Master Cleanse Forum - Master Cleanser Lemonade Diet

For those who are considering exploring raw foods or are otherwise curious about introducing heathier alternatives to your diet, I'm reposting some information I included in my cleansing journal.

Best wishes with your cleansing and healing goals.

Love,
Crystal


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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Raw Transformations

http://www.purelyraw.com/ourstories.htm

https://home.comcast.net/~morn/mornsum.html

http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/pictures/bef ... uston.html

http://www.dixiestorylovinghands.com/rawfood.htm

http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/pictures/befafter_esse.html

http://www.welikeitraw.com/rawfood/befo ... index.html

http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/pictures/bef ... utler.html

http://www.thegardendiet.com/jinjee.html

http://www.alissacohen.com/alissas_befores.html

http://www.rawfamily.com/sergei.htm

http://www.shazzie.com/raw/transformation/

http://www.thegardendiet.com/shannon.html

http://www.rawreform.com/

http://www.rawhealing.com/myrawstory.html

http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/pictures/bef ... acobb.html

http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/pictures/bef ... arter.html

http://www.chrysalisyog.homestead.com/mystory.html

http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/pictures/bef ... _main.html



There is a wealth of information available now on raw foods and the raw food lifestyle, more than I could ever list here. If you're sincerely interested or curious here are a few recommendations to get you started...


Resources/Information

http://www.thegardendiet.com/

http://www.treeoflife.nu/ (Gabriel Cousens)

http://www.davidwolfe.com/

http://www.rawfamily.com/

http://www.purelydelicious.net/

http://www.alissacohen.com/

http://www.shazzie.com/


Raw blogs

http://rawmodelcom.blogspot.com/

http://www.thedailyrawcafe.com/

http://www.welikeitraw.com/


Raw forums

http://rawfreedomcommunity.info/forum/forum.php

http://www.rawfoodsupport.com/

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/


Books

Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen (I highly recommend this book, excellent introductory resource & contains simple recipes to prepare)
http://www.amazon.com/Living-Live-Food- ... 440&sr=8-2

Any book by Victoria Boutenko or Dr. Gabriel Cousens

Green for Life, Victoria Boutenko
http://www.amazon.com/Green-Life-Victor ... 0970481969


Conscious Eating by Dr. Gabriel Cousens
http://www.amazon.com/Conscious-Eating- ... 776&sr=1-3


The Sunfood Diet Success Program by David Wolfe
http://www.amazon.com/Sunfood-Diet-Succ ... 502&sr=1-1


Naked Chocolate by David Wolfe & Shazzie
http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Chocolate-D ... 053&sr=8-1


12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food by Victoria Boutenko & Gabriel Cousens
http://www.amazon.com/12-Steps-Raw-Food ... 113&sr=1-1


The Raw Food Gourmet by Gabrielle Chavez
http://www.amazon.com/Raw-Food-Gourmet- ... 113&sr=1-3[/img]



Raw "Uncook" Books

Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen

I am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude by Terces Englehart & Orchid

Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable, Raw Food Recipes by Ani Phyo

RAWvolution: Gourmet Living Cuisine by Matt Amsden

Alive in Five: Raw Gourmet Meals in Less than Five Minutes by Angela Elliott

Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People by Jennifer Cornbleet

Raw Food/Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis (Owners/Chefs of Pure Food & Wine in NYC)

Everyday Raw by Matthew Kenney

The 60 minute clip listed below is from youtube featuring David Wolfe & Matt Amsden speaking at Google's corporate offices in NYC about the benefits of the raw food lifestyle. Matt talks about the basics of raw food and how he got turned onto it. David speaks more to the technology of nutrition and where we're headed. Also stay tuned for the information on chocolate! I didn't even know what a cacao tree looked like and it's quite fascinating.

Matt Amsden is the owner and chef of Rawvolution, a premier raw food restaurant in Santa Monica, CA that also ships raw gourmet cuisine right to your door anywhere in the United States. I purchased his raw prep book, the photos are wonderful and the unique raw food dishes mimicking many cooked foods are easy to prepare at home. http://www.rawvolution.com/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP1cbreDw7U

What are your long-term goals?

Are you doing the Master Cleanse to jump start a new way of life or are you wanting to crash diet to prepare your new sexy body for an event? There is no judgment on either, however if you sincerely want to make significant long-lasting lifestyle changes and improve your way of eating it helps to have your long-range plans in sight before you even begin your fast. This really comes into play when you hit road blocks during your fast, you can flip the motivation switch back on by thinking about your goals and remembering what you’re about to accomplish. It works.

Many people do very well on the cleanse, only to find themselves back to square one and their old eating habits shortly after they begin eating solid food again. They may make great food choices for a few weeks and then somehow find themselves taking steps backwards. If this happens to you, don't beat yourself up. Just focus on where you want to be and eventually you will be there when you're ready.

Knowing the types of foods you may want to consume post cleanse and learning more about nutrition, how your organs function and your unique, individual body’s needs helps tremendously. It is possible to achieve your goals, very possible. It starts with you.

In my case, I began to learn about alkaline forming foods. I first heard about them in 2004 in passing conversation with a friend. I had not heard the term before and it peaked my curiosity. I began more research and what I discovered really blew my mind. It’s quite simple and this is my interpretation -- an alkaline body keeps you healthy and helps you maintain a super strong immune system while an acidic body is a breeding ground for dis-ease and feeling un-well.

Most Americans and other westerners have acidic bodies based on the foods that we eat, especially our national pastime favorites. I was really surprised that some of my favorite foods that I thought were “healthyâ€Â

[list]Alkaline Forming Foods
Foods higher in the minerals Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium and Calcium

Sprouts (sprouted grains and seeds)
Vegetables
Seaweeds, Sea Vegetables
A few Ancient Grains: Millet, Quinoa, Amaranth, and Wild Rice (not cultivated)
Apple Cider Vinegar
Blackstrap Molasses (unsulfured)
Brown Rice Syrup
Raw honey and raw sugar
Stevia
Soy Sauce
Figs
Unsweetened Kefir and Soured Dairy
Cultured butter milk, cultured sour cream and cultured butter
Raw milk
Whey Protein Powder
Cultured “fermentedâ€Â

Cleaning your Body & Cleaning your Environment = Being Green




We all know how much of a commitment it takes to complete a master cleanse. The end result can bring so many unexpected benefits, aside from weight loss, glowing skin and feeling energized. The most important aspect I believe is clearing the toxins from the body, tissues and cells that can inhibit healthy functioning and can even be a breeding ground for future physiological complications or disease.

So we’ve worked this well on ourselves to clear the toxins from our body, but inadvertently we’re still inundated with toxic products that we use in our daily lives without thinking.

The skin being one of the major eliminatory organs also absorbs a great deal of material through the skin and many of the common household products we use are extremely toxic.

For example, there is a considerable amount of aluminum in deodorant. Aluminum is not only a common skin irritant; it is also a poisonous neurotoxin that accumulates in the body. It has also been linked to breast cancer due to introducing it into the lymph nodes under the arms on a regular basis. So just think about this, as you’re cleansing and clearing your body of toxins on the MC and still using a popular brand of deodorant, you’re more than likely reintroducing a harmful toxin into your body.

I’ve personally been gradually switching products over the past 5 years and I’m just about 100% green. You can find these products in your local natural health store or food co-op or just by googling for alternatives. But I highly recommend finding a local store and then you can ask the salesperson questions directly. The last frontier with me is with my mascara! I just can’t give it up, but I’m searching for a green replacement. I started with my toiletries, and to be honest I couldn’t do it at first with the deodorant. I couldn’t find a natural brand of deodorant that worked for me. But as you may discover for yourself, the more toxic you are the more… well, the funkier you can get to put it bluntly! As you cleanse and become less toxic, there will be fewer putrid odors being emitted from your pores, especially the lymph nodes and sweat glands. So subsequently, you may get to a point where you don’t require deodorant at all. But that may be a stretch! I still use it, but I’ve switched to a brand that contains no aluminum.

I’ve also completely stopped using cosmetic products containing Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, which you can find in many hair cleaning products, cosmetic cleaners, bath and shower gels, soaps, lotions and other similar products. The day I found out about this chemical I went into my bathroom and threw out every product that contained this chemical…it was hard because as you know we can become very attached to our favorite cosmetic products that work for us, especially us ladies! ha. But I knew I had to let them go for my overall health. I presently only purchase organic and natural cleaning products for my skin, hair and body. Do your own research on this, but what I discovered is sodium lauryl sulfate is a skin irritant and potentially hazardous and harmful to the skin and hair. It cleans by corrosion and dries the skin by stripping protective lipids from the surface, thereby making it difficult for your skin and body to regulate moisture. And that’s just some of what is harmful with this chemical, this is just a short list.

Then I moved onto household cleaning products. I was no different than anyone else and probably had 20 different kinds of toxic cleaning products under my kitchen sink. Now I just have one or two. I use Simple Green and Seventh Generation cleaning products now. I use them for everything and they work really well. What I love about these products is that they’re completely non-toxic and are in biodegradable containers. After using these products for the past several years if I enter a home where let’s say a popular, commercial cleaner is being used, I have a hard time with it. I can smell the toxic fumes and I experience trouble breathing.

I won’t bore you with my entire journey with becoming Green. There are so many ways to do get there and you can start with baby steps. I specifically wanted to bring this up regarding the products we use on our skin and breathe into our bodies because it defeats the purpose if you’re cleansing the inside of your body but reintroducing toxins through the skin and lungs. At least I think so.

The other bonus of becoming green is we are helping the environment and ourselves at the same time. Restoring our health and ensuring the well being of the earth we inhabit is a win-win situation I believe.

Here’s a great blog of a woman who decided to become green for a year. http://megancrow.wordpress.com/2007/10/ ... niversary/ Her name is Megan Crow and I believe she’s been interviewed on popular talk shows, but not completely certain about this…I just recognize her name. You may discover some helpful tips in reading about her journey if you’re seriously considering going Green.

The following article (link below) discusses common toxins and contains some suggestions on making gradual changes. I cut and pasted an excerpt from the article below. The author also outlines some info about a typical toxic day in America which you may find as enlightening as I did.

Protecting Your Health
By Vic Shayne, PhD


http://chetday.com/toxins.htm



What can you do?

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to minimize your exposure to toxins as well as getting them out of your body. The first, of course, is to be aware that toxins exist and have an effect on your health. Go online to scorecard.org and find out who’s polluting your neighborhood. Next…

[list]• Eliminate these items from your diet: all artificial ingredients, soda pop, margarine, hydrogenated fats, partially hydrogenated fats, decaf coffee (unless organic), NutraSweet, MSG, refined sugar and junk foods

• Buy and eat only organically grown foods

• Switch over to only natural personal care products. This take some homework, but fortunately, there are a few good sources to read, including Kim Erickson’s Drop Dead Gorgeous, the Safe Shopper’s Bible, and A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients.

• Stop using poisonous cleaners in your home. Don’t use bleach, chlorine, ammonia or other unnatural chemicals. You’d be surprised how well water and elbow grease works.

• Don’t have your home and office sprayed on a regular basis for insects. You get poisoned every time you do.

• Read all food labels on products. If there is the name of a chemical on the label, find out what it is before you eat it.

• Buy an electric, hybrid or fuel-efficient vehicle and stop adding to world pollution

• Don’t live near a factory or incinerator

• Get a reverse osmosis water filter for your drinking water. And buy a home filter for your shower and bath water â€â€

With regard to breaking your fast basically you do the following:

1) on the night before you break your fast have your senna tea

2) you do not need to do the SWF in the morning, you're finished (edit: actually this is up to you, some people do one more flush before drinking the orange juice

3) squeeze your oranges, dilute with water if needed, take 2-3 probiotics with first glass pf orange juice and 1 or 2 with each glass thereafter (listen to your own intuition on this)

4) i generally take 2-3 pills per day with food until the bottle is gone

Probiotics contain digestive enzymes and reintroduce them to your digestive tract. With all of the flushing you're flushing out the good and bad bacteria. You can find more information about them on the internet, or just Google. You can purchase them in your local health food store. This part is very important as you will have very minimal flora in your intestines. Probiotics can be purchased in liquid or pill form.

BREAKING THE FAST:

If you've been eating a vegetarian diet you follow this regimine...

Day 1 (post cleanse)
Fresh squeezed orange juice, throughout the day

Day 2
Drink orange juice all day

Day 3
Breakfast: Orange Juice
Lunch: Fruit salad
Dinner: Fruit salad or (raw) vegetable salad
Light dressing with lemon I believe is okay.

Day 4
You can eat normally


If you've been following the standard american diet (SAD), this is how you break your fast:

First Day: Start with 4 oz. [1/8 liter] fresh squeezed orange juice mixed with 4 oz. water. If it goes well, drink several more 8 oz. [1/4 liter] glasses of fresh orange juice during the day. Sip slowly. Dilute with water if needed.

Second Day: Drink several 8 oz. [1/4 liter] glasses of orange juice during the day -- with extra water, if needed.

In the evening make a vegetable broth (no canned soup). Use seasonal leafy and root vegetables such as: beets and beet tops, turnips and turnip greens, kale, carrots, onions, parsley, celery, potatoes, okra, one or two inds of legumes, squash, beans, a little salt, cayenne pepper and dehydrated vegetables or veg. powder may be added for flavor (no MSG or hydrolyzed protein). Cook lightly. Drink the broth, eating only a few bites of the vegetables.

Third Day: Orange juice in the morning. At noon have some more soup with some of the vegetables. No meat, fish, eggs, bread, pastries or tea. For Dinner, have the vegetables in the soup.

Fourth Day: You can eat normally.

~Repost~


In my opinion, it is wise to introduce probiotics or digestive enzymes into your system (intestines) after the MC. Doing the SWF flushes both the good and bad bacteria or flora from your intestinal walls making it difficult to digest certain foods if you don't introduce the "good" bacteria. Stanley Burroughs does not mention them in his The Master Cleanser, however his protege Tom Woloshyn mentions it's critical to take them in his The Complete Master Cleanse. He studied directly with Stanley Burroughs and has completed over 1000 master cleanses. As an aside, I highly recommend this book for anyone who is considering using the MC to heal or lose weight and detox. He answers most, if not all of the repeated questions that I see posted here, especially the ambiguous things that weren't really answered in the first book. This book is a gold mine. I put a review of the book and some MC tips on page 6 of my thread (journey to the raw food lifestyle).

You can take the probiotics with the first glass of orange juice when you break your fast. They come in pill form or in liquid form. I use the pills and you can find probiotics in whole foods or any natural foods store. It's important to make sure they contain the "digestive enzymes" which are protease, lipase, amylase and lactase which break down proteins, fats, dairy and carbohydrates into absorbable nutritional elements. Yes our body produces these enzymes, but again you've been flushing them out daily and it's a good idea to replace them otherwise you risk experiencing gas, constipation and digestive issues. Some people can get away without taking them, but I wouldn't risk it. And it defeats the purpose in my opinion of not working yourself into a healthy eating plan after the MC. The whole point is to fine tune your engine, why not keep it going by making sure you're putting the right ingredients into your body to ensure it's operating at maximum efficiency? You wouldn't put water in your automobile's gas tank, so don't mess around with your colon.

I actually take about 5 pills with some peppermint tea the night before I break my fast, then I take 2-3 with my first glass of orange juice and continue with 1-2 pills, 3x per day with meals until the bottle is gone. Some folks take probiotics who aren't even on the master cleanse, they do help with digestion but aren't absolutely necessary probably when you have a nice stock pile of restored healthy flora in your intestines. You have to simply listen to your body and let it be your guide. If your stomach is grumbling a lot when you're eating or you feel gassy or constipated, it's a good signal that you're not digesting your food properly. This could also indicate a food allergy which is another subject. If you eat something twice and it upsets your system, there's a good chance you're probably allergic to it and it would probably be a good idea to give up that particular food.

I've completed three lengthy cleanses 30, 34 and 18 days respectively and there is no way I would risk not taking probiotics afterwards. Even with taking them I experienced a little discomfort when I ate too much food. You still need to be cautious and I personally recommend taking the probiotics and slowly working yourself back into eating solid foods and larger meals. Follow the breaking the fast routine carefully and you should be okay. Sometimes you'll feel just fine eating whatever you want after the MC, but it won't hit you until 2 weeks later when you've got a clogged colon again because you've got putrified toxic waste sitting in your colon...because it didn't digest properly due to lack of digestive enzymes. Then it's back to the MC again, lol.

I found a colorful anatomy book when I was doing my New Year's cleaning & organizing. I opened it up and it fell open to the page that describes the functions & outlines the anatomy of the intestines, pancreas, gall bladder, liver etc. ha! I thought that was funny since I'm cleansing these organs right now. What was even funnier was I actually sat down and read it. I had been dancing around cleaning, listening to my favorite music with stuff strewn all over the place as I was throwing stuff out. In the midst of this I just felt compelled to read it, medical lingo and everything.

It's nice to have a visual picture of what your organs look like and what they actually do, especially while cleansing. I think it really ramps things up. Our livers are amazing! Our entire bodies are incredible really. I mean each diagram had a zillion parts and systems contained within it. It would take a year probably to memorize all of these sub systems. (Now I know why physicians are gettin' paid.) When you put the body's systems together, wow! The liver itself is such a beautiful organ, the color of it and what it does. When your press on your abs near your chest, that's your liver, not your stomach! We are always grabbing the center of our abs when we talk about eating too much or are hungry. That's the colon, where more than likely you're feeling everything that is backed up when you eat too much or aren't digesting food properly! At least this is my interpretation, correct me if I'm wrong. Your stomach is located towards the right side, closer to your breastbone, higher up. hmmm, just makes you think. And wow, peristalsis starts when you begin chewing food as it's traveling down the esophagus. It doesn't start in the intestines. It starts from the moment the food is being broken down in your mouth with saliva. The information on the colon and how everything works together, how your small intestines move food along and absorb nutrients and minerals, proteins etc. I couldn't put this book down. Some of you probably remember all of this from your anatomy classes, somehow I forgot it. Or maybe I was paying too close attention to the cute boys at the time and never learned it! lol. It's great & helpful to study the anatomy in my opinion. Grab a book if you get a chance. Especially while you're cleansing. It will blow your mind what you're actually doing for yourself on the MC. The body is an amazing & fascinating machine!

Oil Pulling...hmmm what is it?

I've been researching Oil Pulling, whereby you put a tablespoon of sunflower, sesame or cocount oil (organic & cold pressed) in your mouth and swirl it around in your mouth for 20 minutes minimum. Before you eat anything, in the morning you do this. I think some people do it twice a day, when they wake up and when they go to bed. The oil is supposed to turn white after you swirl for awhile, absorbing toxins...you're not supposed to swallow it for this reason, because it becomes toxic. You spit it out intermittingly and then add more oil, swirl it around, spit out it out, etc. It's supposed to pull toxins from your body, makes your teeth whiter and heals any dental issues that you may have. People have been known to heal a number of ailments using this method. My teeth have been super sensitive from drinking all of that maple syrup so I'm going to try this and to see if it helps. It's also supposed to help with your skin, makes it softer, especially the soles of your feet. There's a lot of information on the web about it...I found these sites if you'd like to look into it for yourself: http://www.oilpulling.com/
http://www.curezone.com/forums/f.asp?f=738

Update: I oil pulled for 2 months in November and December. My teeth were definately brighter and my skin became very soft. I also healed some pain in the right side of my mouth. This is a great way to whiten your teeth naturally and also pull toxins out of the body.

Just don't swallow it!

I found this book to be a great resource in looking at alternative ways to cleanse and heal the body. The author includes the master cleanse but there are a few other fasts listed...other juice fasts, soup fasts & blended fasts. They can last anywhere from 7 days or longer. He also includes some great smoothies, juice and soup blend recipes you can use post MC or post any other type of fast. I think before I go on the master cleanse again I'm going to try one of these other fasts to see how my body responds. It's my guess they may not be as extensive as the MC, but it may be a good idea to give your body a break in between master cleanses. So anyway, thought I'd mention this great book in the event you are also researching other fasts and ways to heal your body. It's a very easy read, small pamphlet sized book, chock full of great information.

HERE'S TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH - WISHING YOU MUCH SUCCESS ON YOUR JOURNEY!