Master Cleanse Forum - Master Cleanser Lemonade Diet

For all you newcomers I thought I'd share a few things:

-Please follow the MC to the letter, as Mr. Burroughs intended. There is no need to add or take away anything from the program, doing so can compromise the success of your cleanse and even your health.

-If you are on ANY medication, talk to your doctor BEFORE starting the MC, as the cleanse can render many medications (like birth control pills!) ineffective, or otherwise interfere with the drugs you are taking. Especially speak with your regular doctor if you plan to stop taking any meds while on the cleanse!

-Probiotics after any cleanse are imperative. You can search the forum for more details but suffice to say that without them you can get very sick by allowing bad bacteria to take control of your digestive tract once the cleanse ends. Have these on hand BEFORE you begin the cleanse, so that if you fall short of your goal you have them ready and waiting.

-Remember that the Tea is designed to loosen and the Salt Water flushes. Either part taken without the other is only half as effective. Even though the book says you can sub the tea if you must for the SW, he does not mean every day - it's more of an emergency alternative for when you simply cannot do the SWF for some reason.

-Organic lemons are key, as non-organic lemons are loaded with chemicals you are trying to rid your body of. No point in cleansing if you are going to use chemical-laden fruit. YES, the chemicals and toxins DO get into the fruit. Lemon skin is porous, things seep in, and the ground non-organic fruit is grown in is also rich in toxins which seep up into the plant with its water intake.

-You should make your lemonade as close to the time you intend to drink it as possible. That said, it is acceptable to squeeze your lemon juice in the morning for the day's tonic. You could then bring the juice, water, maple, and cayenne with you in separate containers, mixing as needed during the day. I like to squeeze a day's worth of lemons in the morning, then prepare two 3-glass batches to bring to work/school as breakfast and lunch, waiting until the time I am drinking to add the cayenne so it doesn't sit and get too spicy. When I get home I make one or two more glasses of tonic for dinner to use up the rest of the lemon juice. This way its all as fresh as possible - within reason of our busy schedules!

-Remember 10 days is the suggested minimum. I always liken it to the first 20 minutes of any workout at the gym - relatively useless on it's own, it's a warm-up period for your body and it's what happens after that warm-up that is really where the benefits and action happen. Ten days is the time it takes to flush the digestive tract out and for your body to fully switch over to using it's fat resources for energy, thereby releasing toxins stored within. The longer past 10 days you go, the more cleansed your body will become, and the more deeply stored toxins will be able to be removed. Give your body a chance to really cleanse, you won't regret it!

-PLEASE READ THE BOOK! So many questions are answered there, and you can save yourself a lot of time and effort trying to figure things out on your own. Plus, there is a lot of important information about properly breaking the fast.

-YES:
use bottled/filtered/distilled water
use fresh lemons
drink all of the salt water mix
you can cut your maple syrup qty in half to induce greater weight loss if needed (i go full strength the first 3 days to get me through!)

-DONT:
skip steps
alter ingredients or formulas
add supplements not part of the cleanse
mistake detox symptoms for "being sick"!!!

The first 3 days are the worst (2 and 3 typically). Expect headaches, nausea, and flu-like symptoms. The first load of toxins to go are those readily accessible in your digestive tract. As these loosen and flush out, you will feel the effects! Caffeine withdrawal also hurts! As the detox progresses, it's not over! As your body uses up stored fat, stored toxins are also released into the system creating periods of detox symptoms. Landmark days tend to be 5, 7, 10, and then intermittent periods throughout the rest of a lengthy cleanse. Don't give up and mistake these cleansing waves as "My body is telling me to stop" or "The detox is making me sick"! Your body is just getting RID of The Sick and you're going to feel it. Always drink a lot of water and take it easy. The more water you drink, the faster these symptoms will pass.

I hope all this info helps, I am sure other MC'ers will have pearls of wisdom to share, but I thought I'd get this out there for anyone new.
We're all going to do fantastic!

Kari Jo