Our guest writer Maceo Brown just finished his latest round of spring cleansing - a 10-day lemonade fast - and is giving us the exclusive review! Read all the juicy info below!
i do the master cleanse yearly. springtime is great because our blood cells regenerate and thin as we acclimatize for summer. if you can chisel out the time for it, i cannot recommend the master cleanse highly enough. my first was a liberating, restorative, and revelatory experience. it's as indepth a cleanse as you'll find short of a water fast, which beyond a few days is pretty much incapacitating. plus this baby recently got pumped on oprah by beyonce (don't ask me how i know this). it may seem daunting at first, but i mean, if beyonce can do it-- granted, she's got a little more cushion than some of us-- do you really wanna feel less spiritually/health focused than beyonce??
recipe:
**part 1 - the juice**
3/4 cup fresh-squeezed organic lemon juice
3/4 cup organic maple syrup
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
per 2L bottle filled with water
as needed throughout the day plus 3-4 glasses of water. the syrup prevents your blood sugar from dropping, the lemon flushes liquids, and the cayenne's acids scrub and loosen intestinal gunk. it's basically a thin lemonade with a little kick, it's pretty tasty. as my friend mike exclaimed during my recent fast: "i would drink this as a liqueur!".
**part 2 - saltflush**
this part may sound weird, but is absolutely critical. starting the second day you should do a saltwater flush every morning. mix 2 lightly heaping tsp. of sea salt into 1 qt. filtered water (do NOT use regular salt, it won't work). drink on an empty stomach over 5-10 minutes. you may need to wake up slightly early, but do not under any circumstances rush this process. allow yourself 2 hrs. minimum before you're away from easy toilet access (you may have to go 2+ times). for lack of a better word, fasting constipates you-- nothing in, nothing out-- however, the saltflush prevents the highly permeable membrane of the large intestine from leeching any toxins sitting in there back into your bloodstream.
**part 3 - liver/gallbladder cleanse**
this might just be the most spectacular part of our little journey! let your stomach empty for hour or so before bed on the 7th day. when you're good and tired mix 1/2 cup of olive oil with 1/2 cup of lemon juice. stir well and pound it back. the taste is pretty rough, but the results are shocking. lie down immediately on your right side and curl your legs to your chest. sometime within the next 24 hrs. the lipids from the olive oil will cause you gallbladder and liver to dump.
(sorry if those last two parts grossed you out, if you need a spare copy of 'everybody poos' i might have one in a box at my parents house...)
energy: 3/5
this should definitely be downtime. at times you will feel genuinely pumped-- and you can do everything you normally would-- i wouldn't. especially for first timers, take it easy. one of my first few times i fasted while working on a farm, it was fall and i spent 5 days straight chopping wood. it sucked. i did it, you can too, but i regretted not being more gentle with my body. we city folk so rarely allow ourselves time to rest, restore, and take stock; it's one of best gifts i ever gave myself.
arrangements: 5/5
simple. buy 50 med. size lemons (about 4 per 3/4 cup), 60oz. of syrup, 4oz. extra virgin olive oil, and a jar/baggy of cayenne and you're set.
cost: about $60
finally doing something good for your body besides drinking bloody marys as a hangover cure: priceless
gearing up & coming off the cleanse: 4/5
after the first day, universally described as the most difficult, your digestive system ramps down and you switch to running off stored fat, also called ketosis. even on longer fasts, 10-30 days, hunger only makes brief cameos. breaking and going straight to a stuffed-crust, sausage pizza could be a eye-opening (read as: gut-wrenching) lesson in just how vulnerable and sensitive a machine digestion is-- you also seriously risk doing more damage than if you'd never begun. focus on the post-fast rewards, there's a reason why people make this an annual part of their lives. give yourself a proper throwdown of a last meal then have patience, no one ever died of an unscratched itch. uncooked fruit and veg the day before and the day after, no grains, and lots of vinegar on that salad. two days after introduce veg protein and small amounts of grains. three days after, animal protein, but stick to cheese and yogurt, they're partially processed already and also help restore digestive cultures. trust me, do not overextend yourself, allowing your body proper time to make its natural adjustments will ensure a safe and rejuvenating fast. and for those of us who have never been that great anyways-- here's to juvenating!
overall rating: 10/10!!!
