A lot of us have heard of the Master Cleanse. It is a detox diet that seems to occasionally take Hollywood and/or the talk show circuit by storm. What a lot of people might realize is that the Master Cleanse comes from a book written by a man named Stanley Burroughs.

Burroughs actively promoted various alternative medicine techniques through the 1940s and 1950s and the Master Cleanse was just one of his special remedies. His book – The Master Cleanser – is the source of the diet that is followed by so many folks today under various alternative names such as the Master Cleanse, the cayenne pepper cleanse, the lemonade diet and a few others.

In addition to the Master cleanser, Burroughs also wrote and published another book, titled Healing for the Age of Enlightenment. This books covers practices such as color therapy and pressure point therapies.

While Burroughs actually ran into some legal troubles promoting his detox program as a method for curing cancer, it doesn’t seem to have an effect on the popularity of the Master cleanse recipe today. A lot of this is due to its promotion by another author named Peter Glickman. Glickman is a natural health advocate who promotes the Lemonade diet as a cleansing routine. He and certainly no one else who uses the diet today would suggest that it can cure cancer as the idea is ridiculous.

But there is, of course, plenty of arguments as to whether this particular cleansing routine actually does anything. Of course, the ingredients of the cleanse are all quite harmless in themselves, consisting of lemon or lime juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper.

So I think the issue is really that if you feel it is helping you, there isn’t any harm in using it. But for the majority of people looking to detoxify, just following a healthy diet and eliminating overindulgences in sugar, processed and refined foods and unhealthy habits like drinking and smoking would probably do a great deal to improve health.

The Master Cleanse, also known as the lemonade diet, is a major detox diet that isn’t for the light hearted.  For ten solid days, you drink a lemonade mixture and lots of water.  In the evenings, you do a salt flush to help your body eliminate all of the toxins your body is releasing.  Detoxes are great because they give your organs a chance to cleanse themselves and heal if there is anything wrong.  Since the body doesn’t have the added burden of breaking down and digesting food, it can focus on healing and eliminating the accumulation of toxins that may eventually cause disease.

The first three days of the detox are definitely the hardest part as your body gets use to not eating.  Most of the toxins are coming out then too, so sometimes people feel bad from the toxin release.  As the days go by, the cleanse gets easier and easier.  A general sense of well being sets in that keeps you going.  Ten days is the general length of time for the cleanse, but there are those who take it to the extreme and go 40 days.

Many people lose weight on this cleanse, but as a general rule, it’s best to do the detox for just that – detox.  Remember, you are most likely going to gain any lost weight back when you start eating.  When you do start eating again, don’t go back to bad eating habits.  Eat a whole foods diet consisting of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains and small amounts of protein – 3 to 4 ounces at a meal.  Always drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day to flush out toxins and keep your body hydrated.

Besides feeling better, your skin will glow and yours eyes will shine brighter.  It is recommended to do a detox fast at least twice a year or once a year with little mini fasts of a day or two periodically.