A.K.A. The Lemonade Diet. Technically it’s not really a diet in the way most people would define diet. Rather it’s a form of fasting or detox. In summary: you don’t eat anything for 10 days except drink a mixture of water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Lemon acts as the cleanser and along with the maple syrup contain enough vitamins and nutrients to keep you alive. In addition, every morning and night you drink an enema drink (Senna Tea at night and Saline Salt concoction in the morning) to clean out all the poisons released by fasting and the lemons. The Master Cleanser is very well known and has been around for more than 50 years. I’m been wanting to do a detox for a long time and finally decided to just take a few days off and do it. You need to be close to a toilet for most of this fast thus the need to take a few days off.
I’m sure there will be some of you that think I’m crazy and will no doubt tell me in length why I will die if I don’t eat real food for 10 days. Of course, these comments will come from people truly concerned about my health which I’m grateful. But let me just say that I’m not an idiot on a fad diet and have done more research on the subject of dieting, nutrition and exercise etc than anyone I know, except maybe one guy. I’m a firm believer in the natural methods of healing and find the concepts of fasting to be very logical. Fasting is nothing new and is a common ritual in almost all religions. I suggest that you read further about the subject if you are interested and provided some links below. There are literally hundreds of forums for people on the Master Cleanse to share their experiences and concerns and while there are some alarming incidents (some people losing hair scared me a bit) generally most claim to have benefited from the cleanse. So I’ve commited to give it a go. Let’s hope I’ll be able to stick it out for the entire 10 days.
During the fast, your body begins to excrete all kinds of toxins accumulated over your lifetime. Some people experience various forms of illness for a few days. This is normal. It’s not because of lack of food but rather from your body undergoing the detoxification. Your tongue begins to spew out a bunch of crud, and you have really bad body odor not to mention all the strange “eliminations”, as they are called, that come out in the toilet. Whoa! (Try googling colonic cleansing to see some photos of “eliminations”) But after all the toxins are out, you’re supposed to feel really really good, your sense of smell and taste are heightened, you think more clearly, generally feel better overall and don’t feel the urge to eat junk anymore. Fingers crossed here. Another plus is that you lose a lot of weight (mostly water) but that’s not my objective for doing this. The Master Cleanse is like reformating your hard drive and doing a clean slate install on your body.
Photos (1) The book is only about 50 pages long and I’ve heard there was a PDF version of it floating around on the NET. The links below cover most of the important parts of the book (2) I was too lazy to find the ingredients in Tokyo so I just ordered them online. Except the organic lemons. I’ll have to buy them in Tokyo and as everyone knows lemons aren’t cheap here. I also got more than enough maple syrup. The thick dark kind which is hard to find in Japan. Of course, I don’t need this much maple syrup for the cleanse but being Canadian I won’t have problems using it up later. I will begin tomorrow and document each day here (unless people get sick of me whining about my cravings for pizza)
RESOURCES:
Excerpt from the book : English and Japanese
The Raw Food Site
An interesting journal of someone’s cleanse here and another one here.
I’ve done the diet before, the second day and the seventh day are hard as hell. Good luck with it!
I’d love to know what a nutritionist or doctor would make of this. A few internet testemonials wouldn’t be enough for me to do something this extreme for an extended period of time. Ten days is a very long time to live on this type of concoction.
I hope you finish this feeling fit and well, Roy. Good luck and take care.
Good luck with it!
Although I’ll admit that I’m not all that interested in the “eliminations” part, it would be nice to know how you actually feel during and after this diet. There are lots of impersonal testemonials floating around these things but as an avid reader of your blog, it would be nice to hear about this as you go along. I’ve always wondered about how good these things actually make you feel vs. the pressure to not feel like you wasted your time and money.
Although I could find nothing on the web to debunk the Master Cleaner diet, I did find a few things about fasting and detoxing in general. No scientific data to back it but if it makes one feel good, why not. Although I have to say that while toxins sound bad, I couldn’t find out what exactly these toxins are and exactly how they are harming me. You would think that would be very important to know and would give concrete evidence to the need for cleansing.
Anyway, just cationary info. Looking forward to your person account. Be careful.
Mayo Clinic on detoxing:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/detox-diets/AN01334
Mayo Clinic on colon-cleansing;
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/colon-cleansing/AN00065
Best 2 articles of all;
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/gastro.html
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.194/news_detail.asp
And so Roy begins the fasting and rids his body of toxins, only to be run over by a bus 2 days later.
That’s how I view these health diets. Eat sensibly. Exercise. Everything in moderation.
-S
Stoneman, your comment is really in poor taste.
Hey, since i m no expert, i m not going to say anything about fasting or detoxing.
but do take care of yourself.
and remember to replenish the water that you have lost.
Don’t worry, a human being can live without food for 50 days or so, but only 3 days without water. Also remember that the body will start breaking down tissues to provide energy. Muscle will be broken down before fat.
Some studies on mice have shown that mice that are given less food live longer. Other studies have shown that the brain works better when hungry. (supposedly resources are allocated to help look for food.)
Also my views on natural healing: healing isn’t natural. If an animal gets sick in nature, it will either die or get eaten.
Hey, if it works for ya, then it works for ya. I’m curious to hear… I mean, read about your experiences with this.
Good luck Roy, I am interested to find out if this works for you. I have been feeling bloated and tired the past few years. If it works for you, I am going to try it.
I have a friend in California who went to India when young and studied Yoga. He swears by fasting. He says that fasts cause the body to begin to consume tissue. The body consumes diseased tissue and fat first. It tries to leave the healthy, good tissue untouched. So fasting in general cleanses you because it consumes all diseased tissue.
It is funny how alot of people think fasting and cleansing is like voodoo, people in India and China have been doing it for thousands of years and it is interesting to note that it has been around longer than mcdonalds and no one questions mcdonalds
Ever had a really painful full body massage? Then when that sadist masseuse finally stops inflicting God’s wrath on your body, you’re mind actually starts to feel great and relaxed? Well of course!! You’ve been wincing in pain from grinding elbows to the middle of your back for an hour!
That’s how I see it. Torture your body with only lemons and maple syrup for 10 days, stopping after that would be like heaven right?
Anyhow, while you’re still of sound mind and body… can I have your car? :)
I’ve since read over a hundred reviews on amazon of the booklet Roy is using. In general, the responses are quite positive with some incredibly negative experiences sprinkled in. I think as long as you have someone around who knows what you’re doing (in case you have an atypical and severe reaction) and you don’t get too terribly sick from it, it probably could do some good and won’t do any harm though one reviewer said she fainted after 2 days.
There’s no doubt in my mind that our bodies are full of toxins from living in a polluted environment, eating processed foods, and eating things which we can’t or haven’t digested and haven’t made their way out. If you read about the chemistry behind certain foods, you can see this pretty clearly. There’s a lot out there damaging you which you can’t see or taste.
I just have concerns about the safety of these types of fairly extreme techniques for detoxing but there’s a saying, “your body, your science experiment.” Along with others, I will be curious to hear about Roy’s experiences with this.
hello ROy I agree with stoneman, even tho it sounds harsh, these diets are stupid. just eat healthy exercise.
From the Mayo Clinic:
Detoxification, or detox, diets are touted by many as a way to remove “toxins” from the body. This practice stems from the belief that the food you consume contains a range of harmful substances, which accumulate in your body, causing fatigue, headaches, nausea and even disease. But there is no evidence that this is true or that detox diets have any health benefits. Also, in some cases, detox diets can have harmful side effects.
…
Some people report they feel better, “lighter,” and more focused and energetic during and after detox diets. This may be due to their belief that they are doing something good for their body. But it may also be due to not eating much — if anything — for more than several days. Calorie restriction can lead to heightened feelings of psychological well-being.
However, there is no evidence that detox diets actually remove toxins from the body. Most toxins in the body are very efficiently and effectively removed by the kidneys and liver and excreted in urine and stool.
Early side effects of fasting include headaches. Prolonged fasting or severe calorie restriction can result in anemia, low blood sugar and irregular heartbeat. Before going on a fast or detox diet, talk to your doctor.
The best diet is one based on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean sources of protein and unsaturated fats. Add regular exercise and stress reduction techniques, and you have a solid foundation for good health.
agree w the post above, thats what they said in medschool
My mom’s into natural healing and things like herbs/vitamins and fasting. I remember she did some sort of detox fast similar to this and I remember that at one point she was shaking and feeling lightheaded. This was probably a natural reaction to the process like you’ve explained and I don’t even remember if it was a sucess or not, I just remember being very worried and asking her to stop because I had to see her like that.
I wish you luck and good health, but please just make sure that those who care about you understand what’s happening and how to tell if you’re ever not ok during the process.
Let us know how it goes. :)
Good luck!
I myself am on the 6th day of the master cleanser and I feel great. I have been able to work out throughout and also work at nighttime until the late hours. My younger brother, however, is not feeling the effects in the same way. He is 23 and his energy levels are pretty low. Also, something strange is that his left eye is a bit swollen. Not sure if it relates, but it’s happening.
The difference between us is immense. I am 32 and work out very regularly and eat extremely well. He is 23, eats and drinks too much, and is on the heavier side. But our mental attitude towards this diet is very different. It is a discipline and a choice to do this cleanse. I told myself that I would finish, so I intend to. If, for nothing else, the sense of accomplishment. I don’t know a lot of people who could do this. Nevertheless, I can’t wait to eat again. :-)
what i find disturbing about the master cleanse is that there is such a disparity of opinions and noone really knows whether its good or bad. You have one person telling you its horrible and others swear by it. I started the fast today because I really would like to rid my body of toxins. I know that living in this day and age of pollution and processed foods that toxins are within the body. Something just drew me to this idea so I am going with it. One aspect that concerns me is the heightened senses and energy that begins after the first few days. A friend told me something that makes a lot of sense. He said that those are all the symptoms of starvation and is the bodies way of finding food through heightened awareness. So I’m not sure if feeling better may necessarily mean being better. My other concern is losing muscle. I hear some say you definitely lose muscle, some say the exact opposite. I don’t care about losing weight. I know it will be easy to gain back. Anyone know of the best place to find definitive info on the MC?
nick, what your friend says makes sense. Doing something like the master cleanse is always a risk but I also think that most medical or scientific information is not necessarily trustworthy either and is often skewed to satisfy other economic interests rather than being beneficial for our health. Conflicting information is not a bad thing and helps you to see different sides. I’m the type of person who does as much research as possible and then make my own decision.
From my experience in doing the MC, I didn’t feel it was as life-threatening as I thought it would be and was actually a lot easier than expected. I felt good most of the time although I don’t think I would go as far as calling it euphoria as others have said. Sure you will lose a bit of muscle but if you exercise regularly anyways, it’s not a big deal.
My conclusion was that it was worth doing despite not seeing any dramatic results. I plan on doing it again soon.
Recently on a cruise ship, I attended a seminar on detoxing. Of course, they had their $400 treatment that they were trying to sell, but since returning home I have done a ot of research on the net and also from a friend who owns a health food store and neighbor who uses the MC once yearly. This is a great website (kind of a how-to) that I found. Just google master cleanse and there is tons of info out there, from blogs to books, to criticism. I am on day one of the cleanse and determined to make it at least 5 days before I reevaluate and decide whether to do the 10 or not. So far so good. The lemonade is actually pretty tasty! As far as depleting muscle (also one of my concerns–I love pumping iron) I don’t think staying on the fast for 10 days is enough to do damage that won’t be reversed quickly. You lose muscle not using it too, and I have been surprised how quickly I get back up to “norm” after taking a vacation. Good luck and happy cleansing!http://www.falconblanco.com/health/cleansing/lemoncleanse.htm
I did the cleanse for 10 days about 2 months ago. I lost 12 pounds and have pretty much kept the weight off. I’ve been on weight watchers so I’ve been getting a weekly weigh in. When I started weight watchers it took so much for me to stuff down a salad and not run out and get that burger meal or taco bell on tv… I never ate emotionally, but when I saw something good, I just got it and ate whatever was in front of me and I always ordered way more then I should have. But man, after the cleanse I started setting even bigger goals and love life a lot more. I’ve been really depressed and I think I feel a little more stable. Even if you don’t get anything out of this cleanse, you can feel a sense of great accomplishment. I’ve always had a problem of dropping out or running away when things got difficult, but I hung in there and I started off at 175 5′7 and actually having ladies comment on when I was due!!! To 162 and gotten so inspired that I’m now training to compete in a fitness figure competition. Of course I still have a ways to go… I’ve transformed my arms in a great way. My tummy is flat and there’s a hint of indention at my top ab… Food isen’t a big deal anymore. I do still have occasional cravings but its not on my mind for then 10 minutes. If you showed me a picture of a wendy’s spicy chicken sandwich and fries I would have been whining about it all day and night for days until I got it…. Also, it really really detoxify your body and gets all of the toxins that causes aches and pains. It really could not be a coincidence. I had horrible pain in my tendons for 3 months. I didn’t put any weight on it, I stretched every day, got many massages. Nothing would help and everytime I even tried to jog the pain was too much. After the cleanse a friend asked me to go jogging and I jogged 8 miles no problem!! I didn’t even realize that my tendons were healed until the next day when I was getting ready to do sprints. Insane. So when I say I pretty much kept the weight off, I gained 1 pound… Thats normal but I haven’t lost anymore weight but I think b/c I’ve been lifting so much. I’m actually do a lot of push ups and pull ups… Which I’ve never been able to do my entire life but thats how much muscle I’ve gotten, and my bf% has gone down. I think people will definately gain there weight back if they decide to eat like they used to… but part of the cleanse is to help jump start you new diet or lifestyle change. If you finish it, and you read health sites like bodybuilder.com or read health magazines, you’re gonna get really inspired and theres no way you’re gonna want to go back to your own ways when you worked so freaking hard not touching any food for 10 whole days. I’m definately going to do it again very soon so I can unwrap this extra fat and see all the muscle I’ve built up the last month and a half. Anyone who has put this cleanse down probably has a huge belly…