The Master Cleanser: The Lemonade Diet

I recently discovered information about something called "The Master Cleanser." A friend of mine explained to me he had seen an episode of Oprah with guest star Beyonce Knowles discussing the master cleanser and her experience with it. She needed to lose weight quickly for a movie role and this was how she did it. I was very intrigued so I did some research on the Internet and was shocked by how much information I found.

The book "The Master Cleanser " by Stanley Burroughs walks you through the steps of the cleanse and gives you excess information on other health issues. It has been in use since the 1940's. It is not for weight-loss, it is a cleansing of the internal body and one of the effects is weight-loss. The basic routine is a laxative tea before bedtime, a 32 oz salt water flush as soon as you wake up, and 6-12 glasses of what the book calls the lemonade through-out the day. Nothing else is consumed during the cleanse which is a ten day period. Thats right no food so it is pretty much considered a fast. The lemonade has 4 ingredients which are: water, organic lemon juice ( limes are also allowed. They taste much better but are very hard to find ), organic maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The lemonade is used to break-up the toxins in your body and the laxative tea and salt water flush are used to flush the toxins out. After much research I decided to try it.

I ordered a master cleanser kit on-line from humblebeehealth.com. The Kit came with organic grade B maple syrup, cayenne pepper capsules ( comes in capsule form for those like myself who can't stomach anything that spicy ), Smooth Move herbal stimulant laxative tea, natural sea salt, and of course the book. I had to purchase the organic lemons at a local supermarket. I also had to get a juicer to juice the lemons. Mine cost me $30.00 but some are double the price depending on the quality. I received my supplies ten days later and I started right away.

I drank the laxative tea that evening and went to bed. When I awoke the next morning I didn't experience any cramping at all. I then mixed 2 teaspoons of sea salt with 32 Oz's of filtered water and drank it as quickly as I possibly could. I had to take breaks to allow my stomach to empty enough to drink more. Immediately after-wards I laid on my bed with my head tilted back to keep the salt water from coming back up. For the rest of the day I consumed the lemonade and then ended my day with the laxative tea again. I did this for ten days straight days.

The book said the first three days would be the hardest and even though they were hard it didn't get any easier for me within the last seven. Through the whole process I was always a little bit hungry but never starving. I continued to have cravings passed the third day, which is something the book also said would not happen. I did have to episodes of weakness but they went away quickly after drinking the lemonade. I stopped smoking and it wasn't as challenging as I thought it was going to be but the cravings were there and I ended up starting back up after the cleanse was over. Concerning bowel movements, those only happened within 2-3 hours after the salt water flush and I didn't have any for the rest of the day but I had to pee at least once an hour. My hardest challenge was the fact that I work for a restaurant where I serve food all day which didn't help my cravings.

At the end of it all I felt great. I had a lot more energy, I didn't need nearing enough food to fill my stomach, and I lost a little weight. I was disappoint that I only lost seven pounds because Beyonce lost fourteen. Considering I weight more than her to begin with it didn't really make much since but I guess every body is different. Regardless, I am still very happy I did it because my portion sizes went down and I lost a little more weight after the cleanse. For some reason I did lose certain cravings for things, one being Soda. I would suggest this to anyone but also warn them it's not for the weak-willed. I consider it an accomplishment to get through all ten days and I do plan on doing it again in the future.