Made famous by Beyonce, Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, the Master Cleanse is regularly used by Hollywood stars to slim down ahead of premieres or movie roles. However it is also a cleanse that you can easily do in your own home, and the ingredients aren’t too expensive either. This cleansing diet is so popular not just because of its powerful detoxing properties, but also because its a great way to lose a few pounds and get in shape.
Although the Master Cleanse is an easy cleanse to understand, it is not always such an easy diet to stick to. It’s essentially a fasting plan, with nutrition provided by a combination of lemon, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. It’s hard work but the results are worth it!
How does the Master Cleanse work?
The Master Cleanse’s strange set of ingredients may leave you wondering ‘why am I eating this?’. Well there is some very sound reasoning behind it. Let me run through each ingredient in the Master Cleanse drink and share with you the specific benefits that it can give you.
Maple Syrup
Although you may normally just pour it on your waffles, Grade B maple syrup contains a variety of minerals and vitamins. These include iron, chlorine, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, phosphorus, sulfur and silicon not to mention Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and C. Also present is Pantothenic acid, a type of B-Vitamin that can lower cholesterol.
As you can see, adding good quality maple syrup to your cleanse actually provides you with many of the vitamins and minerals that you need during a short-term cleanse.
Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is used to produce more bile in the liver, trapping fat molecules and allowing them to be easily secreted. It also helps to decrease your appetite.
Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne pepper increases metabolism and aids digestion. It is also a good source of Vitamins A, B, C, Calcium and Potassium.
Purified Water
The benefits of water need little explanation. It speeds your metabolism, cleans your internal organs and even helps you live longer!
How to do the Master Cleanse?
Otherwise known as the Lemonade Diet or the Maple Syrup Diet, this cleanse involves a fast of 10 days, with nutrition provided by a drink of Maple Syrup, Lemon Juice and Cayenne Pepper. However if this is your first time on the Master Cleanse, I would recommend trying it for no longer than 3 days at first. Each day on the cleanse should follow the same routine:
Morning
Each morning you should do a salt water flush. This is a simple way to do a colon cleanse, by drinking lukewarm water with non-iodized sea salt, that is excellent in conjunction with the Master Cleanse.
The salt detoxifies the entire digestive system and flushes out any impurities and toxins so they won’t be reabsorbed back into the body. Remember though – it has to be non-iodized sea salt.
Recipe (one serving):
32 Oz of lukewarm water
2 teaspoons of non-iodized sea salt (iodized salt will not work)
Drink this right after you get out of bed and before you eat. Drinking it on an empty stomach is important, otherwise the salt will be in your gut with undigested food and may not have the same cleansing effect. Around 1 hour after drinking this your eliminations should start, so plan ahead!
Daytime
Drink the Master Cleanse juice several times a day, whenever thirsty or hungry. You can also drink pure water by itself, but no other foods. You can either make the drinks right when you need them, or make a jug in the morning to last all day. Here are the recipes:
Recipe (one serving):
2 tablespoons organic Lemon Juice
2 tablespoons organic Grade B Maple Syrup (not the commercial maple flavored syrup you use on pancakes)
2 pinches Cayenne Pepper
10oz Purified Water
Recipe (to last the whole day):
12 tablespoons organic Lemon Juice
12 tablespoons organic Grade B Maple Syrup (not the commercial maple flavored syrup you use on pancakes)
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
60oz Purified Water
Evening
The last step each day is to take a herbal laxative tea. One made with Senna will do the trick, and you can buy this from most health food stores. Since there is no fiber in the cleanse, the Senna is needed to stimulate muscle contraction of the colon.
Without the laxative tea, the toxins and waste products forced out by the Master Cleanse will stay in your body, so make sure you drink it each evening before you go to sleep.
