WHY a Master Cleanse?

Good question! The idea actually was given to me by a friend on Facebook. I noticed her profile was changing each day to "Day __, almost there...", or "Day __, feeling great!" So I emailed her and asked what was up. "It's a detox diet called Master Cleanse", she told me. Now I have heard of a few different cleanse programs, even tried one in 2008, but hadn't heard of this one. Seems I was in the minority, as MANY people seem to know about it.

The idea was first originated by a man named Stanley Burrows, who wrote about it in the 1940's, then re-released the books in the 1970's. A NEW book was written by Peter Glickman called "Lose Weight, Have More Energy, and Be Happier in 10 Days". This book details more of the process, and offers a support forum for people to use while doing this fast.

The concept is fairly simple: a 10 day "fast" designed to clean all the toxins and impurities from the body, allowing it to function better and make it easier to adapt a healthier lifestyle or raw foods and vegetables. The goal is NOT to make one a vegetarian (That'll NEVER happen to me!), but instead to train it to eat smaller portions, and things with more nutrients.

Like any fast, this Cleanse is not easy. NO solid food is allowed whatsoever. As well, NO chemicals are allowed to contact the body in any way (a perfect scenario would be no soap, deodorant, or toothpaste, but as I work in close proximity with people, will be substituting all organic supplies with no chemicals). The duration of the Cleanse is 10 days, with a 3 day "ease out" period to acclimate the body to solid food again (which I have read can be quite traumatic if you starve your body for so long, then chow down on a burger). Some people have gone longer than the 10 days, and have gone to 14, 21, even 40 days on this (believe me, 10 days for me will be PLENTY!).

The Cleanse goes like this:

1. Upon waking, you drink 32 ounces of purified water with 2 teaspoons of sea salt. The solution goes right down to your stomach, and "flushes out" your colon and intestines. And it works FAST, let me tell you...
2. A drink consisting of purified water, squeezed lemon (to balance alkalinity in the body), maple syrup (to provide some of the nutrients and calories your body needs during this fast), and cayenne pepper (to dilate the blood vessels so that toxins can be removed). You drink anywhere from 6-12 of these 8 ounce drinks a day (the more the better)
3. Before bed, you drink a laxative tea, which works while you sleep. When you awake in the morning, and the salt water mixes with the tea, you make sure you aren't doing anything for at least 30 minutes!
4. Optional (as needed, and I MAY use as needed!) is a mint, decaffeinated tea. 

Now I HAVE done a Cleanse before, although not this one. It was much more stringent: only ONE drink a day, and that was made of a nasty tasting mix or beets and kale. That was mixed with a fiber powder that made the consistency like oatmeal, which didn't go down very well. I DID get to 3 days on that Cleanse, but had intense headaches (a normal side-affect) as well as lowered body temperature (I was freezing all the time). I am hoping this Cleanse will be less traumatic, and am looking forward to see the physical and psychological changes that everyone I have talked to that has experienced in doing this.

In this blog, I will be documenting the process, with the intention of giving people an insight of this Cleanse, and maybe even encourage some of you to kick start a new and healthier life! Enjoy!