Master Cleanser

[quit-once]

The Master Cleanser is an all-natural detoxification plan developed by Stanley Burrows in the 1940's. If you have ever considered the need to deep-cleanse your body from the inside and rid it of accumulated toxins, I highly recommend this program. It was in 2004 when I did it last so I am posting most of this from memory.

Here is a list of the supplies you will need to get for a ten day cleanse:

Lots of lemons

A quart or two of PURE maple syrup

Organic cayenne pepper (or any ground red pepper will do)

Purified water

Sea Salt

herbal laxative tea - one bag for each day of the cleanse

You start by drinking a cup laxative tea in the evening before day one

and then drink a cup of it each evening for the next ten days

You begin each day with a salt water flush by mixing the sea salt with warm water and drinking it before the water cools down

As you procede through each day, you drink a beverage made from fresh squeezed lemon juice, red pepper, maple syrup, and purified water 6-12 times per day, whenever you feel hungry. You may also drink as much water as you wish, and an occasional cup of mint tea if desired. This is all you may consume for the duration of the cleanse. You can not consume any pills. You can not smoke.

After the full ten days of cleansing, you end it by drinking some fresh squeezed orange juice and eating a fresh vegetable stew for a couple more days. Ten days is the recommended minimum duration. I have heard of people staying on it for up to 54 days.

I have left out some critical details, on purpose, because if you are really interested in this cleanse then you can simply google the "master cleanser". I downloaded and printed the entire 35 page book the last time I cleansed several years ago.

Now that I am done with adderall and cigarettes I feel the need to cleanse again and this is a good time of the year for me to undertake such endevors. Just thought I would let everybody know about it. It is well worth it. It builds your character too - and I don't doubt that those of you who have the determination to quit taking adderall could muster the strength to go off food for ten days and cleanse your body. It is also a great way to lose some weight if you need to.

[Lilah]

I've done the master cleanse once. By the time I tried it I had almost two years clean of adderall so I can't comment on how it affected me in that way. I only made it 4 days on the cleanse plus 2 days of weaning off. Bay the time it was over I had lost a lot of weight, felt great about myself, and evveryone around me kept saying that I was "glowing".

[quit-once]

I am just completing day two of my cleanse. Yesterday was rough, and it reminded me of adderall withdrawls. I had a visious frontal headache from the caffeine withdrawls most of the day, and I slept a lot. Today was much better and I have had enough energy to do some house cleaning, laundry, and play with the dog. Headache is gone, and the "flu-like" symptoms of muscle and joint aches are gone too. My goal is to last the full ten days. I really haven't been too hungry except when I see a food advertisement either on TV or the internet. I never thought fast food would look so appetizing, but when you go without any food for two days, I guess anything looks good.

Day 3 The Hunger Dreams

Last night I had two dreams that reminded me a lot of my earlier quitting adderall dreams. In the first dream, I took a bite of food, realized I wasn't supposed to be eating food, and spit it out. I felt pride and no guilt. Later on, in the second hunger dream, I found myself eating a delicious breakfast with sausage, eggs, and pancakes. I had some really bad guilt feelings, quickly replaced with the thought of "fuck it, the damage is done so I might as well enjoy my breakfast". I woke up hungry, but glad it was just a dream.

Day 4 The Hunger Buzz

Today I got tied up at work and couldn't get to my lemonade in time. I experienced the most incredible euphoric buzz and lightheadedness after the hunger feelings subsided. I tried to keep it going by not consuming, but about five hours after my last lemonade I felt like I was going to pass out so I caved in and had another one.

Day 5 THIS SUCKS

I work in the food business and the smell and sight of food all day long is driving me crazy. I want to be done with this! The warm lemonade-maple syrup-red pepper drink tastes like shit and I almost have to hold my nose to gag it down. I can't do this for five more days. I will end my cleanse on Day 8.

Day 8 Done Cleansing

On Day 8, I ended my week-long cleanse. Started the day with fresh-squeezed orange juice and then made a fresh veggie stew, with a can of chicken added for good measure. The cleansing instructions suggested not eating meat and gradually getting your stomach used to solid food. But I was really fucking hungry so I ate the stew all day with no bad effects. One last note on the nutrition - I found the red pepper to be mildly addictive, and it took me about a weeek after the cleanse to finally quit putting ground red pepper on just about everything I ate.

Results: I felt great after cleansing for a week. I believe I had more energy during the cleansing process than I usually do. I lost about twelve pounds, but about half of that was water; and I have still managed to keep about five pounds from coming back, and this is three weeks later. I felt some kind of a mental victory, even if I didn't make it the full ten days, because I exercised the self-control needed to complete one full week without eating food. With that level of self-control, I worry a lot less about relapsing. This is a hard-core cleanse and I believe it is only needed once every one or two years if you are healthy. I hadn't cleansed since quitting adderall and cigarettes so I felt like I needed to detoxify, even if it was several months after quitting.

[Greg]

Wow Quit Once - Power to you. That sounds TOUGH! I don't think I have the willpower for something like that. I've tried that Hollywood Miracle Diet which is diet where you just drink a formula juice for 48 hours...and I've also tried the Shangri-Li diet...which is described below from wikipedia..

The diet itself consists of taking 100–400 calories in the form of either extra-light (not extra-virgin) olive oil or sugar water per day, either all at once or spanned throughout the day. [5] This must be consumed in a flavorless window, which is at least one hour after flavors have been consumed, and at least one hour before flavors will be consumed.[5] The consumption of these flavorless calories supposedly lowers the set point, and therefore, lowers weight.

Both times I failed miserably! I am still on the Nutrisystem 1500 calorie/day diet right now - and sometimes I am miserable. i always start to salivate when I watch food on tv commercials or read about it. Sometimes I crave Dunkin Doughnuts SO BADLY. I just want to drive to the store and devour an entire dozen of doughnuts. Sometimes I crave real pizza, not the crummy frozen and flavorless Nutrisystem I get, but real pizza with all the fixings. Sometimes I lay in bed just daydreaminng about food... comfort food, italian food, McD's even...fried chicken or a big slice of birthday cake.

I am also getting sick of vegetables which I consume in bucketfuls every day to help keep me full.

Anyway, let us know how its working out...

[quit-once]

MY 2013 YEAR-END CLEANSE DEC 21-30

 

When I first posted this topic two years ago, I had every intention of undertaking this exercise.  But I was only six months into recovery and frankly, I just couldn't muster the strength to go any length of time without eating food.  At 10.5 months into my recovery, I did attempt a full ten day cleanse, and ended it after eight days.  It was after that cleanse that I took up yoga and developed some very health eating habits that are still with me.   My pill cleanse in September taught me that some of my supplements that were messing with my sleep and digestion.

 

I am feeling the need to detoxify once again.  I have developed a fairly high caffeine tolerance that I would like to dial back.  I have been craving bad foods more often, and although I have mostly stayed away from the sugar and flour I have still been eating too much food coupled with too little exercise.  I have gained about ten pounds in the last two months, and while that does not sound like a lot, it is for me.  I am 5'9'' with a light to medium frame and ten pounds makes the difference between feeling fit and being fat.  When I have to keep my pants on with a belt, I am too fat.  Today I weighed 174 lbs.

 

I plan to donate $20 for each day of my cleanse to our local food bank, because I realize there are a lot of people who are hungry and not by choice. 

 

I am about to make my first glass of lemonade consisting of the juice from 1/2 lemon, an equal amount (2T) of pure maple syrup, a dash of red pepper and a cup of purified hot water, and this will be my sustenance for the next ten days.  I will update this post just like I did in post #3 above throughout my cleanse.  Upon completion, I have something fun planned with my friends for the New Years Eve / Day holiday.  I can already feel the frontal headache of caffeine withdrawal coming on and I do not expect to have a wonderful day.

 

Day 2; Dec 22:

I am glad I posted some thoughts during my last cleanse so I can compare.  Day 1 was spent being lazy, hungry, sleeping a lot, questioning why I am doing this, and entertaining a headache.  The notable differences between yesterday and day 1 of my cleanse 1.5 years ago was that I did not have the muscle and joint pain and the headache was less severe this time.  The headache has lessened today, but I still feel it.  I have not been as hungry or in a down mood, either.  I got some light housekeeping work done, and I didn't need a nap.  This evening a neighbor brought a plate of X-mas goodies to me so I thanked them and promptly bagged it up and put it into the freezer (I was tempted but did not eat a crumb).  I really do not like how the lemonade drink tastes but I can tolerate it, I guess.  Tomorrow is a work day, and I am grateful I can work from home.

 

Day 4, Dec 24:

I'm done.  That didn't last long.  I got invited to a friends X-Mas party tomorrow featuring monster king crab claws and ribeye steaks.  Couldn't pass it up.  I made some fresh orange juice to prepare my stomach for solid food then made a pot of fresh veggie stew.  This time, I REALLY hated the taste of that lemonade - maybe I just got some sour lemons or who knows what but I was only having about 4-6 drinks per day and got totally bored, depressed, and lacked energy at all levels.  This morning I weighed about 170 and I know I will gain it all back tomorrow.  Oh well.....at least I feel like my pipes are clean.

[kori]

Once I get a little more stabilized, I think i'm gonna try this! Ive been reading up on it, on WebMD, it seems like it's lacking vital nutrients but it does have a lot of good reviews and it can't be too detrimental for your health, seeing as it's only 10 days. It's gonna be really hard not smoking though. I feel like that will be the biggest challenge.

[Jon]

I am 5'9'' with a light to medium frame and ten pounds makes the difference between feeling fit and being fat.  When I have to keep my pants on with a belt, I am too fat.  Today I weighed 174 lbs.

 

That's me to a tee, brother.

 

Rib-eyes and King Crab are tough to pass up. I would have caved too.