can help to eliminate some bacteria in the colon and stomach and has lots of dietary fibre and calcium.

I think drinking cinnamon tea regularly and eating one or two servings of yogurt a day along with a diet rich in fibre, would be a good way of ensuring that your intestinal tract say healthy all your life.

A simple "colon cleanse" is not enough to keep you healthy for years but if you continue to eat healthy the benefits stay with you all your life.

I'm not a doctor, but if you don't eat any protein for 10 days you're going to lose a lot of muscle mass, maybe even the majority of any weight you lose.

After looking at the web site, I think it's at best a New Age starvation diet and at worst a pyramid scheme designed to sell allegedly organic foods and supplements.

Do what healthy people have been doing for millenia - eat a balanced diet containing the appropriate number of calories for you, and get as much cardiovascular exercise as practical.

Hi there, I tossed a lot of information in this message on another thread about Master Cleanse.

http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/2102 1.html#16

Ive done the MC twice.  Both times for 5 days.  It was one of the hardest things Ive ever done, but I felt the results were worth it!  Some suggestions for those interested...

Buy the book, its cheap.  Read it and follow his instructions.  Personally, in my opinion, 7 days would be the max I would try.  Again, thats just my opinion.

Try limes instead of lemons to mix things up a bit.  I preferred the limes over the lemons, much better taste!

You must do the laxative tea at night and if you cant deal with the salt water flush, do the tea in the morning too.  The salt water was one of the hardest parts for me!  Drinking it through a straw was easier.

I did not do this for weight loss.  I did it to flush my system and give my digestion system a break.  Most people dont make it past a day or two because they give in to food cravings.  I also had a caffeine headache the second day, which passed.

This is not a "diet" its a detox/cleanse.  Good luck!! :)

Hey, I've actually done the Cleanser twice in the past years. I did it for 14 days both times. It can be hard at first, but humans are creatures of habit, and after the first three days, you're good to go. It even releases you of the stress of meal planning and preparation =P

My favorite part is actually the salt water flush (which most people do not like). I like seeing results, and that's what makes you feel like you're truly cleansing your body.

About muscle mass loss, I actually dropped 2% body fat during the cleanse. (I know that doesn't mean I didn't lose any muscle, I'm just saying I lost more fat - when weight loss and bf% loss is compared)

My mother actually did the cleanser this past January, and she told her doctor. The doctor was very skeptical about it obviously, but also very curious in seeing if there would be any changes in her blood work. She actually dropped >20 pts in cholesterol.

Like people say, including the author, the MC is not a weight loss fasting. It is a detox/cleanser, and the weight loss is a side effect. It does help getting you motivated to embark on your change to a healthier lifestyle. After all, if you can bear the lemonade and say no to food entirely for about two weeks, you feel you can certainly start making healthy choices.

I am currently on day 10 of the Master Cleanse.  I have had phenominal results.

Probably the best thing is my arthritis which, has been bad in the last several years especially in my right shoulder, seems to have vanished completley.

I really dont think this is quackery.  But this is my second attempt.  the first time I only made it 3 days or so.  This time my hunger disappeared after the third day. I feel incredibly clear.  The whites of my eyes have become much clearer.  Oh, and I have dropped 13 pounds.

I did this mainly to regain my quality of life.  I think that has been accomplished to a large degree.

Okay - so after some deliberation I've decided to embark on the M.C. again.

It's going to take me a few days to get back into the detox headspace --- so I'm going to do it properly this time, with my focus on veggies and whole foods this week, with the actual fast beginning on Sunday (it's important that I go for a long run on Sunday, and I don't want to jeopardize that by being on Day 3 of a fast and feeling like crap).

Now I have a few specific questions/concerns---

1.  Does anyone have any tips on where to find Grade B maple syrup in Toronto?  I remember having trouble the last time I tried this and had to settle for something "similar"

2.  Last time I eyeballed the whole lemon/maple syrup mixture (advise from a friend with experience - he told me to mix it strong, and then keep adding water through the day) --  but after 3 days the thought of the mixture just made me want to puke - any tips on how it should taste?  (sort of weak, like lemons, with just a hint of sweetness?)

3.  Last time I found the senna tea made me SUPER ill.  Not your normal crampy grossness, just SICK.  I tried it a few months after my attempt at the "cleanse" and it gave me a sore throat ---- does anyone else experience this or should I suspect an allergy?    Do you have any other tips for substitutions?

Thanks!

I happen to agree with you, Pyretta.  There is absolutely no scientific evidence to back up any of these claims, and it certainly is detrimental to maintaining muscle mass and keeping an elevated metabolism.

People who advocate this stuff usually talk about the cleanse removing "toxins" from the body.  I don't believe a word of it.  Just claiming that "toxins" are removed from the body is not evidence that 1) there are actually toxins in the body that can be removed by drinking laxatives, saltwater and lemonade, and 2) that any measurable amount of actual toxins are removed.

• What exactly are these "toxins"?
  
• Where exactly are they found in your body?
• How do you know you have these "toxins"?
  
• How do you measure the amount  of "toxins" you have?
  
• How do you measure how much has been "flushed away"?
• Other than the "flushing away" of these un-named, unquantifed "toxins", what other measurable, verifiable benefit do you derive from drinking salt-water, laxatives and lemonade for 10 days?

I'm not trying to attack those who do this.  I'm trying to get some straight, verifiable answers to some rather outlandish and vague claims.  It's all very well to want to reduce your environmental pollutant load.  But how does drinking lemonade for 10 days achieve this exactly?

I've considered it many times, but always come to the conclusion that nothing is worth sh*tting for 7 days straight!

If you're thinking about it I suggest you read THIS journal from YesTheyreFake.net where she writes about her day-by-day experiences.

Hi there, I would like to point out that Erik, the co-creator of Calorie-Count.com has tried the Master Cleanse Program. Reference Link. =) So it is unlikely the this thread will be deleted, as it is a topic that has been discussed here on C-C before.

Here is the information that I've posted in this thread, that I linked to above.

There are a lot of personal accounts of folks trying Master Cleanse here:

http://www.43things.com/things/view/153803

Here are some posts from the archives of this site regarding Master Cleanse:

http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/2925 .html
http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/2907 .html
http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/2974 .html
http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/3040 .html
http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/3732 .html

You can also do a search on this site to find more posts regarding Master Cleanse, on the top of the community page there is a search feature to search to public forums, type in "master cleanse" and change the drop down option to All Dates. =)

Google Information:
http://www.geocities.co.jp/Beautycare-Venus/2 032/english/mas ter_cleanser.html

http://www.therawfoodsite.com/mastercleanse.h tm

http://www.falconblanco.com/health/cleansing/ lemoncleanse.ht m 


Message board: http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/lemonad e

Where to by Grade B Maple Syrup? (Grade B maple syrup seems to be very important to the success of Master Cleanse, usually the maple syrup that you would buy in the grocery store is either pure corn syrup or Grade A maple syrup, so make sure you are getting the right stuff):
http://www.maplevalleysyrup.com/products.htm

Regarding your question, "Does anyone have any tips on where to find Grade B maple syrup in Toronto?  I remember having trouble the last time I tried this and had to settle for something "similar"."

I believe success really does take into factor the quality of ingredients used. So I highly recommend finding Grade B maple syrup, even if you have to order it off the internet, because Grade B maple syrup is totally a different characteristic than the typical Grade A maple syrup you will find available. I suggest doing a Google search and read up on how Grade B is different.

I found this website sells it for a reasonable price and will ship to Canada.
http://www.maplevalleysyrup.com/products.htm

Personally, if it was me, I would hold off and make sure you have the right combination of the right ingredients to do it right if you are going to do it.

I have based my feeling of the MC on the way that I felt afterward.  My mind was clear and my body rejuvenated. I saw great results and felt absolutely wonderful afterward.  The part that I disagree with it when day 2-3 come along and you feel like crap.  I don't believe that is the toxins that make us feel that way but more that our bodies are adjusting by lowering metabolism etc.  Hence my statement below that a cleanse should only be done every now and then.

Fasting is something that goes back to Biblical times and I feel that there is value in it but only every now and then.

After my MC my Cholesterol went down 45 points and my Triglycerides when down 600!  They have not gone back up since and I am checked every 6 months.

I believe that there is a huge value to cleansing the colon and with the American Diet being full of the garbage that it is, it is good to do a cleanse.  However, if you eat only raw/whole foods then you should not need to cleanse.

Here is a website that talks about what is trapped in our colons (warning graphic pictures of what comes out):

http://www.nutridirect.co.uk/colon-cleanse.ht ml