Has anyone tried this? Supposedly, Beyonce did it in preparation for Dreamgirls. It wouldn't be something to stick to forever, but to do it once to jumpstart weight loss and then stick to a low cal diet and exercise? What do you guys think?

http://mastercleansesecrets.com/book.php?hop=5business

there have been a few threads on the site about it, this appears to be the most recent
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106960

I personally don't see how doing something unhealthy is a good start to permanent weight loss. Sure you can starve yourself and lose a few lbs, a lot of that weight is water.

Cleanses are definitely not supposed to be used for weight loss. Some people say they are all together a total scam and others swear by them and their health benefits. I'm sure some are a scam but personally I do a three day cleanse a few times a year because I feel it helps with bloating and regularity. If you do choose to do a cleanse I wish you luck and hope you feel better from it but don't do it as a way to drop a quick 10 pounds.

i did the master cleanse for 7 days in january of 2007.

it is not a weight loss tool at all. i personally dont see how anyone who does it could think so. u def lose weight...i lost like 10 pounds but, it comes back once u begin introducing solid foods back into your system.

the master cleanse IMHO is just a cleanse. it def gets anything in yr system out. i will say that during the cleanse i had ridiculous amounts of energy and i did feel "lighter" during and afterwards. i have never felt so healthy in my life. i didnt work out but i have friends who do work out during and they are fine. i would do it again for cleansing purposes but it is NOT a weight loss tool.

when i finished the cleanse i began my weight watchers program and i think the fact that i had gotten all that bad crap out made it easier for me to resist unhealthy foods...prob cause they made me horribly sick since my body was so clean.

i know people might disagree with what i say but this is my experience with it. it will not jumpstart yr weightloss but it has other positive attributes that i enjoyed.

What I mean by jumpstarting weightloss, is to clean out your system. I want to get any bad stuff out, like a detox basically. I'm hoping that it would help me to continue making the right choices once I get most of the toxins out.
Also, something that made me think of doing this and I really have no idea if there's a link between the two, but my grandma was just diagnosed with colon cancer. I don't know if you cleanse your colon, it could reduce the risk? I'm a little scared about it because it is genetic, as far as I know.

I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother

Colon cleansing is not necessary and is unrelated to the risk of cancer and other diseases. The most reputable experts in the world tell us that our colons are naturally cleansing and don't need any help, other than making sure we eat enough fiber and drink plenty of water. The body is designed to do the rest.

Colon cleansing can also be damaging to our health. It's hard on the system, can remove the good bacteria that are needed to keep everything balanced.

Eat plenty of the right fruits and vegetables and drink your share of water. Red meat has been linked to colon cancer, so if you eat a lot of red meat you might want to cut back and eat at least part of your meals from plant sources. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/co...lon_Cancer.asp

What toxins are you worried about?

As Julie asked: What "bad stuff"? What "toxins"?

There's no such thing. Your body doesn't "store toxins". It doesn't need to be "cleansed". It doesn't need to be "detoxed".

Your body is self-cleaning and self-renewing. All you need to do to let it do that job is to feed it healthy foods and make sure you drink enough water. Sure, eating lots of junk and preservatives can make you feel icky, but those things will cycle through your body naturally w/out having to starve yourself, eat grapefruit, drink lemon water, or any of those other fads that people claim you "have" to do to "detox".

Detoxing is a myth.

Just be healthy and your body will thank you.

.

I agree. If you really have 'toxins' in your system, get thee to the ER It's a marketing scam, intended to play on our fears to sell products. Sadly, that seems to be a common theme in advertising these days.

Photochick and Suzanne you guys are so smart...you both said EXACTLY what I was going to say...so you must be smart.

I agree with "detoxing is a myth."

So what is all the stuff that comes out in globby strings? No, I'm not talking about what we expect to come out...there are pics on the internet of ...well I really can't explain it very well. Here's a link to show you what I'm talking about! Caution, it is gross and disgusting!! *Link removed, found on next page*

Is that real? That would scare me to see something like that come out of my body. That is not normal. I don't know what toxins, I'm thinking the stuff from processed food? fast food? fried food? There are even testimonials from people posted on youtube about their results with cleansing. Is it really a myth if people feel better, more energy, clearer skin, etc. Or is this just another example of mind over matter?? Like the placebo effect... just with very disgusting results?

It's a myth.

Most of the time the stuff that is shown photographed on the internet is either a forged photo, or it's someone who has taken a detox pill. The pill is actually compressed clay and fiber which CREATES the stuff that's then photographed.

I'm going to be very plain and a little gross:
The ONLY way you can poop out hair and tar and goop is if you eat it first. That kind of thing doesn't develop spontaneously in your intestines. And it doesn't "form" spontaneously from preservatives or meat or anything like that. What comes out the back end is only the product of what goes into your mouth. Period. There is no other option.

So unless you EAT hair, you're not going to poop big wads of hair. If you ARE pooping big wads of hair, it means you've ingested it somehow - and if you're doing a cleanse where you buy pills or powders or whatever, then you're buying a scam that is CREATING the stuff that you're pooping out.

That particular photo that you linked? Go to the website for the product and the very first thing it tells you is this: The [Scam Product] Intestinal Cleanser is a fiber supplement that cleanses the colon of accumulated toxic build-up.

Notice that bit about "fiber supplement"? In other words, you're going to take this pill, it's going to expand in your intestines, you're going to poop it out, and they're going to tell you that it's "toxins" that you've eliminated.

Can you say SCAM?????

Look, if you really want to empty your colon and see what's up in your intestines ... go to a drugstore, fork over $5 and buy a bottle of Phospho-Soda. It's what doctors and surgeons have their patients take for colonoscopy preps to make sure the colon is completely empty. If you want to be "cleaned out" - drink a dose of that, and then plan to spend the next several hours in the bathroom pooping your innards out. Drink lots of water.

And I guarantee if you take the phospho-soda, you aren't going to see any globs of hair or stringy fiber or clay/tar lumps. You're going to see the regular waste that your body produces.

I'll say it again: Your body is self cleansing. If you eat healthily and drink water and exercise, you will be fine. You don't need to waste your money on scammers and liars who try to convince you that you need their product to be healthy.

.

Oh and the thing about feeling better after doing a Master Cleanse because all the "toxins" are out of your body?

Here's the scoop there:

Yes, if you eat lots of junk, sugar, salt, grease, etc., it can make you feel bad. It can make you tired, it can make you feel lethargic, it can make you feel icky and even sick.

But the whole thing about how you have to drink lemon water for 3 days to get rid of that stuff? Hogwash.

If you were to spend the same three days eating fresh foods and avoiding all processed foods - eating yogurt, whole grains, fresh veggies, fresh fruit, lean chicken and fish, and drinking lots of water - if you ate that for three days, you'd get the same refreshed, energized feeling.

Because either way what you're doing is allowing your body to NATURALLY eliminate those icky things - the salt, the sugar, the grease, the chemical.

There is no "magic" to doing it with lemon water, grapefruits, or any other radical "fast" or "cleanse". All you're doing is giving your body a break from the bad stuff - whether you do it by drinking 18 gallons of lemon water, or you do it by eating healthy foods and avoiding sugar, salt, and grease.

It's not magic. It's biology.

.

OK! Thanks to everyone for their responses! Especially Photochick. I don't eat hair or anything like that, I didn't see the scam thing on that link before I posted it. I just posted the first link of one of the pics that was found when I googled it.
I have cut out all fried and fast foods, and except for two bad lapses of judgement I have been not eating any junk food in the past two months. So here's another question, completely away from the colon cleanse thing...I don't really want to post a new thread, hopefully one person can give me an answer! I have really changed my diet and am exercising more than I have in the last 5 years, why do I still feel as exhausted and crappy as I did before? What will make me have more energy, naturally? *Okay, I don't feel as bad as I did, but I don't feel as great as I figured I would. I am always tired!*