The Master Cleanse

I'm on day 5 of a 10-day master cleanse program. I just woke up one day and decided to start. It was probably the way to go, because if I'd planned it ahead of time I probably would have indulged quite a bit before I started. Instead, I'd been on a fairly lean diet already. Not sure if it made it easier or hard.



This cleanse is fairly famous and I imagine the majority of people who do it are more interested in the weight loss side effects than the cleansing process. Beyonce made the cleanse high profile by supposedly losing 22 pounds in 2 weeks on the cleanse, as she prepared for her role in the move "Dreamgirls." In fact, I've already lost about 6 lbs and i'm not even half way through. But I don't have any illusions that it'd be permanent weight loss - not without continuing to diet and exercise when i'm done.

So here it is:

* Drink 6 - 12 servings of the following lemonade concoction each day
-2 tbsp lemon or lime juice
-2 tbsp maple syrup
-1/10 tsp cayenne pepper
-8 oz water ( I use 10 oz)

* In the evening before bed, take a laxative tea, like Smooth Move

* In the morning drink a salt water concoction
- 2 tablespoons of sea salt (non iodized!)
- 1 quart of water

I actually skipped the laxative AND the salt water for the first couple days, and have yet to try the salt water at all. But I do think it's important to the cleanse process, else you may not have any bowel movements at all - and that's no good. I do feel like one or the other of these if plenty, though everyone's different. I'm not a big meat eater so I probably don't have as much colonic buildup as someone who eats steak and burgers on the regular.

Click here for the in-depth master cleanse program.