Master Cleanse

This is my seventh day on the Master Cleanse diet (essentially a fast for 10 days, or longer). I'd been thinking of doing this for over a year, but finally decided the timing was perfect this month and set a start date. It helped that one of my Usui Reiki Master students (also a neighbor) decided to do it at the same time. It's always great to have someone to help motivate you.

I'd never read much about this diet until another Reiki student of mine in October 2007 told me he'd recently completed it, raving about the health benefits he received. I was intrigued, but not eating for 10 days and only receiving nutrition from a lemonade concoction seemed rather daunting, I'll admit.

Easier than Expected

But it's been a lot easier than I thought. They say (and I agree) that the third day is the worst. After that, you just keep feeling better and better, for the most part. I've experienced periods of greater clarity than I've known in quite some time, and I've had a surprising amount of energy (enough for intense workouts), even feeling Reiki flow through me more powerfully.

And hunger pangs have been few and far between. That has to do with what's in the lemonade. You make it with freshly squeezed organic lemons, organic grade B maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The lemons have lots of vitamins and enzymes, the syrup provides multiple minerals and glucose fuel, and the cayenne pepper's heat increases metabolism and stimulates circulation, increasing detoxification.

All You Need

According to Stanley Burroughs, who developed the increasingly popular Master Cleanse decades ago, the lemonade provides the body with all the nutrition you need for the 10 to 40 days you fast.

I won't say it tastes terribly good. In fact, it's pretty bad. But I've grown to look forward to my 6 to 12 glasses a day because they do immediately satisfy my hunger. You also do a salt water flush in the morning and drink laxative tea at night to help keep your bowels moving.

As of the start of the 7th day, I've lost a little more than 10 pounds. But weight loss shouldn't be one's only motivation for undertaking the Master Cleanse. The greatest benefit for me, I feel, will be cleansing from all the toxins I've accumulated over the past 39 years (particularly in my unhealthy youth). I'm hoping any remaining allergies disappear into history.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

After I complete the cleanse, I'm committing to maintaining a much healthier diet consisting primarily of raw foods (virtually vegan), a lifestyle I've flirted with for stretches in the past. They say if you don't make healthy dietary adjustments (not necessarily vegan), most of the weight (and more importantly the toxins) you lost will come right back.

I know I'll feel a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the 10th day as I prepare to ease back onto solid foods. But who knows, I may be feeling so great that I decide to go for 20.

Do Your Homework

I did quite a bit of research on this cleanse before deciding to undertake it. There are "experts" who say cleansing is unnecessary because the body already has amazing powers of detoxification.

However, I strongly believe our bodies are breathing and ingesting an incredible amount of environmental toxins that we simply weren't build to handle. I see plenty of people come into my office who need all the detoxification help they can get.

I've also noticed that the fiercest critics of this cleanse are people who've never tried it. I haven't found a single testimonial from a Master Cleanser who didn't feel great about doing it.

Of course, not every diet is for everyone. Before considering starting this, do your homework. Maybe talk to your doctor if you have some complicating health issues (diabetes, pregnancy, etc.).

But give it some thought.