Master cleanse – What are you thinking??

The master cleanse is a popular cleanse for people. It’s based on a drinking lemon juice with maple syrup, cayenne and water all day, and no food. That’s CRAZY! Basically you’re drinking lemonade.

One claim is that Maple syrup is better than sugar because it has some nutrients in it. But they aren’t enough to support your system. If you live in our modern world trying to function, work at a job, exercise, and drive all over the place like most of us, you need to nourish your body.

Most of the people who like to fast in this way feel that they are somehow toxic. Most of this thinking comes from a self hatred and isn’t really based in an understanding of good health. Although people’s body’s aren’t inherently toxic, they do tend to eat foods that aren’t healthy and load up on a lot of empty calories. So it’s a good idea to cleanse once in a while in order to allow the body to clear bad foods and bring clean healthy nutrients.

My advice for cleansing is to eat a diet of 60-80% vegetables with 15-20% whole grains and very simple proteins such as beans or lean fish. The content of your cleanse should be according to what is available in the season. In winter the vegetables should be cooked and whatever is locally available. In the summer, you may end up eating more raw vegetables and juices. Fruits can be added to a cleanse of this nature in small quantities as well.

In my practice over the years, I’ve seen people who like to do lots of cleanses and believe that they get healthier somehow by not eating at all. Of course if your inner knowing says that its okay for you to fast, who am I to say that you’re wrong. But drinking sugar water for a week or ten days is not a healthy way to cleanse your body.