The Master Cleanse cleanses the body of toxins and remove the cravings associated with drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and eating junk food. "Coffee, tea, and various cola drinks, as habit-forming beverages, also lose their appeal through the marvels of the lemonade diet."
The cleanse involves drinking only lemonade made from fresh lemon or lime juice, Grade B maple syrup, water and Cayenne pepper. No solid food is eaten for the duration of the cleanse. The master cleanse is technically not a "fast" and proponents say it is more gentle on the body because it does contain some essential vitamins and minerals. According to proponents it is recommended to be on the cleanse for a minimum of ten days, but it is not uncommon for people to stay on the cleanse for longer periods of time, even as long as 45 days.
Since there is no intake of solid food, special precautions are taken to avoid constipation. Senna tea is taken every night, and in the morning warm saline is required. This passes through the digestive system extremely quickly, usually causing defecation in 30-60 minutes. It is essential to go off of the cleanse slowly. The lack of solid foods for such long periods requires careful breaking, as gut flora need to re-develop and mucus linings re-build. This usually involves drinking "full strength" juices for a day or two, while slowly adding in soups, then fruit, vegetables and nuts before resuming a regular diet.
Some practitioners add probiotics at this time to help re-establish a healthy intestinal culture. Some individuals have returned to their healthy diet the following day after stopping the program without any problems, but this is rare and not recommended especially for first timers.
Side Effects
The first few days of the program can be tough. Like any other fast-type diet, learning to get along without your normal amount of food is difficult. And, like any juice fast, learning to get along without solid food can be a tremendous challenge.
In addition, because this diet is a cleansing fast or detox diet, there are "detox" symptoms that may occur, including headaches, nausea and vomiting, cravings, fatigue and irritability. Most of these symptoms are short-lived. On rare occasions, they may be so severe that the dieter has to end the diet early.
Medical Considerations
Because it represents a tremendous change in eating habits, persons who wish to try it would be wise to discuss it with their physician first. In particular, individuals taking long-term medication that cannot be safely discontinued for the duration of the diet need to consult with their physician. The doctor may wish to monitor the dieter to ensure that the change in dietary habits does not alter the effects of the medication.
Persons who have followed the diet have reported changes in blood-pressure, blood-sugar / insulin levels, and depression, all of which required alteration of their normal dose of medication for these conditions.
Health Warnings
Persons following the Lemonade Diet should follow it exactly as written, and, ideally, under the supervision of their personal physician. Individuals should also be attuned to their body's signals that it is time to transition back to eating. The recommended 10 days is sufficient for most people; higher numbers of days would not be recommended unless the person were under a physician's care and had become accustomed to shorter-term fasts.
Drink at least the minimum amount of the lemonade each day; Burroughs and Glickman both state that one should drink 6 to 12 glasses of the lemonade per day. With 100 calories per 2 tablespoons of Grade B maple syrup, and 8 calories per 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and 1 calories per 1/6 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, each drink provides approximately 109 calories. Thus, it would be important to drink 11 to 12 glasses per day to ensure that at least 1200 calories were consumed.
To guard against dehydration, water should also be taken throughout the cleanse. Many cleansers drink a glass of water between glasses of lemonade.
Persons who wish to follow this program more than once a year are advised to wait three to six months between stints; the longer the time on the diet, the longer one should wait to repeat it. Three months between 10-day stints is the minimum recommended interval.
