My 30-day Master Cleanse Journey

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog, but now I have a great reason: chronicling my experience with the Master Cleanse. I know I love reading other Master Cleanse journals online, and I hope that journaling will help me become consistent with this blog. Also, I'll need to be able to keep things in perspective, and writing helps with that, too.

Well, what is the Master Cleanse you say? It’s a detoxification process originated by the late Stanley Burroughs, a natural health enthusiast who later compiled all of his information in a book called The Master Cleanser with Special Needs and Problems in 1976. In short, Burroughs recommends that you drink a lemonade mixture, (no food, medications or supplements) anywhere from 10-40 days. The Master Cleanse is believed to aid in curing illness, obesity, and purifiying the system. The lemonade recipe is as follows:

· 2 Tablespoons lemon or lime juice (approx. ½ lemon)

· 2 Tablespoons genuine maple syrup (Not maple flavored sugar syrup)

· 1/10 Teaspoon cayenne pepper (red pepper) or to taste

· 8 oz water, room temperature

· Combine the juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper in a 10 oz glass jar w/lid and fill with the water.

· Shake it up and drink. (Cold water may be used if preferred.)

· Use fresh (organic) lemons or limes only, never canned lemon or lime juice nor frozen lemonade or frozen juice

To further aid your system in the detoxification process, Burroughs also recommends a natural herbal laxative tea at night to loosen the fecal matter from your colon, then a salt water solution to drink upon awakening to wash away the loosened matter. The Salt Water Flush is two teaspoons of non-iodized (table), pure sea salt in one quart (32 ounces) of room-temperature water. It’s to be consumed as quickly as you can manage. It’s a saline solution to flow through and further cleanse your entire GI tract. It’s the same volume as blood so it can’t be passed through your kidneys. It is very effective; it takes anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours before you see a bowel movement (or at least two—don't venture far from a toilet).

I attempted this cleanse in 2005, but I only made it to eight days, not too bad. Dr. Oz and others may argue the concept of “cleansing” or fasting for optimal health, but aside from annoying hemorrhoids (which I tend to have an ongoing problem with), I had a good experience. What made me a believer (which trumps the 10 lbs. I lost) was my skin. My skin glowed, and that was the best my complexion looked since…hell, childhood. I still have mild acne, with some scarring on my cheeks and a few dark marks. I use a 1% retinol solution a few times a month, and I purchased red/blue fluorescent acne lamp—both of which have improved my complexion immensely. But with this cleanse I hope to lose weight, gain mental clarity and focus, and improve my skin even more. My plan thereafter is to become vegan, perhaps eating 50% raw foods. I feel at my absolute optimum as a raw vegan, but I do like eating bean soup and homemade wheat bread and I won’t give those up. Not to mention my favorite brand of vegan cookies from the Alternative Baking Company… *drool*

With all that said, onward and upward!