Green Lemonade

This past Thursday, I met several women who were embarking on (or were several days into) The Master Cleanse. (I was shocked at how many people at the party on Thursday brought up the Master Cleanse!) Many women I spoke with said that their main reason for doing the cleanse was to lose weight. One woman said she had been on a non-stop party circuit and just needed to “reset.” Another woman said that her husband does 3 days on the Master Cleanse at least once a year. For every woman who was either partaking in The Master Cleanse last week or speaking highly of it, there were just as many women who felt it was absurd. Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to The Master Cleanse.

1. The Master Cleanse lacks nutrients your body needs. A nutritious juice fast centered around green vegetables (vs a water fast such as the Master Cleanse) is actually loaded with vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and blood alkalinizers for superior health and energy. These nutrients help with the awakening and releasing of toxins in your body as well as aid in the rebuilding of your body’s terrain. This also includes a rebuilding of the biological terrain of the colon where the majority of your body’s immune system is housed. Check out these nutritious juicing programs from the gals at the BluePrint Cleanse. Place your order this week and receive 20% off your juices. Learn more about this 20% coupon. Consider also checking out options from Organic Avenue – another one of my favorite juice fasting and raw food delivery boutiques.




2. Most people cannot handle the overwhelming detoxification symptoms that come along with such an extreme water cleanse. When you give your body just water and lemon, there is nothing to digest and so all of the body’s energy shifts to detoxification and housecleaning work. With such a powerful detox focus and nothing to moderate this focus, this becomes a total crisis for you! Headaches and withdrawal symptoms are just a few of the issues you are likely to face. Your body becomes almost paralyzed as too many toxins and excess waste tries to leave your body at once. Most people I know end up bingeing after one day.




3. Great harm can occur from the Master Cleanse if you don’t do it correctly.

Detox experts agree that if you do not safely and effectively eliminate the waste in your body dug up from the Master Cleanse you can do more harm than good (and possibly poison yourself). Also, a water only fast can even lead to a shortage of some very important vitamins and minerals which weakens your immune system and your ability to fight off infection. If you are serious about doing a water fast and don’t want to listen to any arguments to the contrary, please have supervision from a doctor. And for the rest of us…….




4. There are better ways to “reset” after a period of overindulgence and “lose weight” on a more accelerated schedule if that is what you want. My two favorite ways are as follows:
   • a few days on a nutritious juice fast. This plan is for those who really want to go and get after it for a few days. The key to success here is to make sure and eat a clean diet prior to the first day on just juice.
   • a juice until dinner program. Juice fasting until dinner is a nice alternative to a few days on “just juice.” In my opinion it’s a much more manageable way to do get started on the road to a juice fast.
   • I also adore these gentle cleansing alternatives.

Note: The above images are sourced from Wire Image.