Master Cleanse Forum - Master Cleanser Lemonade Diet

SHIVA BLISS originally posted this information a few months ago. Listed below is a respost of the detoxification stages of fasting for anyone who is unfamiliar with them.



Detoxification Stages

Here is an overview of the detoxification stages during a juice fast. The time periods are a general estimation:

Stage 1 (Day 1 To Day 2)
On the first day of fasting, the blood sugar level drops below 70 mg/dl. To restore the blood to the normal glucose level, liver glycogen is converted to glucose and released into the blood. This reserve is enough for half a day. The body then reduces the basal metabolic rate (BMR). The rate of internal chemical activity in resting tissue is lowered to conserve energy. The heart slows and blood pressure is reduced. Glycogen is pulled from the muscle causing some weakness. The first wave of cleansing is usually the worst.

Headaches, dizziness, nausea, bad breath, glazed eyes and a heavily coated tongue are signs of the first stage of cleansing. Hunger can be the most intense in this period unless the enema is used which quickly assists the body into the fasting state by ending digestion in the colon.

Stage 2 (Day 3 To Day 7)
Fats, composed of transformed fatty acids, are broken down to release glycerol from the gliceride molecules and are converted to glucose. The skin may become oily as rancid oils are purged from the body. People with problem-free skin may have a few days of pimples or even a boil. A pallid complexion is also a sign of waste in the blood. Ketones are formed by the incomplete oxidation of fats. It is suspected that the ketones in the blood suppress the appetite by affecting the food-satiety center in the hypothalamus. You may feel hungry for the first few days of the fast. This effect is temporary. The desire to eat will disappear. Lack of hunger may last 40 to 60 days, depending on whether you are on water or juice.

The body embraces the fast and the digestive system is able to take a much-needed rest, focusing all of its energies on cleansing and healing. White blood cell and immune system activity increases. You may feel pain in your lungs. The cleansing organs and the lungs are in the process of being repaired. Periodically, the lymphatic system expels mucoid matter through the nose or throat. The volume excreted of this yellow-colored mucus can be shocking. The sinuses go through periods of being clogged, then will totally clear. The breath is still foul and the tongue coated. Within the intestine, the colon is being repaired and impacted feces on the intestinal wall start to loosen.

Stage 3 (Day 8 to Day 15)
On the latter part of an extended fast, you can experience enhanced energy, clear-mindedness and feel better than you have felt since childhood. On the downside, old injuries may become irritated and painful. This is a result of the body's increased ability to heal during fasting. If you had broken your arm 10 years before, there is scar tissue around the break. At the time of the break, the body's ability to heal was directly related to lifestyle. If you lived on a junk-food diet, the body's natural healing ability was compromised.

During fasting, the body's healing process is at optimum efficiency. As the body scours for dead or damaged tissue, the lymphocytes enter the older, damaged tissue secreting substances to dissolve the damaged cells. These substances irritate the nerves in the surrounding region and cause a reoccurrence of aches from previously injured areas that may have disappeared years earlier. The pain is good as the body is completing the healing process. The muscles may become tight and sore due to toxin irritation. The legs can be the worst affected, as toxins accumulate in the legs. Cankers are common in this stage due to the excessive bacteria in the mouth. Daily gargling with salt and water will prevent or heal cankers.

Stage 4 (Day 16 to Day 30)
The body is completely adapted to the fasting process. There is more energy and clarity of mind. Cleansing periods can be short with many days of feeling good in between. There are days when the tongue is pink and the breath is fresh. The healing work of the organs is being completed. After the detoxification mechanisms have removed the causative agent or render it harmless, the body works at maximum capacity in tissue proliferation to replace damaged tissue. While a short fast will reduce the symptoms, a longer fast can completely heal. Homeostatic balance is at optimum levels. The lymphatic system is clean except for a rare discharge of mucus through the nose or throat. After day 20, the mind is affected. Heightened clarity and emotional balance are felt at this time. Memory and concentration improve.

Stage 5 (Breaking the Fast)
The sticky, toxic, mucoid coating on the intestinal wall is loose, and the first meal frees it from the intestinal wall. Toxins enter the blood through the colon. The gallbladder dumps its waste in a heavy discharge of bile. This can cause an instant bowel movement upon eating followed by intense diarrhea. If the symptoms are too uncomfortable, an enema will help.


Autolysis

After fasting for several days, the body goes into a condition known as "autolysis". This is when the body starts to feed on itself because you are giving it no solid food to feed off of. Fortunately, the body in it's brilliant design feeds on only the weak, diseased, dying, or dead cells. All of the vital organs, the heart, liver, kidneys, and the brain are spared and because of the absence of all of the sickly cells in your body, your vitals are actually rejuvinated and made healthier because of the clean bloodstream and unadulterated oxygen now circulating throughout your body.

So interesting! I see myself with Stage 2 symptoms. Thanks for posting this info!

Here's the rest:


...Of course your children need to eat. Do your best to arrange a schedule where your spouse is able to do the cooking. This also can be an excellent situation for your children to experience a sense of responsibility in the home. You can plan meals for the next five, 20 or 30 days, or however long you decide to fast. They may not want to, but once your family sees that your decision is firm and that this is important to you, they will support you. You are displaying a powerful example they will never forget.

French poet Guillaume Apollinaire

come to the edge
no, we will fail

come to the edge
no, we will fail

they came to the edge
he pushed them and they flew


Typically the less a person eats the longer they will live, there is no such thing as an obese centenarian. the mass mind is atrophied from little use
doing a cleansing fast will help you to think about what you are doing to your body. thinking is hard work that is why so few people engage in it. if you are drowning in the voice of your own food addictions and seriously need a break from yourself, master cleanser is it. it's the thing to help push you to edge..

so you can jump free

I think this needs to be a sticky.

The Healing Crisis

AKA: The Cleansing Reaction, The Detox Reaction, and The Herxheimer Reaction
by Jon Barron

The Healing Crisis was originally observed while administering antibiotics during the treatment of syphilis, but was later identified during the treatment of other illness and in a wide variety of natural healing programs. It is characterized by a temporary increase in symptoms during the cleansing or detox process. Reactions may be mild or they may be severe. You should expect it and work with it. It is an indicator that the cleanse is working.

There are several causes:

The body must go through an elimination process to achieve good health. There will be ups and downs. You do not go immediately from disease to good health. This elimination process is what we call the "healing crisis." The healing crisis is the result of every body-system, in concert, working to eliminate waste products through all elimination channels and set the stage for regeneration. The end result: old tissues are replaced with new.

There are three distinct categories of Cleansing Reaction:

1. When any treatment or cleansing program causes a large scale die-off of bacteria, a significant amount of endotoxins (toxins within the bacteria itself) are released into the body. The more bacteria present, and the stronger their endotoxins, the stronger the cleansing reaction.

2. When any treatment or detox causes the organs of the body (particularly the liver, which is a storehouse of drug and poison residues) to release their stored poisons and toxins, a cleansing reaction may occur.

3. Any program, such as fasting or the use of weight loss herbs which causes a rapid breakdown of fat cells (which are a storehouse for toxins), can be accompanied by a detox reaction.
Specifically, we can now see that a variety of cleanses and/or products can initiate a detox reaction.

Category 1

- Intestinal Cleansing and Detox Programs can obviously trigger a die-off of bad bacteria in the intestinal tract and colon.

- Likewise, use of the probiotics will cause a die-off of bad intestinal bacteria (as much as 3 1/2 lbs worth) as new beneficial bacteria take their place.

- Digestive enzymes when first introduced can literally eat up colonies of bad bacteria, thereby releasing their endotoxins.

- And use of immune enhancers and pathogen destroyers can produce die-off, not only in the intestinal tract, but throughout the entire body.

Category 2

- The liver is the primary processing and storage organ for drug residues and poisons in the body. The primary purpose of the Liver/Gallbladder detox program is to flush those toxins out of the body. The bottom line is that this makes the use of this program one of THE most important for improving your Baseline of Health, but also the program most likely to cause a healing crisis.

- Use of an herbal blood cleansing program can likewise initiate a Herxheimer reaction

Category 3

- Rapid weight loss, when fasting for example, can also produce a healing crisis as toxins previously lodged in the fat cells are released into the blood stream

Symptoms:

The healing crisis will usually bring about past conditions in whatever order the body is capable of handling at that time. People often forget the diseases or injuries they have had in the past, but are usually reminded during the crisis. Reactions may include:

· Increased joint or muscle pain
· Headaches
· Diarrhea
· Extreme fatigue and/or its opposite, sleeplessness
· Nausea
· Sinus congestion
· Fever (usually low grade) and/or chills
· Frequent urination and/or urinary tract discharges
· Drop in blood pressure
· Skin eruptions, including: boils, hives, and rashes.
Note: skin eruptions are often misdiagnosed as allergic reactions, resulting in the premature cessation of the cleansing program.
· Cold or flu-like symptoms

You may think that you actually feel worse or that the treatment is not working at all during a cleanse. Do not despair. These are all signs that your treatment is working and that your body is going through the process of cleaning itself of impurities, toxins and imbalances. Such reactions are temporary and can occur immediately -- or within several days, or even several weeks, of a detox. Symptoms usually pass within 1-3 days, but on rare occasions can last several weeks.

If you are suffering from a major illness, the symptoms you experience during the healing crisis may be identical to the disease itself. A cleansing, purifying process is underway, and stored wastes are in a free-flowing state. Sometimes discomfort during the healing crisis is of greater intensity than when you were developing the chronic disease. This may explain why there may be a brief flare-up in one's condition. Often the crisis will come after you feel your very best. In fact, most people feel a surge of energy during the first few days of a cleanse. It is at that point that your body dumps toxins into the blood stream for elimination. Thus the healing crisis. Do not be upset. It means your body is eliminating the toxins. Go as slowly as your body needs to so that your elimination is gradual and comfortable.

With a more serious condition there may be many small crises to go through before the final one is possible. Everything must be considered and given its proper place in the build-up to a healing crisis. You should expect it and work with it.


The Herxheimer Reaction - Feeling worse before feeling better

The Herxheimer Reaction is a short-term (from days to a few weeks) detoxification reaction in the body. As the body detoxifies, it is not uncommon to experience flu-like symptoms including headache, joint and muscle pain, body aches, sore throat, general malaise, sweating, chills, nausea or other symptoms.

This is a normal â€â€

The fear is that while fasting, the metabolism will slow down and afterward there will be more weight gained than before the fast. Initially, any calorie reduction will cause a lowering in the BMR or base metabolic rate. Cleansing will bring health that will increase metabolic performance and energy output. In other words, you will eat less and feel more energetic.

After fasting, the body is more efficient. Digestion is better due to a cleaner colon. The colon walls have been cleansed of impacted feces, allowing improved absorption of nutrients. The good news is that greater efficiency equals enhanced energy. Healthy people burn more calories. They also eat less because they are more active and feel better about themselves. They don't need food as a security blanket.

The greatest impact you can have on increasing your resting metabolism is exercise. After a workout, you can be sitting on the couch reading while burning calories, as the muscles are grabbing glucose from the blood to replace glycogen supplies. The key to weight loss is fewer calories and more exercise. A diet high in raw food provides fewer, low-density calories, and higher-fiber, more-filling foods.

Oh, by the way, a slower metabolism diminishes aging. A tortoise can live to 400 hundred years of age.

I can tell you from years of fasting... that the metabolism resets itself, and is much healthier from periodic fasting.

I'm glad I found this site to keep me motivated. This is all brand new territory for me and has left me feeling daunted about starting this BUT I really appreciate your recent re-posting about how the body physically reacts to fasting. Knowledge is power! Your writings are inspiring!
Day 3 tomorrow
As this is my first MC I'm hoping to reach the ten day goal. As I anticipated these first two were quite difficult. I feel like I have been fasting for much longer. I am looking forward to the following days. This is such a mental as well as physical challenge and I feel excited about finally embracing it.

Program:

Take juice of 1/2 fresh lemon (preferably organic).
Mix juice into 8 oz. of distilled water
Add 1-2 tablespoons of agave nectar (or Grade B maple syrup)
Add up to 1/10th teaspoon cayenne pepper (red)

Start with a pinch or two of cayenne and gradually increase to 1/10th teaspoon. Do NOT put cayenne pepper (capsicum) in capsules and take separate from the lemonade drink. It changes the action of the formula, and if sent directly to the stomach can cause inflammation and excessive mucous secreation. This may lead to sinusitis or to bowel mucous, and can even contribute to inflammatory bowel syndrome.

Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces every day. (example: If you weigh 100 pounds, you should drink 50 ounces)

Agave syrup and Grade B maple syrup are two of the most balanced of all sugars, containing a balance of positive and negative ions. Neither enters the bloodstream as rapidly as honey or sugar which is better for people who react adversely to sugars, (becoming restless, sleepless, and energetic after comsuming sugar), or may be borderline or pre-diabetic. Diabetics should definitely substitute agave for the maple syrup, using up to 1/4 tablespoon. this is all I ever use.

Contrary to popular belief, lemon is not acidic in the body. It turns alkaline in the mouth. If an acid-like reaction is observed when using lemon with water, it is because of the minerals in the water. Distilled water will not react in this manner.

Cayenne Pepper is a blood vessel dilator, a thermal warmer, and provides vitamin A. People who have type O blood tend to have poor circulation. As a result, their body temperature may drop during a cleanse. Because cayenne is an herb known for its ability to warm and restore circulation, it may be taken internally and used topically (especially on the feet, but in small amounts).

Cayenne Pepper is also thermogenic. When used in a dietary program, it can facilitate an increase in the body's ability to burn fat.

For the deepest cleanse, it is recommended that you cleanse for at least two weeks. Exercise enhances the cleansing action of the program.

During the middle and later phases of the cleanse, the body chemistry changes, and energy levels may begin to increase. One may experience minor discomforts, such as headaches, upset stomach, or low energy, as toxins and parasites are released from the body. These symptoms will be short-lived.

It is important that you have a positive attitude during cleansing or fasting. If you are unaccustomed to the process, you can prepare yourself by fasting one day a week. The biggest obstacle to successful cleansing is fear of failure and not knowing what to expect.

To fast for 24 hours, it is easiest if you begin at noon and finish at noon on the following day or from one dinner to the next.

Again, drink plenty of water.

As you begin a fast, you may experience some unpleasant side effects of cleansing, such as headache, nausea, bloating, or irritability. These symptoms are part of the cleansing response and are often a result of toxins and waste matter being purged from the body, which usually takes place within 12 to 36 hours.

If you are feeling nauseated and bloated, it is an indication of two possibilities: 1. poisons are being released at a very rapid rate and may be backing up into the liver. Keeping the liver cleansed and flushed is extremely important. So it would be good to take a ounce or two of fresh wheatgrass early in the morning. Wheatgrass has a very strong effect on the liver and kidneys
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THIS IS AMAZING! the master cleanse is working with me! i love it.
today i am on day 8 and i have followed this almost to the T. besides only drinking half of the salt water 1 morning...
last night my ankle i nearly broke in highschool 5 years ago starting hurting really really bad. i didn't do anything to it, so i was like, what is THAT about!?
then i read the day 8 to 15 thing! how old injuries can hurt again or whatever. this is super awesome! thank the Lord for the Master Cleanse! Its worth the ever grose sea salt 6am calling.

thank you all!

thanks for reposting this i was just looking for it!--Shiva i sent you an email.

Mari'

What about after day 30. I'm going up to forty. Also, I know the rebuilding process is extremely important. So, I plan on taking another 40 to reintroduce my body to food again. The first five days will be orange juice and water, 2nd five days will be orange juice water, and vegetable broth made by juicing the vegetables and warming the juice slightly. The next ten days I will have vegetable soup. The 3rd set of ten days I will have orange juice in the mornings, raw salad for lunch, and vegetable soup with rye crackers for dinner. The last ten days I will introduce brown rice, beans and ezekial bread. Any advice on this will be welcome. I'm in day 23 today.