A simple look into fasting led to my discovery of the Master Cleanse diet. The Master Cleanse is a short book written by Stanley Burroughs, who created the cleanse, that outlines the Master Cleanse diet and its ability to cleanse every organ of the body. If you decide to undertake the cleanse, I highly recommend you buy the book, otherwise how will you know if you’re doing it safely and correctly? In truth, it shouldn’t really be called a diet because people go on “diets” to lose weight while the Master Cleanse is designed to cleanse the body of accumulated toxins and increase the body’s effectiveness. I began this cleanse on Saturday, but these progress updates will be posted a day later so I have added clarity in my perspective of the previous day. I outline this process in my entry “How to Renew Your Perspective in 5 Steps”. However, I will post daily updates until I have completed the cleanse. These daily updates serve as progress reports as I undertake this cleanse. They are provided in the hope that they will be useful for those who are considering undertaking it as well.
Thousands of people have been through the cleanse now. Used properly, it can help you successfully improve the state of your health, allowing you to be a more energetic, virus-free, and clear-minded human being. In short, it will make your body more effective. However, I am not a doctor, and I don’t play one on TV, so please keep in mind that nothing contained on this site is professional medical advice, only firsthand experience. Please talk to your doctor before you change your diet. I’m sure you’ve heard this warning before.
Curiosity is Piqued
Through my research in fasting, I stumbled upon The Master Cleanse diet, and I discovered it to be highly regarded in the fasting world. Accounts of other’s experiences such as Marianne Guarena were very encouraging to me and gave me an idea of what to expect. After some searching, I came across the complete book in PDF form and began devouring it. If you’d like a hardcopy, it is available at Amazon.com (which sells everything, including the kitchen sink), but the book has been published for free on various places around the internet.
I soon realized that it is not really a diet in the normal sense. Most people go on a diet to lose weight, but the Master Cleanse is designed to remove toxins (as well as excess mucus) from your body. In fact, people tend to gain most (if not all) of their weight back after they’ve stopped the cleanse. Overall, what attracted me most was the simplicity and results-driven focus of how the cleanse was presented in the book. Aside from wanting to remove the toxins from my body, I wondered how it could effect state of mind, clarity, and creativity. At this point, it’s worth reading what the creator, Stanley Burroughs, has to say about the cleanse’s purpose.
Burroughs says that the Master Cleanse’s purpose is:
- To dissolve and eliminate toxins and congestion that have formed in any part of the body.
- To cleanse the kidneys and the digestive system.
- To purify the glands and cells throughout the entire body.
- To eliminate all unusable waste and hardened material in the joints and muscles.
- To relieve pressure and irritation in the nerves, arteries, and blood vessels.
- To build a healthy blood stream.
- To keep youth and elasticity regardless of our years.
After some interpolation, I picked up these ingredients:
3.2 oz Cayenne Pepper from a local health food store
2 Quarts Grade B Maple Syrup from Amazon.com
12 Lemons from local grocery store
(it’s important not to buy all of the lemons at once lest they rot)
2 lb Sea Salt picked up from local health food store (for colon cleanse)
I have purposefully left out the recipe from this entry because I highly recommend that you read the book to get the complete story.
I Begin the Master Cleanse
The book suggests people take Smooth Move Tea the night before beginning the fast to break up the contents of the intestines. I happened to already have some in the kitchen, drank a cup, and went to sleep around midnight.
On the first day, I woke up feeling slightly strange, which was probably due to the tea. Yet, it was almost as if I could feel the change in the air. Either that or my body already knew something was up. I got up and reviewed the instructions.
Every morning of the cleanse starts with a salt water bathing of the colon. (Remember, it is very important that one uses salt without iodine added, such as sea salt, because the salt water wash will not work if you use salt with iodine.) I decided to use my 1.5 liter Nalgene bottle to hold the full liter of salt water required to cleanse the colon. After an exciting english to metric conversion, I discovered that 1 quart is very close to 1 liter and filled up the bottle to the 1000 ml mark. Then I added 2 teaspoons of the sea salt and shook the contents. I began by taking a drink, waiting, and taking a drink again. After a few minutes I looked down at my bottle, sure that I must be making wonderful progress, but I had only drank 10% of the salt water.
Though disappointed at this, I continued, taking my time to finish the rest, and finally finished the liter about 45 minutes later. With a salt water cleanse, it’s important to slow down, as I did, to avoid making your stomach upset. The salt water works because it is the same molecular weight as blood, so it bypasses the kidneys and cleanses the intestines instead. Just as I was beginning to setup a place to make the lemonade, what I like to call Lemonade-X, the colon cleanse suddenly began to work, and I was delayed for a while thereafter. 
Making the Lemonade-X for the First Time
I began by making just two cups for my “breakfast.” After cutting the lemon in half, removing the seeds manually, placing the lemon juice and pulp in blender, I blended it all up. I measured out the rest of the ingredients, all multiplied from the original recipe in the book, and hit blend again. The first cup was rather strong, but tasty.
After a few hours, this had run out, and I decided to make the rest of the day’s Lemonade-X. This time, the final mixture was almost too much for the blender to handle and I added the last two cups of water and stirred manually.
Once I had finished this batch that would last me the rest of the day, it occurred to me that normal meal cycles no longer applied. I wasn’t going to sit down and drink a “meal” of Lemonade-X. Instead, I hypothesized that an even schedule of about 1 cup every 2 hours would fit the drink very well. At about 9 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM, 5 PM, and 7 PM I got a refill, and it worked well. Of course, water may be drank at any time during the fast.
The Net Effect for the 1st Day
For my first fast, I feel surprisingly satisfied, and I have experienced no perceivable energy drain. One unforeseen bonus of this fast was not getting tired after eating a meal. This allowed me to work longer without feeling tired and desiring a break.
Finishing the first day of ten is a good feeling, and I’m looking forward to how my body will detoxify itself. For a moment, I wondered if I could do it, but then I remembered where my reality springs from: my own beliefs. I am committed, and I’m too curious about how this will play out to stop.
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Below is a guide to all articles within this series:
Recommended Reading:
- My Journey into The Master Cleanse (Day 2 of 10)
- My Journey into The Master Cleanse (Day 8 of 10)
- My Journey into The Master Cleanse (Day 4 of 10)
- My Journey into The Master Cleanse (Day 5 of 10)
- My Journey into The Master Cleanse (Day 6 of 10)
- My Journey into The Master Cleanse (Day 10 of 10)
- My Journey into The Master Cleanse (Day 7 of 10)
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