Scribbles

Today I embark on a 10-day detox plan, aka Master Cleanse. Not having been on the healthiest course of eating lately, this seemed like a good idea to improve my energy and well-being. What it is not meant to be, is some weirdo “diet” designed for losing weight. Yes, one of the side affects will be losing weight, but the amount varies. What disturbed me was reading in Newsweek how the MC helped Beyonce lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks. Even the cover of the book advertises “Lose Weight” on the very top and first line. The diet was first invented by Stanley Burroughs, and recently made popular by Peter Glickman’s website and eventually published book. Is this another fad weight loss plan?

What assuaged me of this not being another American diet fad was reading the book itself. It properly claims to be a detox method. It’s not meant to be a diet, which I interpret as one’s eating routine. In the US we’ve hijacked the word to mean some temporary eating plan to help shed some weight. I hate that. Losing weight in a unusually quick manner, and eventually regaining it, sounds like a recipe for bad health. I highly discourage that, even if you have to fit that dress for your best friend’s wedding. The other thing that made me feel better was the general advice on healthy eating, sticking to raw vegetables as much as possible, is something I already try to follow as much as I can. So this cleanse isn’t as kooky to me as it may be to the typical barbecue-lover from Memphis.

For the cleanse itself, it’s pretty straight forward. The combination of liquids and ingredients that you intake result in the toxins in your system getting loosened up and flushed out. It begins with some senna tea in the evening, and then almost a liter’s worth of sea-salted water. This combination is pretty effective in getting things going. Then throughout the day, I drink a mixture of water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The effect of this is to provide some calories and loosen up the toxins.

Granted I haven’t been through one full day of detox yet, but I’m feeling ok. Having to go to the restroom multiple times can be inconvenient, but is after all the whole point of a detox. The book claims that about one in four people feel hungry. I’m not sure what duration of hunger that meant. I’ve had bouts of hunger that were easily suppressed by drinking water. Supposedly days 2-3, 7, are the worst due to the amount of toxin being released. Reports of hot releases and general crankiness have been made. If you catch me moody over the next few days, there’s my get-out-of-jail card.