Things You'll Need:
- Any drinkable water, even water from your tap
- Sugar, corn syrup, molasses or any sugar substitute
- Gallon containers or a plastic pitcher
- Lemon juice or lemon extract (optional)
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Step 1
First, get the facts about the Master Cleanse fast. It works because your caloric intake is relegated to some 600 calories per day solely due to the diet's sugar content, nothing more, nothing less. Forget the detox part -- your liver and kidney do that for you, and unless you've overdosed on mercury or some other hazardous substance that embeds itself in your tissues, no diet will "detox" that. Will the Master Cleanse work for fast weight loss? Sure, as long as you don't overdo it.
But ... you do know that this is a fad diet, right? Sure, celebrities have used it to lose weight as they have many other fad diets, but just because they're famous doesn't mean they're not just as gullible as John Q. Public. -
Step 2
Make the Master Cleanse lemonade cheap by knowing that ingredients are entirely useless, namely the lemon and cayenne pepper. You do need some sort of sugar, but B-grade maple syrup has no magical dietary properties. You can use plain granulated sugar, corn syrup, molasses, honey, brown sugar, the jar of Mrs. Butterworth's you haven't though about in years -- as long as it contains some sort of sugar, it works.
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Step 3
Add the lemon only if you want taste. Compared to the power of your stomach acid, the scant amount of lemon juice in the Master Cleanse recipe is not acidic enough to do jack squat, putting it bluntly. Lemon does, however, make sugar water more tasty, but you can also use lemon extract, lemon flavoring, lime juice, etc., instead -- whatever's already in your pantry or fridge.
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Step 4
Forgo the cayenne pepper. According to the much-quoted Dr. Ed Zimney (see Resources), who debunked the Master Cleanse mystique, cayenne pepper is added to irritate the bowels into "moving." Unless you have a problem with constipation, there's no need to simulate laxative abuse. And if you do have chronic constipation, this is something your doctor should know about -- not the people who write detox diet plans. You could have a serious health disorder brewing.
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Step 5
Make a 60-ounce daily serving of the Master Cleanse by mixing up the following recipe:
* 60 ounces drinkable water
* 12 Tablespoons of granulated sugar (or sugar substitute)
That's pretty much all you need to do this "detox" fast, unless you want to add the lemon for better taste and a teensy bit of vitamin C. -
Step 6
Avoid the salt-water "cleanse" for the reasons that Dr. Zimney wrote about: it simulates the effects of an over-the-counter laxative, and this is risky business. Salt water to treat constipation is an old wive's remedy that dates back to yonks. Again, if you're perfectly healthy, you don't need to subject yourself to this bit of unpleasantness. Your bowels will tend to themselves, although you may want to stick close to a bathroom. Drinking sugar-water all day has its ... disadvantages, we might say.
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Step 7
Stop this diet after ten (10) days. Why? To continue it past this time is dangerous and can lead to malnutrition and a host of serious ailments. Additionally, consuming only sugar-water can cause more harm than good to the organs that it purports to help: your liver and kidneys. Expect to binge eat after you end the Master Cleanse -- this is normal. Yikes. You've only been starving yourself!
Comments
geniemumma said
on 11/18/2009 you article sounds seriously dodgy. why go to all that effort making up your special mix when it sounds like you could just drink lemon cordial all day.