The Master Cleanse- Lemon detox???

rede2go

Ok I have been watching utube videos and reading articles online about this master cleanse based on a book written by Stanely Burroughs. People stop eating solid food completely for 10-14 days and drink minimum six to nine a day of the following.

#1 (single serving):
•2 Tablespoons of organic lemon Juice (about 1/2 a Lemon)
•2 Tablespoons of Organic grade B maple syrup (not the commercial maple flavored syrup you use on pancakes)
•1/10 Teaspoon Cayenne pepper powder
•Ten ounces of filtered water


Optional Ingredients:
• Laxative tea
•Natural Herbal Tea (decaffeinated)

First off let me say I am a fan of losing weight the healthy old fashioned way SWEAT and proper DIET.

To my understanding this puts your body into an extreme calorie deficit...like half the calories your body needs to get through the day. So yes you drop the weight... would you have the energy to exercise I would think not. Your body wouldnt burn fat you would lose muscle mass? So what happens after.

What I am wondering is has anyone done this, for how long and how did it work for you? What were the side affects and did you keep the weight off? The videos discuss headaches obvious cravings...for food, metal taste in the mouth. What did you experience?

Just curious and thanks

Heather

fionatdlam

HELLO! (:

I just posted my 30 day experience on my page. You might be able to find it if you search for it too, it's very recent (:

Topher1978

Here it is:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/851582-master-cleanse-aka-lemonade-diet-my-30-day-story

CurveAppeal86

For my self- there is no way I would try to do this.
I need the energy to exercise, and I'm not looking for a quick fix. I am looking for a lifestyle change and something I can maintain.
I'm not sure how this would be healthy.

bathsheba_c

I once went from barely drinking juice ever to drinking 2-3 glasses a day because I was on vacation, and I was ready to cry by the third day. So imagine what pure lemon juice and cayenne pepper (barely diluted by maple syrup) will do to you.

In any event, this seems like the appropriate venue to repost something I wrote in response to an earlier thread with the subject line: "To cleanse or not to cleanse."

To cleanse or not to cleanse? That is the question.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of non-specific toxins
Or to take arms against a sea of imagined bowel obstructions
And by opposing, perforate one's colon. To juice; to detox;
No more; and by a detox to say we end
The pH and the balance of intestinal flora
That guts are heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be avoided. To juice; to detox;
To detox: perchance to puke: aye, there's the rub;
For in the pangs of indigestion what side-effects may come
When we go and leave our undies soiled.

chocl8girl

melsinct

1. There is no credible scientific evidence that cleanses do anything. No toxins magically get released from your body because you drank a juice, didn't chew any food for 3 days, took a pill, etc.

2. Your liver and kidneys detox your body, day in and day out. That is what they are designed to do.

Use common sense, eat real food, and your body will thank you.

quirkytizzy

I always thought the reason someone would do this is because the mixture would taste AWFUL, therefore propelling them to consume massive amounts of water and nothing else.

Syrup and cayenne pepper? Ew.

Plus, it's no wonder people lose weight. They stop eating for two weeks. Duh. It's not magic, it's basic starvation-based science. But in those two weeks, you completely lose the chance to procure any nutritional value, therefore destroying your body, along with increasing the chances of gaining it all back plus more once you start doing the normal thing and eating solid foods.

Also ew.

ladynica

I have done the master cleanse a couple of times and it has worked for me, though I didn't do it to lose weight. In fact, I couldn't tell you if I lost weight or not while I was on it because I never weighed myself. In my case, I did it to reset my pallet (at the times I had grown addicted to sugars and breads) and to give my digestive system a rest.

If done correctly, you should wean down from your regular eating habits into fruits and vegetables before you start and then do the cleanse and then wean back on starting with fresh squeezed diluted orange juice to reactivate the digestive system and then back into fruits, veggies and gradually back into a normal, balanced diet.

The laxative tea did NOT agree with me. The first time I did the cleanse I was fine until I took the tea. I had been using the salt water flush only and decided to try the laxative tea and it totally made me ill. The first time I did the cleanse I only lasted three days. The second time I've think I did 7 days. It was so long ago I really don't remember.

The first three days are the hardest, but after day 3 you no longer get hungry. The drink doesn't taste bad. It's pretty much tastes like lemonade. The cayenne pepper is not noticeable once you get used to it. It DOES remove a lot of fecal sludge from your body. You think you wouldn't have much poop when you're not eating, but the salt water flush does a great job of getting this sludge like substance to remove from your system. While I didn't pay attention to weight lost, my bloated stomach was drastically reduced. Btw, don't do the salt water flush if you have some place to be. You really need to be close to a bathroom for a couple of hours.

It's not recommended to do heavy exercising while on this cleanse if you decide to do it. Yoga or light walking may be okay. You will not have the energy the first few days and I was quite moody, but you will have LOTS of energy after day three.

Don't try this cleanse or any cleanse if you're not well informed about it and are not sure if it's best for you. I wouldn't discourage or recommend it, because it truly is a personal choice and each person has their own reasons for deciding (or not deciding) to partake in a cleanse.

Also, as an FYI, at the time that I was doing my cleanse, there was a group of people who I was doing it with. Some people ended up lasting on the cleanse for 40 days. Some went 10, some just 3. So I do know what happens the entire way. If you have any other questions that you'd like to know, please feel free to ask or send me a message.

fionatdlam

Started at 164 lost 17 lbs and gained it all back + health problems.

During the cleanse..
I was super fatigue.. couldn't even carry out a conversation without being tired..
Took naps through out the day..
Friends thought I was crazy.. and many people will tease you once you get off of it because all the weight you lose will come right back on..
Couldn't work out because I was too tired
Woke up feeling nice and thin.. 30 minutes later.. that feeling goes away and you just feel jiggly and sluggish.. not strong and fit.. you'll feel like your body isn't toned either.. basically lost water weight and muscle..

My body's natural functions failed when I started eating again.. I had to pray and do whatever I can for 3 weeks to get it back to normal.. this included going to the doctors, nutritionist, health professors, and also reading my textbooks and doing tons of research. My body wouldn't turn my food into "stool" (poop before it comes out of your butt)... so I was super bloated and my stomach extended to the point where it hurt a lot! I tried to "poop" it out.. but I couldn't because.. it wasn't poop to begin with lol. anyways.. your body starts getting lazy.. and peristalsis which is the wave-link motion in your intestines to push down the food doesn't work anymore.. it becomes lazy since I haven't used it at all because I didn't eat and kept relying on the tea to make it flow down.. So.. when I actually had "stool" I had to use sooo much pressure ..to the point where bloody mucus came out. IT HURT the insides of my stomach a lot. I did whatever I can.. looked into probiotics.. bought prune juice, yogurt, drank coffee.. bought broccoli.. every little thing that the internet said might help.. I even resorted to the Tea again because I couldn't take it.. and the next day.. same problems.. HERE I WAS.. at first just trying to lose weight.. now researching how to even poop...how to even function... sad huh? I gained back all the weight btw... Thought I'd be the exception.. but doesn't everyone think they are going to be an exception?


Right now you're looking forward to lose weight..
after the cleanse... you're just going to be hoping and praying that your body goes back to normal so you can lose it the right way.

bathsheba_c

The cayenne pepper is not noticeable once you get used to it. It DOES remove a lot of fecal sludge from your body. You think you wouldn't have much poop when you're not eating, but the salt water flush does a great job of getting this sludge like substance to remove from your system...You really need to be close to a bathroom for a couple of hours.

You know, my poop turns into a "sludge-like substance" when something spicy disagrees with me. Perhaps cayenne pepper did to you what spicy salsa does to me? You sound like you think you would have had sludge in with you even if you had been eating normally . . . .

demorelli

I tried it a couple years back. I was way more energized in my kickboxing class than usual and even went hiking. Basically what it does is minimize your digestive system during the cleanse. Also you have to be REALLY CAREFUL TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS EXACTLY. Most people do the cleanse wrong and suffer for it. First, the lax tea is not "optional", it's a must, in addition to a salt water flush. Also, a lot of people either skip the cayenne pepper or reduce the amount. The detox will do you no good without it. You have to squeeze your lemons fresh and drink the lemonade within about 20 minutes of squeezing to maximize enzyme potency. (also refrigerating your lemons or heating your lemonade will reduce potency). Many people don't actually drink the required amount of the lemonade and feel unenergized and often cold because of that. Even those who make it successfully through the cleanse often flunk out at the end by trying to pick up their diet where they left it. Your first day off the cleanse you can't have anything but orange juice to start getting your body used to the idea of digesting again, otherwise you'll shock your system, spend a lot of time throwing up, and potentially wreck your health. After that you can slowly start incorporating in fruits and veggies. A few more days for minimal amounts of grains. You need to wait at least 3 weeks before even touching dairy or meat. If all of the rules (way more than what I've put here) are followed exactly, it's amazingly beneficial. Otherwise you'll screw yourself over bigtime.