the master cleanse ...
 

my aunt last time she was in town told me she was drinking this when she was on the south beach diet and that it helped tremendously .. have any of you tried this?? im kind of scared to try it it just sounds disgusting .. lol she said it really helped w/ her bloated stomach and that in one week she lost close to 10 lbs .. not that thats a good amount to lose .. but she was happy with it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Cleanse

I think that's what Beyonce did to slim down for one of her movie roles ... I think she said she wouldn't recommend it ...

Many dietitians and doctors have spoken about it, warning against it. It is a major laxative and diuretic so you may lose a few in the loo :o It doesn't affect fat loss though unless you follow the starvation portion and then you lose muscle, too. The benefits are mythical, at best.

Supposedly it's does this big cleanse and you feel great after doing it. I think that people just get delirium after doing it for a while and are just in a middle stage of starvation. Our bodies really don't need this sort of cleanse; that's what kidneys are for. It takes time and hard work to lose weight and anything that touts a magic cure all scares the crap out of me.

I did it a few years ago, I didn't last long thanks to an emergency which landed me in the hospital waiting for a friend for 12 hours. I lasted just about 36 hours, and I felt SOOOO good. My body has serious issues and so doing a detox or cleanse really makes me feel better. I prefer the detoxes where you are eating a certain balance of foods with taking vitamins. Uhm, everyone has their own opinion of them, but it's like dieting, there are as many diets out there as there are people.. you gotta do what's right for you. My MIL did it for 45 days, it was a success story for her. It was the only time in her life that her GERD went away completely, near the end she was eating fruit as well as the drink.

I agree that it's not the best idea for weight loss, she gained most of the weight she lost back when she went back to eating normally.

-Aimee

I never really understood the purpose of these "cleanses". Never mind the obvious dangers involved and the difficulty they entail, but I needed to lose sooo much weight, what was a "quick" 10 lbs going to do for me anyway. So *maybe* if I survived it I would be down a quick few temporary pounds. But then what? How was that going to help me in the long run. I needed a heck of a lot more then a few or even 10 lbs off. I'm sorry, but I just don't get it the point of them.

I agree with mamaspank.

Find a program you can stick to--one that you could probably stay with for life--and forget about these fads. They are a waste of time, energy, and money. They may leave you lighter on the scale for a few minutes, but this whole process is about a lifestyle change, not about a quick fix.

Jay

i wasnt planning on trying it .. im stuck to calorie counting and its working for me .. slowly but its working .. i just wondered if really something like this would work .. my aunt swore by it and was trying to get me to try it .. but i wouldn't .. didn't sound very appealing at all .. and i have enough problems after having my gallbladder out that has me ending up in the bathroom every time i eat i don't need to drink things that will cause me to be in there even more .. lol

I still can't get past how it could "work" in the long run. I mean what is a "quick" 5 or 10 temporary pounds going to do for anyone?

I tried it. I was really curious about these "magical benefits" so I thought, what the heck. I do seasonal juice fasts to clear my head and my system and thought this would be no big deal.

I did it for about 4 days. I didn't feel a significant energy drop because of the sugar in the maple syrup and my tummy wasn't as bloated (but that's what happens when you don't eat....)

But the best part of all? My stomach was completely messed up/sensitive for about a month.

It's snake oil. The euphoric feeling you get is not from some magic concoction- it's from not eating. Not that I recommend not eating, but lemonade doesn't have some magical componant.

I know 3 people who did this, and two of them ended up with several problems.

Several of my friends have done lemon juice and warm water in the morning, eating a balanced diet through the day, and this is a healthy way to decongest your liver. The liver and kidneys are filters and a small amount of the lemon juice on an empty stomach helps clean out that filter system.

You can add honey to it if you like, just half a lemon and about 3-4 ounces of warm water.

My grandmother had apple cider vinegar, honey and warm water EVERY morning all her life, her doctor claim this kept her healthy as a horse for 98 years, even with THREE types of cancer in the last 30 years of her life

wow i think im going to start drinking your grandmas drink .. and lived through 3 types of cancer your grandma most of been one strong willed person to beat that :)

I dont understand drinking something to CLEANSE your body. If you eat healthy then your body will naturally cleanse its self. Plus I dont want to put anything in my mouth that is nasty. I have a hard enough time getting all my veggies in each day.

I have done this cleanse and lasted the entire 10 days of it and so has my husband. The plain and simple fact is that as a weight loss strategy it is useless because everyone will gain weight back. That is a no-brainer because while doing the cleanse you are supposed to drink up to 12 of the lemonade drinks which include 2T of maple syrup and as 2T of maple syrup has 105 calories you are going to be taking in up to 1260 calories. Seeing as most people eat more calories a day than this definitely you will gain back the weight. I did lose about 14 lbs in 10 days but gained it back, losing weight was not my goal nor my husband's for doing the cleanse. I think most of the weight is excess water because I've found in the past when I drink about 2 quarts of water a day consistently I will lose 5 lbs and keep it off. We both had a lot of hunger pains for about the first 3 days and after that we really weren't hungry but we did miss eating, missed the sensation of chewing! Did I feel better after the cleanse? Yes I did and my husband definitely did. He was having a lot of IBS symptoms that were relieved after he did the cleanse and have not yet come back. As for it being dangerous, I really think it depends on your level of health to begin with. I think the average person would not have any problems with it and judging by their web site I think a great many people have done it without any ill effects. It is just like a lot of things in life, some things work for some people and not for others.

Dangerous? Perhaps not if done for a short time, provided you don't have issues that it aggravates.

Based on any sort of real, verifiable science? NOT AT ALL. Also, from Dr. Andrew Weil: