The Master Cleanse

​Created by Stanley Burroughs, author of the book The Master Cleanser, the master cleanse is a great way to cleanse the body while giving the digestive system a much-needed rest. The master cleanse, usually used to achieve rapid weight loss, can also be used to heal and nourish the body.

The cleanse is a liquid diet, which some refer to as a juice fast. It effectively supplies all of the healthy and essential nutrients and calories the body needs to function. The beauty of the master cleanse is that in addition to being rewarding and beneficial for your body, it is also extremely easy to follow and inact. 

There are three main parts of the master cleanse. You should utilize all three of these parts in order to extract all of the healing and fasting properties of the master cleanse. The three parts are the lemon drink, the salt drink and the herbal/laxative teas. 

First, you need to make sure to six to 12 glasses of the lemon drink per day over the course of a 10-day period. The lemon drink consists of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a pinch of cayenne pepper, water and maple syrup. Balance out your intake of the lemon drink throughout the day with regular water if you still feel thirsty.

The salt drink part of the cleanse is a little bit different. The salt drink consists of just lukewarm water and natural sea salt. You should make sure to drink a quart every morning, all in one sitting.

The third and final part to the master cleanse is an herbal laxative or tea. Make sure to take a laxative or drink a laxative tea before bed each night in order to complete the steps of the master cleanse.

The master cleanse is an extremely effective form of detox dieting, and if you want to pursue it you should! Spring is the time in Chinese Medicine to cleanse and the master cleanse is a strict though relatively simple cleanse to do. I highly recommend that you read reviews of the cleanse and get the precise details of the recipe from Stanley's book and consider easing in and easing out of the cleanse if you decide to pursue this option.

I personally cleanse every Spring myself, and I particularly like revisiting a basic Elimination Diet without the testing portion - making it a 4 week process - and including a detox supplement like Mediclear by Thorne. More than anything I feel like one of the most impactful parts of a cleanse is resetting your habits. Its easy to slide into bad habits and a cleanse, any type of cleanse, forces you into that resetting. If you're lucky and determined, you make the best parts of it stick - until the holidays that is...

If you have questions about cleansing don't hesitate to ask at your next Acupuncture session and if you ARE cleansing, get on the books! Acupuncture can support healthy liver and digestive function which gets you the most out of your cleanse that you possibly can.

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