When I was at community college, I took a health class that encouraged us to try a cleanse of some type. I would like to share my experience so that anyone who is curious about the Master Cleanse can hear about the experience from someone who’s tried it! Everyone may have different reactions to the cleanse, but I'd like to share my personal experience.
When I started this cleanse, I got all my information from the Master Cleanse website. I was on a health kick, and going to the gym every day, so I figured I'd give it a shot. By day two of the cleanse, I felt shaky, weak, sick to my stomach, and so very tired. There was no way I was able to work out when I was doing this cleanse. I didn’t have near enough energy to burn extra calories at the gym. This definitely goes against the generic rule of 30 minutes of exercise a day. I was working out much longer than that before the cleanse, and wasn’t even able to do the 30 minutes when I started this cleanse.
The key emphasis of the Master Cleanse, as explained by the creator, Stanley Burroughs, is a great way to overcome disease and cleanse the body for better overall health. The Master Cleanse often hooks people with the words “detoxify your body” and “lose weight fast.” To do this, you drink a blend of lemon juice, water, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup instead of food for 10 days, supplemented by laxatives and salt water. Stanley wrote the Master Cleanse book in the 1940s. He was a health advocate and researched the role toxemia has in chronic illness and disease. There is not much information on him online, but mostly about the Master Cleanse, often referred to as the Lemonade Diet.
The Master Cleanse required a complete diet change and is often referred to as a physical and emotional experience, because of the extreme diet change. The plan recommends a completely liquid diet, not including any ease-in or ease-out process you can choose to do. According to themastercleanse.com, the plan consists of laxatives, salt-water flushes, water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup. Basic dietary advice would advise against this program because it is much too low for a healthy calorie intake. The cleanse doesn’t consist of any proteins, carbs, vitamins and minerals so doing this for 10 days will also help you lose muscle mass and water weight.
The program required a few different “food” items, although people may be able to find at least some of them in-home. These include lemons, cayenne pepper, maple syrup, salt, and laxatives. These can be found at home, but the diet does require mass amounts of lemons, so more would have to be purchased. It is also recommended to have a juicer in order to juice the lemons freshly each day. The diet seems to be cost efficient enough, considering you would be using these items instead of buying food for 10 days. You would probably save money by doing this diet instead of eating normally, to be honest, but that doesn’t mean it’s better for you.
For most people, the plan continues for 10 days of the liquid diet. After the diet, you are encouraged to eat healthy solid foods, but no plan for this is set. It has been explained to me by some friends who do different cleanses that some people do “cleanse stacks.” This involves doing the cleanse, eating regularly for a short period of time, and doing the cleanse again, sometimes multiple times. By doing this, it is said that you will not gain back the weight you lost. If you ease in or ease out of the diet, it will require a few extra days on top of the 10 days spent with the liquid diet. Some people don’t make it the full 10 days, but it is of course recommended that you try to do the full 10.
The cleanse doesn’t say anything about physical activity. I believe this is because a low calorie intake and minimal energy can make you feel weak, dizzy, or shaky. I felt weak even after the first day! Working out could be considered a hazard, considering all you’re consuming on the diet is liquid, free of protein, vitamins and minerals.
No data has actually been published in medical literature about the Master Cleanse. Although weight loss has been advertised and said to happen, it is mostly attributed to the temporary diet change. The Master Cleanse puts a severe limit on carbs and fats, limiting the person to a liquid diet of lemon, water, cayenne pepper, and only a small amount of maple syrup for 10 days. The cleanse also doesn’t recommend any exercise be done during the 10 days. These are all red flags in any diet.
My overall impression of this program and personal experience are not good. This weight seems like it would be gained back immediately after the diet. Doing the cleanse seemed appealing but I only felt worse once I did it! Hopefully those of you considering the Master Cleanse so you can lose some quick weight will go about a healthier, and more long-term solution.
