Monday, August 31, 2009

Day Two: Ease-in #2

Today was the second day of my Ease-in period, the goal was to eat a diet of juiced fruits and vegetables to get used to drinking my food all day. My fruit juice and veggie soup were both tasty, but I left my extra fruit juice in the fridge and forgot to take it to work - I was hungry by the time I got home.

Weight: 196
Calories consumed: 1395 (51 grams of fiber, take that All-Bran!)
Fat: 36 grams
Carbs: 280 grams
Protein: 45 grams
Physical: good, rested
Mental/Psychological: Solid
Exercise: Walked dogs 1 mile; 1 hour of Tai Chi, 1 hour of Cello
Notable reaction of the day: "It's like a hummingbird diet!"

Breakfast and Snack: Fruit Juice
Cantaloupe
Peaches
Apples
Grapefruit

Lunch and Dinner: Vegetable Soup
Broccoli
Red Potatoes
Celery
Garlic
Fennel seed
Mustard seed

Read more!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Day One: Ease-in #1

Today was the first day of my Ease-in period, the goal was to eat a diet of fruits, veggies, and unprocessed bread.

Weight: 195.5 pounds
Height: 6'4"
BMI: 23.7
Waist circumference: 33.5 inches
Hip circumference: 44 inches
Thigh circumference: 25.5 inches
Calories consumed: 1172 (37 grams of fiber!)
Fat: 47 grams
Carbs: 184 grams
Protein: 38 grams
Physical: Tired, headache
Mental/Psychological: Solid
Exercise: Ran 2.5 miles
Notable reaction of the day: "Hey, at least it's not some weird diet that includes hot chili peppers...Oh."

Breakfast:
1/8 cup of dried cranberries
1/4 cup of dry All-Bran Buds (who new it had HFCS?)

Morning Snack:
1 peach
whole-grain oat roll

Lunch:
Vegetable Soup-
red potatoes
green onions
celery
quinoa
extra virgin olive oil
fennel
mustard seed
onion powder
white pepper
black pepper
salt
2 pieces of organic whole-grain bread

Afternoon Snack:
1 Gala apple
2 tablespoons peanut butter

Dinner:
Nopales con Chili-
Cactus leaves
minced garlic
onion
cherry tomatos
canola oil
chili powder
Spinach Salad-
spinach
tomatoes
avacado
blood orange vinegar with olive oil
1 whole-grain roll

Read more!

Phone Interview with a cleanser

Q: What type of cleanse did you do?
A: An ayruvedic cleanse published in the Yoga Journal.

Q: Why did you complete the cleanse?
A: I was interested in the results, it was a good spring-cleaning exercise, and a good time for me to do it.

Q: How many days was the cleanse?
A: Three days, but it felt like a week.

Q: When did you do complete the cleanse? Did you work during the cleanse?
A: Spring 2009. Had flexibility at work, between teaching and traveling.

Q: Did the cleanse include a laxative?
A: No.

Q: How did you feel on the cleanse?
A: A bit tired, but good, comfortable.

Q: Did you workout during the cleanse?
A: No, it was time-off from triathlon training.

Q: How did you feel after the cleanse?
A: Clean, like 'spring-cleaning'

Q: Did you lose weight on the cleanse? Did the weight return?
A: Three pounds, the weight stayed off.

Q: Would you do it again?
A: Yes, I repeated the diet one day a week for a few weeks following the cleanse, and I plan to do it again next spring, but would probably one cleanse for 3 days instead of 7.

Read more!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Day Zero - What did I eat before the cleanse?

Today was the last day of free-for-all food before I begin the Ease-in period of the cleanse. I had a pretty well balanced diet today, and since I am not a regular meat-eater, but this diet seems to be aimed at those who are, I even had a bit of meat.

Exercise:
Ran 6 miles

Breakfast:
Banana
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup of coffee
2 tablespoons soy milk

Morning Snack:
Plain bagel - toasted
2 tablespoons peanut butter
6 ounces 100% Tropicana orange juice from concentrate

Lunch:
Torta Lengua (Mexican beef tongue sandwich with tomatoes, avocados, lettuce & Mayo)
16 ounces water
8 ounces hibiscus juice

Afternoon snack:
Homemade hummus (15 oz garbanzo beans, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 3 tbsp tahini, 2 tbsp olive oil)
3 organic red peppers

Dinner:
1 small eggplant
1 red pepper
1 egg
1 tortilla
1/2 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Read more!

Steps (& Ingredients) to 'Cleanse'

The steps to complete The Master Cleanse fall into three categories:
The Ease-in period (3 days)
The Lemonade Diet (suggested minimum of 10 days)
The Ease-out period (4 days)

Below I will describe each one in detail.

The Ease-in period
Ease-in Day 1:
Eat a diet of only fruits, veggies, and whole grains - no meats, no processed foods
Ease-in Day 2:
Similar to the previous day, but juice the fruits and veggies. Make a drink, or a veggie broth. This step is listed as optional, preparing you for an all-liquid diet.
Ease-in Day 3:
Throughout the day, drink only 2 liters of fresh-squeezed orange juice mixed with 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
NOTE: before you go to sleep on the evening before the lemonade diet, take an herbal laxative - tea is recommended.

The Lemonade Diet
Lemonade Diet Day 1:
Upon awakening it is recommended to start each day with a 'Salt Water Flush' (SWF) this is intended to act as a natural laxative because the salt water is mixed to the same salinity as your blood (mix 2 teaspoons of uniodized sea salt with 1 quart of warm water) drink the saltwater slowly over the course of 10 minutes.
The SWF will produce results within 30-90 minutes which will last for approx. 60 minutes.
After the SWF takes effect you can begin to drink the lemonade.

LEMONADE INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice (organic, room-temperature lemons are recommended)
2 tablespoons of maple syrup (Grade B is recommended)
1/10 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
8 ounces of good-quality water

Drink 6 to 12 glasses of the lemonade throughout the day when you feel hungry.

NOTE: It is recommended that each glass of freshly-made lemonade be consumed within 10 minutes of mixing. This may not be possible throughout the day so a convenience option is suggested:
Mix equal parts maple syrup and lemon juice as a concentrate, keep in a cool dark container. When you are ready to mix a glass of lemonade, add 4 tablespoons of the concentrate to 8 ounces of water, add the cayenne pepper, stir and drink.

Throughout the day you can consume water and herbal tea in addition to the lemonade but it is important to drink at least 6 glasses of the lemonade each day. Each evening end with an herbal laxative tea.

The Ease-out period
All supporters of the cleanse, which I have read, mention the ease-out period as one of the most important parts of the cleanse, so the body is gradually re-introduced to solid foods.
Regardless of the validity of this diet, I agree, it is very important to reintroduce food back into your system slowly to prepare your digestive system for more complex foods. The recommended way to do this is:
Ease-out Day 1:
Drink only fresh-squeezed orange juice, and if tolerable, eat whole oranges. If you cannot tolerate orange juice try papaya, pineapple or mango. If no fruit is tolerable then consume vegetable soup broth.
Ease-out Day 2:
Follow the Day 1 instructions but for dinner prepare a vegetable soup from fresh vegetables (no canned soups). The majority of the soup should be broth, but it can contain brown rice and spices; rye wafers may also be eaten with the soup, but no other bread or crackers.
Ease-out Day 3:
Drink orange juice in the morning, for lunch have more vegetable soup, or a fruit salad, and an uncooked vegetable salad for dinner (No meat, fish, eggs, bread, pastries, tea, coffee or milk.)
Ease-out Day 4:
Normal eating may be resumed but it is suggested to maintain a primarily vegetarian/vegan diet.

"If, after eating is resumed, distress or gas occurs, it is suggested that the lemonade diet be continued for several more days until the system is ready for food." (Burroughs)

Read more!

'The Master Cleanse' by Stanley Burroughs (my summary)

The book begins with Burroughs' explanation that "cleansing is basic for elimination of every kind of disease." (Warning: you must get past the preachy & righteous tone of the author to make it through this book.) Burroughs identifies the basic cause of disease as the "habits of improper diet, inadequate exercise, negative mental attitudes, and lack of spiritual enlightenment, which combine to produce toxic conditions and malfunction of our bodies." He throws this wide net in effort to encompass all stressors in our life (psychological, mental and social) that "encourage us to eat in excess - both good and bad foods - which in turn creates our disease." He then poses a challenge to those who may not support his principles by requesting the reader "test them (his principles) as given to you" before attempting to debunk them. (Hey, that's what I'm doing!)

A story from a satisfied customer, Mr. Herman Schneider, then follows about his experience with high blood pressure (200/120) and the merry-go-round of drugs prescribed to him by various MDs until he ended up in San Antonio under the guidance of Dr. Herbert Shelton (a Hygienist, Naturopathic doctor, and the father of the modern day Natural Hygiene Movement) where he was put on a water-fasting diet for 21 days. The purpose of this testimonial? His introduction to cleanses led him to Burroughs' "Master Cleanser" (which he notes is also mentioned in 'Get Well Naturally' by Linda Clark) and his blood pressure has remained normal for 13 years.

Burroughs then describes his theory on disease, which I find rather simplistic. "Disease, old age, and death are the result of accumulated poisons and congestion throughout the entire body. These toxins become crystallized and hardened, settling around the joints, in the muscles, and throughout the billions of cells all over the body." "Their (disease) spread and growth is dependent on the unusable waste material throughout the body." The primary unusable waste material that he identifies as leading to the accumulation of toxins and diseases is "flesh foods." He continues by pointing the finger at mainstream medicine for exacerbating our diseases by fighting germs with poisons. "These germs are our friends, there are no bad ones..." "Basically, ourselves create all of our diseases because we have never taken the time to discover the true foods meant for man's use. We can create healthy bodies by using the right foods and eliminating highly toxic and mucus-forming foods." But not all germs lead to disease, why do some people get sick while others can withstand an epidemic? Burroughs' "logical reason for the triggering of an epidemic...is a matter of simple 'vibration.'" Explaining that those who are clogged with waste material have lower vibrations and are more susceptible to disease from germs, compared to a person with a "toxic free body and undisturbed mind."

Burroughs then shares his creation of the lemon juice diet "as a means to give relief and heal stomach ulcers in ten days." Attributing the development of ulcers to the eating of meat, which during digestion in the stomach "(deplete) the sodium on the walls of the stomach." He then cites an experience with a client who upon completing the lemon juice diet had his ulcer completely healed, and "numerous other disorders were also corrected during the ten-day period."

Finally before describing the actual diet, Burroughs address the question of whether the lemonade diet should also be considered a "reducing diet." He claims "it dissolves and eliminates all types of fatty tissue. Fat melts away at the rate of about two pounds a day for most persons - and without any harmful side effects. All mucus diseases such as colds, flu, asthma, hay fever, sinus and bronchial trouble are rapidly dissolved and eliminated from the body, leaving the user free from the varied allergies which cause difficult breathing and clogging of the sinus cavities." "The types of disease that are a result of calcium deposits in the joints, muscles, cells, and glands are readily dissolved and removed from the body."

He then goes into the specifics about how to make the lemonade diet, how often to take it, the purpose of laxatives, how to break the diet, and special instructions for diabetics. I will go into detail about the actual ingredients on another post, but I do what to share his description of the vitamins and minerals obtained via the ingredients of this diet which make it superior to water-fasting.
Lemons: "Lemons and limes are the richest source of minerals and vitamins of any food or foods know to man."
Maple Syrup: "The maple syrup has a large variety of minerals and vitamins." "These are the minerals found in average samples of syrup from Vermont: Sodium; Potassium; Calcium; Magnesium; Manganese; Iron; Copper; Chlorine and Silicon. Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C, Nicotinic acid, and Pantothenic Acid are also present in the syrup."
Cayenne Pepper: "...also adds many of the B and C vitamins."

Burroughs follows the specifics of the lemonade diet addressing the concern of limited protein in the diet. He suggests that the need for protein is overrated and that pure protein is "primarily oxygen, hydrogen and some carbon" which we can obtain from the air, including large amounts of nitrogen. Thus we can "build the nitrogen also into our bodies as protein...by natural bacterial action, which is capable of converting it to our use." "From the combination of the best foods (fruits, berries, nuts, vegetables, seeds, and sprouted seeds) and clean air we are able to create our own amino acids..."
Side note: I am not really a big meat eater (fish, red meat every few years) so I am all for a "good food" diet, and believe we can get adequate protein sources from non-flesh foods, but I can't support the logic that the combination of these foods with "clean air" is the primary source of our required amino acids.

Burroughs wraps up his theories supporting an organic, whole food diet, after a cleansing of toxins, to build and retain health. He likens the use of vitamins and supplements to adding "wood fiber in bread" and suggests rather that we should consume food "as it is originally without separating it in the first place."

The remainder of the book includes suggested recipes to assist the reader in maintaining a "good food" diet following the cleanse.

Read more!

The Master Cleanse on Showtime

I was watching 'Weeds' this afternoon, Season 2: Episode 12, and in one of the last scenes U-Turn (some no-good, druglord criminal) comes to make a deal, but has to use the bathroom first because of his "maple lemonade cleanse."
Read more!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Celebrities on The Master Cleanse

I just had dinner with friends tonight (the second to last real dinner before I begin 'the cleanse') and was explaining what I plan to do over the course of the next two weeks; when my friend asked: "Isn't that the diet Gwyneth Paltrow does?"

This got me thinking about which celebrities have endorsed The Master Cleanse. I came home and googled: 'celebrity' 'master' 'cleanse.'

The third hit on the list was:
http://www.aolhealth.com/diet/celebrity/hollywood-diets
Summarizing Gwyneth's "seven-day elimination diet" which her doctor doesn't recommend since "the liver is not supported by the nutrients it needs."

The fifth hit on the list was:
http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/celebrity/becksmith.jsp?p=bsf_celebextremediets
Identifying Robin Quivers (Howard Stern sidekick) and Billy Bob Thornton as 'cleansers,' but also mentioning that "doctors warn of the method, claiming that extended fasting can lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance."

Hit number seven:
http://themastercleanse.org/tag/celebrity-diets/
Lists celebrity 'cleansers': Angelina Jolie, Eddie Vedder, Josh Brolin, Kelly Kapoor.

Hit number eight:
http://celebrityburner.blogspot.com/2009/08/im-doing-pinks-master-cleanse.html
Another blogger from 10 days ago planning to complete a master cleanse like "Pink or Alecia Moore."

Hit number ten (last one on the page):
http://www.hollywoodrag.com/index.php?/weblog/the_vince_vaughn_master_cleanse/
Lists 'cleansers' Vince Vaughn and Beyonce.

Read more!

What is the Master Cleanse Diet?

As I understand it today (I will elaborate on this as I learn more) this is not a weight-loss diet, but rather a toxin-elimimation diet. Based on the understanding that our bodies harbor toxins (from preservative, pesticides, plastics, medications, etc.) which lead to weight gain and riddle us with 'dis-ease' (not my spelling).

This weekend I will be reading two books in support of the diet:
'The Master Cleanser' by Stanley Burroughs, who is credited with the development of the Master Cleanse Diet (also referred to as the lemonade diet). 'The Master Cleanser' is a 50 page book, originally written in 1976 and can be purchased for under $10 on line:
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Cleanser-stanley-burroughs/dp/0963926209
The text from this book can also be found online at:
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/7244/master_cleanse.html
You can find a pdf file of the book at the following website but it includes endorsements and an introduction that were not part of the original book:
http://healthandlight.com/TheMasterCleanse.pdf

The other book is 'The Complete Master Cleanse' by Tom Woloshyn, who met with Stanley Burroughs in 1986; studied under Maynard Dalderis (who was trained by Burroughs); and has since written 3 books outlining The Master Cleanse diet for the general public, with claims of completing over 100 cleanses in the past quarter-century. All three of his books are available for under $15 each on amazon.com in paperback, or ebook.
The Complete Master Cleanse -
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Master-Cleanse-Step-Step/dp/1569756139/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251498197&sr=1-1
Beyond The Master Cleanse -
http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Master-Cleanse-Year-Round-Maximizing/dp/1569756902/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251498197&sr=1-2
The Master Cleanse Experience -
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Cleanse-Experience-Day-Day/dp/1569757089/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Read more!

My Back Story

I'm new to the cleanse experience and don't make any promises to be a convert, but here is why I've chosen to do this:

I'm a graduate nutrition student at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC and the other day in my Obesity and Weight Managment class (FN 656) I was assigned to give a 15 minute presentation on The Master Cleanse, scheduled for September 23, 2009. I figured the best way to research this diet is to actually experience it. So here goes! I have committed myself to completing The Master Cleanse diet for a total of 10 days plus 3 "ease-in" days and 4 "ease-out" days. As I go through this experience I will be providing details on what I am eating (during preparation and during the cleanse); a daily check-in on: weight, exercise, energy/fatigue, and any other items that appear significant to track as I go along; and a running total of the cost to complete this experience. I will also be sharing how I am physically and psychologically feeling throughout the day, but will be discreet in describing the 'elimination' portion of the experience to maintain a modicum of modesty.

Since I will also be doing research on the support of, and opposition to, this diet I will be sharing the details on which both sides base their opinions.
Read more!