The Master Cleanse...The good, the bad the ugly???

Lobster_Lover

I have recently been looking into trying the master cleanse. From what I have read I understand it to be a fast, kind of a reboot to your system that lasts 3-10 days with 10 being the recommendation for the most benefits. The only person I know that has completed this was a classmate back in college. They spoke highly of the experience but at the time I was too much in the social scene to be concerned with the benefits with fasting. But unfortunately, this classmate is not big into the social networking thing and doesn't use facebook, etc so difficult to contact.

So I am posting here hoping to hear from others who have tried the cleanse. I want to know what you thought. Did you find it beneficial? Would you do it again? Would you recommend it?

The Master Cleanse I am referring to is also called the lemonade diet where you drink at least 60 oz a day of the "lemonade" mixture which consists of pure filtered water, orgnic maple syrup, organic cayenne pepper, organic lemons (fresh squeezed lemon juice), and not iodized sea salt or epsom salt. You can drink as much water as you want as well as noncaffeinated herbal tea.

benol1

Lord, it sounds like an utter waste of time, if not also money.

1. Your body will clense itself.
2. Adopt a balanced healthy diet.
3. Stick to your calorie allocation adjusted to incl calories burned during exercise.
4. Increase your physical activity
5. Adopt a healthy sleep routine.
6. Don't obsess about your food or your weight.
7. Maintain important relationships.

If you stick to this, and its not hard, your health, fitness and general wellbeing and happiness will improve out of sight. And if you are overweight to begin with, the weight will fall off.
kind regards,

Ben

SherryTeach

There have been so many threads about the stupidity of doing this, it's not worth explaining it again. Do a search. Just reading that list of ingrediants and imagining drinking that makes me ill.

sunsnstatheart

Yes. Do a search. This isn't healthy or wise.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

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

Read this.

Crankstr

No

Contrarian

Rubbish.

AnvilHead

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

Read this.

Seconded. This thread gives a first-hand account of one person's experience with the Master Cleanse.

One more good link to read:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/821828-detoxes-and-cleanses

There's no such thing as "rebooting", "jump starting" or "kick starting" your system. We're not computers, cars or motorcycles. Those are all diet industry buzzwords to sell their crap products. The body is remarkably equipped to cleanse itself of toxins naturally.

shelbystatic

My sister (who is studying holistic health in college) keeps trying to convince me to do this. She says she had great success and that it taught her when she was hungry. She said she would cheat now and them with a spoonful of peanut butter. I don't know how good it is for your body or anything. But I did taste the lemonade and it was good. You have to drink it fast because the cayenne gets hot if you don't.

jofjltncb6

Bollocks.

JessieLMay

Lord, it sounds like an utter waste of time, if not also money.

1. Your body will clense itself.
2. Adopt a balanced healthy diet.
3. Stick to your calorie allocation adjusted to incl calories burned during exercise.
4. Increase your physical activity
5. Adopt a healthy sleep routine.
6. Don't obsess about your food or your weight.
7. Maintain important relationships.

If you stick to this, and its not hard, your health, fitness and general wellbeing and happiness will improve out of sight. And if you are overweight to begin with, the weight will fall off.
kind regards,

Ben

Agreed.

concordancia

My sister (who is studying holistic health in college) keeps trying to convince me to do this. She says she had great success and that it taught her when she was hungry. She said she would cheat now and them with a spoonful of peanut butter. I don't know how good it is for your body or anything. But I did taste the lemonade and it was good. You have to drink it fast because the cayenne gets hot if you don't.

It will *not* teach you when you are hungry: it will teach you to ignore genuine hunger signals.

Cleanses such as this are purges - literally this diet encourages you to use laxatives to lose weight. Yes, chugging salt water until it gives you the runs is a laxative.

That brown stuff they warn you about coming out for days? After the first day or so, that is your digestive juices, not any gross toxins. If you go the full ten days, your system will finally stop producing digestive enzymes. That is why you will get sick if you start eating solids right away.

Lobster_Lover

Well I must say this exploded more than I expected lol

With all the talk of cleanses and / or fasts it is something that I have considered but never done but have been curious about. When searching, you can easily find many articles on both sides of the fence so I guess I was looking for personal stories surrounding the cleanse.

Thanks to Benol1 for your kind, thoughtful comment. The first line really cracked me up because I guess out of all of this I let my mother (who is always thinking of these kind of things) get in my head to much and your comment made me laugh, bringing me to my senses for even giving this topic thought.

To Shelbystatic, thank you for taking the time to share your sister's story and showing both sides of the argument.

To everyone else who posted simple "No"s or variations of the word, not really helpful considering I posted looking for input and one word answers don't offer much. But I suppose that is to be expected on controversial issues like this one.

CoderGal

OMG! NOT the Master Cleanse! I hear a lot of people say bad things lately and then they say 'there must be toxins in the water'. Hurry! Cleanse the cleanse with another cleanse to flush all the cleanses out!

WinnerVictorious

Well I must say this exploded more than I expected lol

With all the talk of cleanses and / or fasts it is something that I have considered but never done but have been curious about. When searching, you can easily find many articles on both sides of the fence so I guess I was looking for personal stories surrounding the cleanse.

Thanks to Benol1 for your kind, thoughtful comment. The first line really cracked me up because I guess out of all of this I let my mother (who is always thinking of these kind of things) get in my head to much and your comment made me laugh, bringing me to my senses for even giving this topic thought.

To Shelbystatic, thank you for taking the time to share your sister's story and showing both sides of the argument.

To everyone else who posted simple "No"s or variations of the word, not really helpful considering I posted looking for input and one word answers don't offer much. But I suppose that is to be expected on controversial issues like this one.

this is not a controversial issue.

for cleanses, there is ZERO evidence on the "pro" side and lots of evidence on the "con" side.

we don't want you to do something that won't help you, will make you miserable, and may possibly harm you. saying "NO" is actually a perfectly succinct answer to your question. much like if you had stated that you were considering stabbing yourself in the eye with a fork and wanted feedback from people who had already stabbed themselves in the eye. in that situation, "NO" would also be a perfectly succinct answer.

in short, don't resort to cleanses. they are for the gullible and uninformed. if you want to lose weight, just eat less and move more. if you find that boring, then don't limit the types of food you eat and focus more on meeting your nutritional goals while still eating less calories than you burn. it's actually fun to figure out how to fit pizza and pop tarts into your diet!

AnvilHead

Well I must say this exploded more than I expected lol

With all the talk of cleanses and / or fasts it is something that I have considered but never done but have been curious about. When searching, you can easily find many articles on both sides of the fence so I guess I was looking for personal stories surrounding the cleanse.

Thanks to Benol1 for your kind, thoughtful comment. The first line really cracked me up because I guess out of all of this I let my mother (who is always thinking of these kind of things) get in my head to much and your comment made me laugh, bringing me to my senses for even giving this topic thought.

To Shelbystatic, thank you for taking the time to share your sister's story and showing both sides of the argument.

To everyone else who posted simple "No"s or variations of the word, not really helpful considering I posted looking for input and one word answers don't offer much. But I suppose that is to be expected on controversial issues like this one.

this is not a controversial issue.

for cleanses, there is ZERO evidence on the "pro" side and lots of evidence on the "con" side.

we don't want you to do something that won't help you, will make you miserable, and may possibly harm you. saying "NO" is actually a perfectly succinct answer to your question. much like if you had stated that you were considering stabbing yourself in the eye with a fork and wanted feedback from people who had already stabbed themselves in the eye. in that situation, "NO" would also be a perfectly succinct answer.

in short, don't resort to cleanses. they are for the gullible and uninformed. if you want to lose weight, just eat less and move more. if you find that boring, then don't limit the types of food you eat and focus more on meeting your nutritional goals while still eating less calories than you burn. it's actually fun to figure out how to fit pizza and pop tarts into your diet!

10/10. Like. Would read again.

popsicklestar

I have completed the master cleanse exactly by the book, and I don't think it's healthy. I gained back all the weight I lost and more due to my metabolism slowing to a halt from consuming too few calories. Maple syrup is just sugar. There is nothing healthy about subsisting on only sugar. I now do a different cleanse every year where I eliminate sugar, dairy, gluten, soy, red meat, artificial sugar, and alcohol for a month that I feel makes me feel healthy like a cleanse should. A cleanse should be about eating only pure, natural, whole foods, not starving yourself and drinking sugar.

Sunny____

This cleanse is actually typically 10 - 40 days. I have done it twice. It was the BEST thing I have EVER done in my life. I felt so amazing. I lost 17 lbs in 14 days the first time. I did another for 3 days and lost 5 lbs. I gained 5 lbs back and it was 7 mos ago. the 5 lbs were during the month of November when I went on a trip to another state to my family's for Thanksgiving. So I am still down 17 lbs from it.

My allergies were so bad prior that I was having migraines. I was leaving work early. Meds weren't working. I was in bed by 7:30 at night. I suffered for 4 mos with this and then cleansed. They all went away within three days.

My first days of detox, I first had joint pain for two days. Hard to walk up and down stairs. I got an eye ache in my left eye and then it went away the next day and I broke out in 7 pimples around that eye for one day. That is detox. Our organs are connected to parts of our face. Where you break out tells you what organ has issues. I am a certified Reflexologist.

I had so much energy that I went from sleeping 9 hrs a night with daily naps for the last 2o + yrs to only sleeping 3 hrs a night and bouncing off the walls. I cleaned my house extensively, I worked overtime, etc. I am also a massage therapist.

Before the cleanse I was so sluggish that sometimes it was an effort to walk from the car to the house. I would collapse. felt nauseaus like I had the flu nearly daily. I thought something was really wrong with me. I was going to go to a doctor but procrastinated. I suffered from this for 2 yrs. It went away with the cleanse and never returned.

During the first days of the cleanse my tongue turned white - so coated, I even tasted metal for one day. Hugest coat you have ever seen in your life. That is detox. Slowly the tongue went from white to a pink, but I stopped before it fully changed. If you read the book you know what i am talking about. I then got pimples on my lip and inside of my mouth for one day. It looked like I had herpes, lol. That is detox.

Prior to the cleanse, I had a hard thing in my stomach that I could feel from the outside. It hurt so bad and wouldn't go away so I went to a doctor who sent me to a specialist who wanted to do an ultrasound. They thought maybe a growth/mass. I had it for about 5 mos. I kept cancelling my appt. I was scared it was maybe cancer (I am a hypochondriac). Anyway, one doctor said, it is probably hardened fecal. Sorry to be gross. I told him it was there for mos. He said, yeah that is normal for many. Most ppl by the time they are 30 have about 30 lbs of poop in their intestine. Google it.

When I cleansed that hard thing went away on the 5th day and never returned.

The allergies have returned, but not as bad (yet). The sluggishness and all the other symptoms including the weight have never returned.

I have read the book and done extensive research. Watched every Youtube vid on it that is available. Belong to Facebook support groups, etc. I know more about this cleanse than I know the back of my hand. It makes sense.

I am starting again tomorrow and hope to go for three weeks. If you want me to connect you on Fbook, let me know. I am sure you can do a search. Any questions, ask.

No ONE who hasn't tried it can give any valuable feedback. No one who has tried this will say not to do it. NO ONE. It is that life changing.

p.s. I see someone is talking about sugar and I agree on the maple syrup. I only use it the first three days and then I trade it in for wheat grass juice.

p.s. I am also a holistic practioner. If this isn't healthy then why do people look and feel so good. YOu are still consuming 1200 calories a day. You are detoxing from all the bad while getting nutrients. You will not go into starvation mode. After three days you are not hungry. One more thing, I lost my addiction to Redbull due to this cleanse. I don't have one bad thing to say about this experience. I wish I did so I could not be so "pro" but I can't think of a single one. How is it unhealthy? Processed foods are unhealthy. They are all sitting here posting while they are putting processed toxins in their bodies. Even our water and air have toxins. Make up has toxins, shampoo and soap do too. The toxins come back but when you get an overload of it, your body reacts. You will lose fat. Excess toxins are stored in your fat for the liver to process. But if it keeps getting an overload of toxins, it can't get to the stored toxins. the more fat you have, the more toxic you are. Plus, to be honest, I can't lose unless i do this. I do well as of late on maintaining, but I can't lose. This works!

SteveJWatson

The main thing I'd worry about doing your job is injuring/killing yourself cos you are so f*ckin hungry your concentration slips.


Seriously, do not do it.

Sunny____

The main thing I'd worry about doing your job is injuring/killing yourself cos you are so f*ckin hungry your concentration slips.


Seriously, do not do it.

Nonsense. You don't starve with 1200 calories. She asked for PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRIED IT TO POST. Yet all these inexperienced people are posting. If you haven't read the book. If you haven't read the blogs, if you haven't tried it, you have nothing of value to say.

ShmareParks

I've done it, and it felt GREAT.

SteveJWatson

The main thing I'd worry about doing your job is injuring/killing yourself cos you are so f*ckin hungry your concentration slips.


Seriously, do not do it.

Nonsense. You don't starve with 1200 calories. She asked for PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRIED IT TO POST. Yet all these inexperienced people are posting. If you haven't read the book. If you haven't read the blogs, if you haven't tried it, you have nothing of value to say.

You go to work on a fishing boat on 1200cals/day then.

I work in Farming now and most of my career prior to that was fish farming - it is outdoors and extremely physical and is dangerous too. One slip in concentration can kill you if you are unlucky.

Sunny____

The main thing I'd worry about doing your job is injuring/killing yourself cos you are so f*ckin hungry your concentration slips.


Seriously, do not do it.

Nonsense. You don't starve with 1200 calories. She asked for PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRIED IT TO POST. Yet all these inexperienced people are posting. If you haven't read the book. If you haven't read the blogs, if you haven't tried it, you have nothing of value to say.

You go to work on a fishing boat on 1200cals/day then.

I am a massage therapist. That includes deep tissue and lifting men's legs higher than my head for stretching them, etc. *I" consume 1200. People can consume what is recommended for their height and weight. I am only 5'3 3/4. So 1200 is what works for ME. People are to consume what works for THEIR bodies. Point being, you don't starve.

SteveJWatson

The main thing I'd worry about doing your job is injuring/killing yourself cos you are so f*ckin hungry your concentration slips.


Seriously, do not do it.

Nonsense. You don't starve with 1200 calories. She asked for PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRIED IT TO POST. Yet all these inexperienced people are posting. If you haven't read the book. If you haven't read the blogs, if you haven't tried it, you have nothing of value to say.

You go to work on a fishing boat on 1200cals/day then.

I am a massage therapist. That includes deep tissue and lifting men's legs higher than my head for stretching them, etc. *I" consume 1200. People can consume what is recommended for their height and weight. I am only 5'3 3/4. So 1200 is what works for ME. What do you have to say now?

I say you won't drown doing that.

jbutterflye

Well, here's testimony from someone who has tried it, several times. I did it years ago and although I lost weight at the time I have to say that my experience did nothing to teach me about sustainable lifelong eating patterns and I put all that weight back on and then some. One of those times I did it for almost 40 days. A couple of other times I did it for 10-20. My belief is that it screwed up my metabolism and only perpetuated the unhealthy patterns in my mind (quick fix) and body. The last time I had tried doing it my body absolutely rejected it to where I couldn't go even 2 days. I know I'll never try this again.

I felt horrible while on it, for most of the time. I was very weak, my breath was rank, and that white stuff that appeared on my tongue never went away, even after doing it over a month. I didn't have any glaring health issues prior to doing this, so I have nothing to report about that.

It's not my intent to discount the positive experiences of others, but only to describe my own experiences with this. From everything I've read, quite a few people claim to have had good experiences with it and you know, my attitude is, to each his/her own. I just know this is not a solution for me and because of my own experience with it I would not recommend it to others. I think for a long-term sustainable result a moderate sensible approach and true LIFESTYLE change is what is needed.

SamanthaClarexo

I did it for 2 weeks, but I did the relaxed version, where you eat fresh fruit and veg at the same time. I was young, stupid, and had bought my prom dress a size too small, in the hope to fit into it.

When I tried it on 2 weeks before prom, it wouldn't even pull over my shoulders. I was in bits, and had no time to save for another dress. So I did this as a last resort.

I lost 16lbs in 2 weeks, and fitted into my prom dress, and then some - my mum had to pin it to stop it from falling down.

HOWEVER - I got very sick. When I started eating normally again, my body went through hell. Oh... and I gained it ALL back, and then some.

It is not worth it.

Sunny____

The main thing I'd worry about doing your job is injuring/killing yourself cos you are so f*ckin hungry your concentration slips.


Seriously, do not do it.

Nonsense. You don't starve with 1200 calories. She asked for PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRIED IT TO POST. Yet all these inexperienced people are posting. If you haven't read the book. If you haven't read the blogs, if you haven't tried it, you have nothing of value to say.

You go to work on a fishing boat on 1200cals/day then.

I am a massage therapist. That includes deep tissue and lifting men's legs higher than my head for stretching them, etc. *I" consume 1200. People can consume what is recommended for their height and weight. I am only 5'3 3/4. So 1200 is what works for ME. What do you have to say now?

I say you won't drown doing that.

No I won't drown, but I need a lot of energy. She will be swimming faster than sharks. Trust me. But then again, you have never done it, you haven't a clue what I am talking about.

Sunny____

I did it for 2 weeks, but I did the relaxed version, where you eat fresh fruit and veg at the same time. I was young, stupid, and had bought my prom dress a size too small, in the hope to fit into it.

When I tried it on 2 weeks before prom, it wouldn't even pull over my shoulders. I was in bits, and had no time to save for another dress. So I did this as a last resort.

I lost 16lbs in 2 weeks, and fitted into my prom dress, and then some - my mum had to pin it to stop it from falling down.

HOWEVER - I got very sick. When I started eating normally again, my body went through hell. Oh... and I gained it ALL back, and then some.

It is not worth it.

. With ANY diet or ANY weight loss plan, you WILL gain it back if you do the same things afterward which got you there in the first place. I do like her plan though of fruits and veggies. That is a really healthy cleanse.

I did think of a negative. I did the cleanse for three days with today being an off day, but going back on tomorrow. I stayed up until 5am last night and up at 8:30 just due to waking up on my own. Now it is 4:08 am and I am wide awake. NOt wanting to sleep IS a downside. It isn't normal. You will just have too much energy. This is good and this is bad. I feel like I am on ephedrine.

SteveJWatson

The main thing I'd worry about doing your job is injuring/killing yourself cos you are so f*ckin hungry your concentration slips.


Seriously, do not do it.

Nonsense. You don't starve with 1200 calories. She asked for PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRIED IT TO POST. Yet all these inexperienced people are posting. If you haven't read the book. If you haven't read the blogs, if you haven't tried it, you have nothing of value to say.

You go to work on a fishing boat on 1200cals/day then.

I am a massage therapist. That includes deep tissue and lifting men's legs higher than my head for stretching them, etc. *I" consume 1200. People can consume what is recommended for their height and weight. I am only 5'3 3/4. So 1200 is what works for ME. What do you have to say now?

I say you won't drown doing that.

No I won't drown, but I need a lot of energy. She will be swimming faster than sharks. Trust me. But then again, you have never done it, you haven't a clue what I am talking about.

Its not quite the same as operating heavy machinery in the wind/rain etc is it? I know you were being facetious, but if she goes in, she probably knows full well there is a good chance that she will die. I assume that she is crewing the boat alone, because it looks like a small one in the pic, but I could be wrong. If she has to work with a crew, she could be risking them as well. I would expect her TDEE is way over 1200. If you are feeling funny all of a sudden doing her job, you can't just take a rest - nobody is going to stop the winch halfway through a haul because they feel off.

Such a bad idea on so many levels.

Iron_Feline

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

Read this.

Seconded - you don't need to cleanse your body - your organs already do this. If you want to feel better, eat lots of fresh healthy food for the same time period - slightly less calories and move a bit more. Far healthier than living off maple syrup for x days. Plus this will help you sort out your eating habits. Much better for long term success. :flowerforyou:

Sunny____

The main thing I'd worry about doing your job is injuring/killing yourself cos you are so f*ckin hungry your concentration slips.


Seriously, do not do it.

Nonsense. You don't starve with 1200 calories. She asked for PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRIED IT TO POST. Yet all these inexperienced people are posting. If you haven't read the book. If you haven't read the blogs, if you haven't tried it, you have nothing of value to say.

You go to work on a fishing boat on 1200cals/day then.

I am a massage therapist. That includes deep tissue and lifting men's legs higher than my head for stretching them, etc. *I" consume 1200. People can consume what is recommended for their height and weight. I am only 5'3 3/4. So 1200 is what works for ME. What do you have to say now?

I say you won't drown doing that.

No I won't drown, but I need a lot of energy. She will be swimming faster than sharks. Trust me. But then again, you have never done it, you haven't a clue what I am talking about.

Its not quite the same as operating heavy machinery in the wind/rain etc is it? I know you were being facetious, but if she goes in, she probably knows full well there is a good chance that she will die. I assume that she is crewing the boat alone, because it looks like a small one in the pic, but I could be wrong. If she has to work with a crew, she could be risking them as well. I would expect her TDEE is way over 1200. If you are feeling funny all of a sudden doing her job, you can't just take a rest - nobody is going to stop the winch halfway through a haul because they feel off.

Such a bad idea on so many levels.

Yeah, that makes total sense when you word it like that. The thing is, when she detoxes, she will be very dizzy and weak. I felt weak and hungry my first two days. Not from overworking and only consuming the cleanse, but from detoxing. I took the first two days off from work. At that time, I would try to walk and would have joint pain or stand and feel light headed from the cleanse. She should do it when she has two or three days off. By day three or four it is smooth sailing (pun).

Honestly, it is AMAZING. I wish I could get you to try it to relate to it. But timing is everything. She needs to do it while on vacation.