The Master Cleanse Recap: A Great Reset

I ended up completing 9 days of the Master Cleanse

The Master Cleanse Recipe (again):

Per glass...

-2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

-2 Tablespoons Grade B Maple Syrup

-a pinch of Cayenne 

to 8 oz. filtered water

Per Gallon (start with 60 oz water)

-3/4 cup Lemon Juice

-3/4 cup Grade B sizzyrup

-1/8 Teaspoon of Cayenne

For your morning Salt Water Flush: 

-1 quart of filtered water

-2 teaspoons of himalayan or non iodized salt

Other suggested ingredients, teas that I used to compliment my cleanse:

-Spirulina powder:

I would do a few shots of this a day with about an oz of the Lemonade.  It contains protein.

-Burdock root & Ginger root for Tea:

Herbal teas are allowed on the Master Cleanse.  This both a great detoxifying tea as well as a way to warm up.  I struggled with being REALLY cold during the cleanse.

-Senna/Smooth Move Tea:

This is to be had every night before bed

-Oranges to Juice for your ease-out (buy these around Day 9)

-Probiotics for the week following the cleanse, I prefer at least 12 billion living organisms

Yes, I made it.  All and all, I have good things to say about the Master Cleanse.  It was a great reset for me and a great reminder that I have a good handle on this whole food thing.  Over the past 10 years I have developed a pretty solid system of caring for myself and others via nutrition- and boy, nothing can quite make you appreciate this the way a fast does. I found myself plotting out meals... and interestingly enough, meals that were all centered around whole grains and veggies entirely.  This is what my body missed the most.

I eased into the cleanse over the course of 2-3 days eating mostly soups and lighter foods on these days, as well as some juice from my juice extractor.  The last solid thing I ate was a kale/daikon/carrot salad.  It is suggested to transition on to the cleanse with LIVING, raw foods.

The first few days of the cleanse were ABSOLUTELY intense, in that your body is not used to getting calories from LEMONADE only.  There are passing moments of Euphoria, as well slight headaches.  I highly recommend keeping your activity level light... but I participated in some Yin and Restorative yoga classes that I think really helped the detox aspect of the cleanse.  I found Day 5-8 to be really enjoyable, with access to bountiful energy. I was practicing massage throughout the entire cleanse.  I hit a wall at the end of Day 8 and got super cranky.  My skin seemed really dry and I was overtired from doing massage and maintaining a pretty active lifestyle (I did not follow my own advice here...)

This is the first thing I had after 9 days of cleansing.
I had to take a picture of it.  It was joyful.

So I decided on the end of Day 8 that I would begin to ease out on Day 9.  Halfway through Day 9, I juiced oranges (which is the suggested first day ease-out method in the traditional master cleanse) and threw a cucumber into the juice as well.  WOW IS CUCUMBER ORANGE JUICE GOOD.  No joke.  Best thing ever.  That evening I ate an orange.  I can't stress enough the importance of making your first food back from the cleanse a soft fruit.  Start with soft fruits!!  Veggies are too hard.  I ate a carrot and felt like my stomach was going to explode.  Not fun.  But after a few oranges, I was ready for soup the next day, and by the end of that day, I was ready for solid food! IT was EPIC!!!

One of my meals following up the Master Cleanse:
Steamed greens with red onion and shiitake mushrooms
Roasted Carrots
Baked Salmon with Scallions

So my sweet lovely readers,  if you have anymore questions, definitely ask away.  Post Cleanse the greatest aspect of doing this cleanse has been the efficiency of my digestive system.  This is absolutely a  great reset and over-all colon cleanser.  It also provided me with an extreme amount of mental clarity about the things I choose to put into my body on a regular basis.  This has been extremely valuable.