The Alchemist Weekly, August 24, 2010
A ten day Master Cleanse journey
Robin Canfield details his experience with the fad.
Day 3:
Having not decided to write about this experience until today, I have no entries for Day 1 or Day 2, so I’ll try to catch you up.
First off, the Master Cleanse, also known as the Lemon Diet (dieta limón) is not strictly a fast. You are consuming nutrients. Telling as few people as possible that you are doing the Master Cleanse is recommended. I’d add that if you do tell anyone about it, you should say it’s a diet, not a fast. It leaves less to explain.
What is the Master Cleanse? Well, mainly it is a process by which you remove toxins from your body. How? Well, first make sure you aren’t eating anything. Also, if you’re squeamish, you may want to just stop right here. Ready?
You ingest almost nothing but a mixture of water, equal parts fresh-squeezed lemon juice and maple syrup, as well as cayenne pepper. Several cups worth a day. Other than that, more water, and laxatives. I went with senna tea. You have to drink the tea before bed and then more the next day, or go with the salt water bath. Bath is kind of a misnomer, you’re bathing your insides i.e. drinking salt water, so it’s really more of a flush. And, it’s about 32 ounces. It’s disgusting. After the second day I was already telling myself, “Well I’m glad I only have to do that eight more times.”
The first day has been the hardest so far. Apparently there’s a process called easing-in to the diet. My fiancé and I (we’re doing the cleanse together) decided on the day-after 4th of July family potluck have-ice cream-before-we-can’t-eat-for-12-days start. Not the easiest way to go, and definitely made the prospect of quitting on day one much more enticing. So did finding out on day two that you don’t really have to do the salt water bath on the first day.
At this point I should mention that it’s best to check all the details before start doing this. Go to themastercleanse.org or better yet, find a book about it; there’s at least two or three out there in print, and more as e-books.
Having fasted for several-day stints before, the idea of not eating for 10 days (12 days really–there’s an ease-out process that is apparently much more important than the ease-in process) wasn’t that daunting. Once you get the cleanse going, it’s actually much easier than I expected because the lemon juice-maple syrup mix does actually help the hunger go away. By the second day I felt like I’d already broken the habit of regular meals, too, and spent the latter half of the day comfortable and happy. The only real problem I had on day two was, well, you’re supposed to hold that saltwater in for as long as possible and I didn’t realize that until reading about it later on in the same day, so it probably didn’t have the full effect as intended.
Right now I am mid-way through day 3. I rode a 16 mile bike ride first thing yesterday, and again first thing today. It seems a little more difficult, but I can’t say I’ve felt like I was short on energy. Short on sleep, maybe, but that’s not uncommon for me at any time. I think I’ve passed all my saltwater (I love how so many people who write about the cleanse shorten “bowel movement” to “BM” – I’ll have to try it at some point) and am about to go juice some lemons for the first time today. 
A note: You’re not supposed to drink the lemon mix until after you’ve done the saltwater, so I hope you don’t wake up hungry every day (even though you’ll be falling asleep hungry most nights).
Oh, and back to bowel movements. After day one, well, there’s not much to push out. Whatever there is won’t be pleasant; just remember that whatever you see has been stuck in your system for some time, and probably would stay there clogging you up forever if you weren’t doing this cleanse.
Day 4:
Tip of the day: don’t fart. It’s not air. Thankfully I’m just passing this message on, not speaking from experience.
Having downed a bottle of salt water four times already, I can gladly say that today was easier. I never really felt like I might throw up. And, as I get further into this cleanse, I’m definitely flushing more out of my system. Yes, bowel movements. Not just bowel movements though–I’ve never completely stopped having acne since it first started many years ago, and at times as I’ve played with my diet it’s been worse than others, but I haven’t really had a huge amount of and/or really big zits for some time. Last night I got a really big one on my nose, and currently there’s quite a bit on my chest, back and shoulders. Some might think, ‘that’s it, it’s the diet, I’m done.’ I’ve paid close attention to my diet in correlation with my health for some time now, however, and can say with certainty that there is very little to no lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper in my diet, so these things aren’t the root cause of the acne. I have no doubt that the diet is causing this breakout, but my thinking is that, if I’m flushing toxins out of my body one way, it’s probably coming out in others, too, which would be the zits.
On to other things. I did a second sixteen mile bike ride which definitely did more to drain my energy. I probably could have done one this morning, but instead I slept an extra two hours. For a light sleeper like me, sleep is definitely easier to attain on this diet.
Other things to note: none, really. I haven’t eaten solid food in over three days, I’m feeling good, and I’m about ready to go squeeze some lemons. I guess I could add that rolling lemons forcefully on the counter before cutting and juicing them is a simple way to make juicing them easier.
Day 5:
Wow, half way through, kind of. Sat around and did very little yesterday, not so much out of necessity from lack of energy, but as choice and ability.
Having watched a movie in a public park last night and in a theater today, I can say it is much easier to not think about the popcorn and candy in a dark theater. Even if I try to avoid these things most of the time anyway, I can say from smelling and seeing them at the movie in the park (a park much like Central Park) that, when not eating any other foods, these have a greater attraction (though at the park in Florida, there are some seriously ugly people in way-too-revealing clothing to help do away with an appetite. This isn’t as helpful in Corvallis where revealing clothing isn’t as easy of an option, not that it matters since the parks department turned down the only person in the last year to apply for a permit to show free movies in Central Park).
We bought lemons again today. I think yesterday was the only day to not have purchased any so far, but at least that half-gallon jug of maple syrup from the other day endures. I guess it’s for the best, fresher lemons are superior, especially as it’s bad to refrigerate them – it slows down the enzymes that are supposed to be active in your system to help draw out the toxins.
And, the toxins definitely continue to come out. I feel like I have two solid lines down the sides of the back of my neck where those occasional zits have now come out en masse. Bowel movements continue as well, and it’s already amazing to think these will continue everyday even though I haven’t consumed anything solid for over four days. Even the saltwater bath in the morning has been flushing more out, surprising to me because I had thought as days progressed it would be flushing less.
And let me tell you, after the first few days you are as used to chugging 32 ounces of saltwater as you’re going to get. It doesn’t get any less difficult, nor ever anything close to pleasant. Luckily, I find that the lemon-maple syrup-cayenne mix is quite pleasant; tasty even. A friend tasted it yesterday and said much the same, adding that he would be happy to drink that even without being in the process of the cleanse. Of course, when I pointed out how much maple syrup that would be adding to a (hopefully) already complete diet, he reconsidered.
There was only a short bike ride for me today, perhaps two miles. It did in fact feel tiring, but more so it aggravated my already injured knee. This was why I put off any rides at all yesterday, and possibly will again in the coming week unless my knee feels like it needs a stretch. This injury has been bugging me for over a month now; it wasn’t too bad at first, but working and moving when I should have been resting it only made it worse, then when it was getting better I went on a bike ride that was far too long for my own good, and as it again seemed to be healing a vaccination shot was needed in preparation for upcoming travel and all of a sudden it was both swollen and painful. I mention this only because some testimonies about the Master Cleanse claim that even injuries such as this heal better during/after a cleanse (and because on the whole I believe vaccinations are an unneeded racket).
Day 6:
Everything continues as normal. Actually, more and more seems to come out every day, both in bowel movements and on my neck.
Lack of energy is not so much a problem as lack of sleep. I woke up with a killer headache, and I’m thinking I just didn’t drink enough water before going to bed. Unfortunately that meant I had to delay the saltwater flush a bit after waking up until the fierce pain of the headache went away. I know my limits and it would do no good to try chugging saltwater when I’m already feeling nauseous; it ain’t staying down.
Despite the hope that once I got the saltwater successfully down it would help flush out the headache, the dissipated pain has yet to actually totally go away and I have no wish to go outside into bright sunlight. The vuvuzelas at the World Cup are also more unpleasant than ever before.
I’ve been drinking plenty of liquids, both in the hopes of getting this headache gone and because I’ve been taking advantage of the one way you are allowed to “cheat” in this Master Cleanse: herbal mint tea. I usually prefer straight mint tea, but this herbal kind is tasty enough as long as it is still hot. Once it cools off, nothing doing. I’d rather have more of the lemon, etc. drink.
Day 7:
A tip – make sure to wash your bottles. I have used a plastic bottle for my saltwater container every morning to make it easier to measure out. I kind of thought that the nastiness of the water had leveled out for me after the first two days, but after my fiancé gave them a thorough cleaning, the bottles had a much less-saltier taste to the water. Definitely easier to drink down.
On a less encouraging note, you may tell yourself when you’re starting out that you’re fasting and it will be cheaper than usual because you’re not eating. And it is, barely. When you’re in line to buy $15 worth of lemons of a $30 jug of maple syrup (twice), it doesn’t feel so cheap.
I think all I’ve got is notes today. There’s nothing to talk about otherwise. The bowel movements continue, the lemon drink still flows. I know when I’m done I’ll spend a day with juice, some watermelon, and maybe an apple. The day after I’m having salads. Not lots, that would probably make my stomach explode, but salad until I’m full, that’s for sure. And some day soon, Thai food.
Day 8:
Only two more days of chugging saltwater in the morning, I am so, so grateful for this. And to be done, mostly. I still only feel a yearning to eat when I smell food, or food-substitutes (like when I bike past a Taco Bell or McDonald’s). Not that I can’t think ahead to enjoying real, delicious foods.
My skin is mostly clearing from the zits that had popped up as the toxins were forced out of my body. I wish I knew how all this worked in my system, but so far I think I can come up with a pretty good theory, and one that is different than I had before this cleanse.
I had assumed from the long-running random zits that pop up on my body that there is a certain amount of toxins stored in the areas under my skin, all over my body. I had supposed that this was a build-up of many years and that even this ten day cleanse would not be enough to rectify the build-up/back-up/whatever, so that I would probably have to do another (possibly longer) cleanse later. Now my skin is mostly clearing up. So there was a storage of toxin in the tissue under my skin, but probably much less than I had thought before, and there is a bigger storage somewhere in my system that feeds that backed up supply. I base this not just on my clearing skin, but on the fact that my bowel movements continue regularly, and with the same if not more matter/toxins/stink being forced out. So the toxins are still there, but what would be siphoned out to my pores is being cut off and forced out in bowel movements. Maybe I’m wrong, this is just what I’m figuring from how my body reacts. Of course, the continuation of said bowel movements proves that there still is still storage of toxins in my body somewhere, which means (depending on the amount of toxins still within me) there is still a storage somewhere, the random zits will most likely resume after some undeterminable amount of time after I end this cleanse, and it is still probably in my best interest to do another cleanse in my near future. This is entirely healthy I am sure, as I have read accounts by people who have taken their cleanse up to almost thirty days before, and also one man who does the cleanse at least once a year, or maybe it was every other year. Either way, I can’t imagine this cleanse doing damage to you unless you switched to it permanently (or if you have a social life based around eating and drinking, in which case the minimum 10-day stint might be best).
Day 9:
One more day to go until I can start eating food. I’m really looking forward to watermelon and grapes, and I’m also thinking perhaps that we’ll get some raw crackers, perhaps other raw foods.
I’m just over halfway through this day, I’ve happily purchased my last bag of lemons, and spent the day using lots of energy out tubing a river in a state park. Before you say “right, a lot of energy is used up tubing a river” this is a small, gator-free section of a Florida river and you go about 15, maybe 20 minutes before you get out and walk all the way back to the start; so yes, a lot of energy (and amazingly, my knee is feeling pretty good). And, it built up a lot of hunger, but I drank a lot of lemon drink and I’m going to keep drinking it.
Not just to put down the hunger, of course, but because it’s the lemon and the cayenne that really bring the toxins out of your tissue to help flush them. And I’m seeing more and more toxins being flushed out of my system.
I’m starting to accept something I was told before I started this: that it takes about seven days before you really start expelling the toxins in your system. (This seems to be true. It isn’t just that more things are being flushed out of my system, it’s that new, different things are in there, in my bowel movement). That’s one reason that ten days is the minimum amount to go for this cleanse, so you at least get a few days of full-out cleanse. Odd enough to know, but again this helps support my new theory explained in yesterdays journal entry, that my skin can only hold so many toxins, that they are supplied by another, inner source, and if more and more toxins are being flushed out via bowel movement then perhaps that is why my skin is in a happier state. Not to say there are no zits on my skin, or that my pores are entirely clean. They just aren’t acting as mad at me as they were a few days ago.
This does make me happy, but not as happy as the prospect of being done. Not so much to say I did it, and not because I’ll be able to eat again soon (even if someone is telling me about “desert nachos” as I type)–I can actually control my hunger really well. It’s the fact that I won’t be bugged about quitting early anymore because my fiancé, the person I’m doing this cleanse with, wants to eat food. She’s the only one that’s done the cleanse before, too. I guess these things are just easier for some people than others. Go figure.
Day 10:
I thought I would wait until the end of this day to write and recap, seeing as it is the last official day of the cleanse.
At this moment, my stomach is more upset with me now that it has been at any other time since I started. Not because I am hungry, but because I cheated. Well, due to impending travel and the need to be able to ingest food, my fiancé and I ate fruit early: tonight’s dinner. It’s still cheating though – not quite the full ten days.
I’d thought about having the Senna laxative tea this last night, just to force out whatever toxins that remained from being pushed into my digestive system. As it turns out – no need. Not exactly because I already cheated and ate some food, but because an all fruit meal for your first food in ten days, well, it has the same effect. More so possibly.
The first food I put in my mouth was intended to be watermelon, but pre-chopped watermelon from the grocery store, while looking tasty, just wasn’t as mouth-watering as one I could have cut open on my own. So the first thing I ate was a tomato–yep, a tomato, just like you would an apple. Then I had a few bites of watermelon, a few bites of honeydew, a nectarine and some grapes. I washed all that down with some carrot juice. It tasted good. Not as fantastic as the omelet I dreamt about last night, and not as good as your mind begins to tell you food can be once you’re into this cleanse.
So the easing-out has begun. To get back to my stomach, it’s not in pain, it’s probably just that I’m not used to it really functioning now, and it is operating at a constant gurgle of about every 5 minutes for the last hour or so. I’m glad it still works, not that I was worried. To aid in bringing my stomach back to life, we’ve also begun taking Multidophilus pills. As I understand it, it’s bacteria that’s good for your stomach, that actually works in your stomach–kind of like what’s in yogurt, only this kind is in pill form (and has to be kept chilled). We plan to take a few of them a day for the next few days to ensure that our stomachs stay in good shape.
How do I feel at the end of these ten days? Well, I’ve definitely lost some weight–probably water weight that will come back. Does my system feel cleaner? Kind of. I can’t say I feel a definite sense of being cleansed, perhaps that will come more once I’m back in to eating, but I plan to write for the next two days at least as I ease back in to regular food, so we’ll see.
Day 11:
Wow. Two things I never thought I’d think (and still proudly haven’t said aloud): What a joy it is to poop something solid. And what joy it is to fart without worry.
Eating food again has been pleasant. I haven’t found any flavors that blow my mind, but then I still haven’t gone all out on my dining yet. We kept it simple today. Breakfast: gluten free (i.e. tasty seed) crackers with tomato, avocado and hummus. Also a little of the smoothest coffee in the world, which I’m sorry to say is more of a lucky find on our part so you may want to skip the coffee. Too much acid is still going to be bad for your stomach, and the worse the coffee the more acidic. Even with the smooth coffee I waited until after I had some food in my stomach.
Just remember, it is fruit juice after all. Same with wine, and I had a touch of that with dinner. The rest of dinner was rice with veggies – some steamed, some fried, one baked. The key to remember is not to over eat, unless you’re looking to throw up, be constipated or otherwise sick and uncomfortable. I was near full and my stomach on edge when I finished off with a spring roll, the most-processed food I’ve had so far. Surprisingly, it settled my stomach down. Perhaps a tiny bit of bread product can be good for resuming digestion, though I don’t see how much it can differ from the rice at this early stage.
Oh, and more Multidophilus. And water, it helps everything flow.
Several hours later I haven’t felt at all hungry and my stomach is gurgling away same as yesterday.
Tomorrow for breakfast: more fruit. Maybe I’ll get to that salad I’ve been wanting for lunch, if I have a lunch, otherwise it’s dinner and maybe by then I’ll feel like some cheese, the first dairy I’ll have had except a tiny splash in the coffee.
Day 12:
Final journal entry folks, because I’m back to eating food.
A mix of mango, blackberry, raspberry and strawberry is always a good way to start the day.
Now a few notes. I am, without doubt, still pushing out toxins. I’ve had some lemon water, but none with cayenne so I doubt I’m stirring up more toxins in my system, so this is probably what had already been mixed around and my body is finishing flushing them out. It’s comforting to know that what was stirred up keeps getting flushed out even once you start eating, but it also tells me that there are still plenty of toxins deep in my system ready to be stirred up. So sooner rather than later another Master Cleanse would be good – probably a longer one.
Unfortunately I haven’t gotten my big salad yet, but I did get Thai for dinner. It was very satisfying, but probably too satisfying too soon. I never had any pain in my stomach, but definitely some discomfort as everything clumped together to feel a bit like a rock. Even with the doses of Multidophilus adding good bacteria to my system, I don’t think that I primed the enzymes in my stomach well enough for digesting a big portion of rice or noodles. Then again, it could just be the size of the portion; I’d say stop before you’re full, because you’re going to get full much faster than you remember. Walks afterwards are definitely good, which reminds me that my knee is still injured, but feeling much better than when I started the cleanse.
Keep the water flowing. Two meals a day is still enough to fill me. I wonder if it will stay that way, but I doubt it. Nor do I think it’s something to dwell on. After effectively resetting my stomach, I’m thinking it’s best to focus on what food I put into my system so I can keep myself healthy and so next time I do the Master Cleanse I have the smallest amount of new toxins to work out as possible.
Tips:
Willpower is necessary, especially at the beginning. Avoid gatherings with food and drink; unfortunately this means most social events. Go for the salt water flush in the morning–who really wants to be using laxatives all day, every day? I mentioned early on that many articles I read about the cleanse beforehand said it was easiest to tell as few people as possible because they would try to talk you out of it. As I love arguing with people who dismiss things without ever trying them, and as I have a tendency to snub other people’s opinions when I offer my own, I was only too happy to tell anyone that would listen about this cleanse and never had to overcome an opinion stronger than my own or my companion’s.
