Time For A Cleansing

The Mater Cleanse…my experience         

After lots of years of taking anti-inflammatory medication and pain meds for my joint pain I had enough! I wanted to figure out just what I needed to do to feel better. I heard of and did a lot of research on the use of holistic medicine. The idea is figuring out what is missing, or what your body needs to fix itself or feel better, not just covering up the symptoms of what is really wrong. 
I am not a sick girl, never have been, but I have not been kind to my body. I am overweight and have been as long as I can remember. I was a fairly heavy drinker in my 20s….and 30s, oh and I have broken a few bones in my lifetime. My body needed to do 3 things: weigh less, dry out and fix itself. I wanted off the medication that was #1 for me. I felt like the medication I was taking was like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound, so I found the Master Cleanse. I was not totally convinced but I read a few testimonials that made me want to give it a try. 
It is simple at best a Lemonade concoction that cleans out your system. Well it’s a little more than that but not much. 

This was going to be an experiment in will power and self awareness. As you will read it is a testament to the power of herbs and botanicals. 

This is how it worked for me.

Remember this means no solid food until the cleanse is done, and it is only done when it wants to be done!

It has different stages to it. 

The first three days I was getting over the hunger pangs and I lost some water weight. 

(this is NOT a weight loss program, it is a Cleanse! I don't care Beyonce says!

I suddenly, and surprisingly had a ton of energy. I felt invigorated, maybe because I was committed and I was following through, at any rate I felt pretty good.

I noticed that I had this weird film on my skin that I had to continually wipe off. I started carrying wet wipes with me. This was the toxins coming out through my skin! Gross! but interesting. The cleanse was on! Now it's called a cleanse because it does just that, cleans you out if you know what I mean.

The person that was doing it with me gave up after 3 days,. but not me. I could see and feel results. I have this right ankle that has always swelled like a grapefruit everyday of my life since I sprained it ages ago, guess what NO swelling! I felt Great, and I was determined to see it through.

My back had no pain, my joints felt better and the energy...WOW!

The film on my skin got less and less, and they say when your tongue is pink again (it has this whitish color to it while in the cleanse) It has completed it's process.

My tongue was pink and the film was gone my skin looked great and I felt wonderful!

14 days since the start of my experiment  I had a new sense of myself! I had lost 15 lbs. but I knew that it would probably come back the minute I put solid food back in my system. The test was to put healthy food back in and put forth my new regiment of herbal remedies to replace prescription medication. 
I had learned so much while on this quest and was ready to make it work. I had consulted with an herbalist friend of mine who was overjoyed that I was making this change.

It's like you are a clean slate and it was up to me what I was going to do with it...not the Doctor's and drug companies.

Remember I said I was  heavy drinker for a while? This was the culprit for most of my problems. My Liver and Kidneys just were not working properly. This is what was causing my swelling and back pain, as well as not allowing me to lose weight like I needed to. It all has to work... to work right!

I started taking Milk Thistle for the damage I had done to my poor liver. I jump started my Kidney function with Juniper Berry and I took Dandelion Root as a diuretic. Wow..... after 2 weeks I could see and feel a difference! 

I needed to increase my circulation, to move all this through my system and get rid of the bad tissue and fluid that my body was now trying to expel because it was attempting to function correctly. This was a job for Hawthorne Berry and man does it work, no more numbness or coldness in my hands and feet, and no more leg cramps that had always plague me before.

All this was 5 years ago... I still take the Hawthorne, Milk Thistle and Dandelion to this day.

I have not had a prescription drug since and I fell better than I ever did!

I also proved something to myself.... I matter!

This allowed me to research and find out what lifestyle I needed to be living to loose the weight I have struggled with forever. I found Ketogenic.... extremely Low carb. This has also allowed me to sleep better.

(I had only ever slept not more than 4 hrs a night) not insomnia but... well my brain would just not shut off. That's the only way I can describe it. I am 72 lbs lighter and a Low Carber forever!

Ok, Here's how it works............

Makes 1 serving

• 2 Tbsp organic grade B maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/10 tsp cayenne pepper * note if you have seasonal allergies, this will rid you of their effects. It's amazing!
• 10 oz purified warm or room temperature water

Makes 6 servings (typically a day's worth)

• 12 Tbsp organic grade B maple syrup
• 12 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 60 oz purified warm or room temperature water

Combine the lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne with the water. Stir. As for the other main ingredients they're pretty standard fare, and can be found at most grocery stores. The only thing I found hard to find was the grade B maple syrup. I had to go to a local health food store. It was actually convenient, I could get all the ingredients there. A few things to keep in mind...

• Use organic ingredients The goal of the Master Cleanse is to remove toxic substances from your body so stay away from ingredients that have been sprayed with pesticides
• Don't use concentrated lemon juice If you have to you can use non-organic lemons, but you cannot use concentrated lemon juice because It's filled with sugar and preservatives.
• Make sure the sea salt is Unrefined or Not iodized This will be used as a laxative, if salt intake is a problem for you I'll show you another type of laxative in the Optional Ingredients below

Optional Ingredients: The first of the optional ingredients, the laxative tea can be used in place of, or in addition to the sea salt flush. The purpose of both of these items is to increase eliminations. Of the two the sea salt is the more effective, but if you take sea salt the laxative tea will work fine. The tea can be found in most grocery stores, and is sold under different brand names. The brand I used was Smooth Move (it taste like licorice)  I now take this in pill form, It works great for Low Carb. (super cleanse from the GNC store) The beauty of the Master Cleanse lies in its simplicity. By going on this diet you allow your body to use the energy it normally spends on breaking down, digesting, and assimilating food to cleanse itself, so you add much to the Master Cleanse without taking away from its effectiveness. But you can use herbal teas (decaffeinated) to help break the redundancy of drinking the plain lemonade all day long. These teas come in an assortment of flavors, and can really liven up the taste of the lemonade. Herbal tea can be found at just about any grocery store.I drank peppermint and ginger tea, both are good to make you feel full and settle your tummy. The Master Cleanse works just how it sounds; you consume primarily lemonade for the entire time you're on the diet. So the recipes for the diet itself are fairly simple. You should drink a minimum of 60 oz of lemonade a day, but can drink more if you like. You can also drink as much water as you want.

Adding a Natural Laxative To Help Flush Out Your System

Drinking 1 teaspoon of unrefined non-iodized sea salt mixed with 25-35 ounces of water will flush out your system. It's best to use either of these laxatives (or both of them) 2 times a day. I've found it best to take them in the morning and before I go to bed. Also, I advise you give yourself at least an hour and a half before you go out when you do this. These laxatives will work fast, and you will discover why you should probably be at home near a bathroom when you use them. Gross! but it's what this is all about. Here's how I did it. I would make a days worth of lemonade every morning, put it back into the 20 oz water bottles and take them to work with me. 3 bottles a day. I took some herbal tea to work as well in case my tummy felt a little queasy. I'm tellin' ya peppermint works great for that. I work long hours so, when I got home I would just have some tea. Before I went to bed I would drink my smooth move tea. It works grate overnight. In the morning I would drink the salt water, make my lemonade and wait for the tea and salt water to work. It works! To make it more interesting I would juice my lemons with some pulp. It's almost like eating! I was working out of town for a portion of my experiment so I made 3 days worth of my delicious drink and I froze them immediately, took them along and put them in the hotel room in my little freezer. Cool huh? So, you drink your smooth Move tea before bed, drink your salt water in the morning and 60 oz of lemonade through the day. That's it! You will me disturbingly amazed at what comes out of your body, you will wonder how it all got in there. Again gross, but true. When I was done and returning to solid food I started with broth and juices from my juicer. No sugar all natural, then into raw veggies and healthy choices. Keep a journal of your daily trials a tribulations. This will help you tremendously to get through it. I am an anomaly at the doctor's office, I should be unhealthy but, I am just not and getting better everyday! They can't figure out why I have not had my prescriptions filled for 5 years now! They tell me I should be unhealthy, but they admit that I am surprisingly not! Doctor's will not admit that drugs keep you sick, but I have met one recently that will concede to holistic healing, so I am keeping him.! This was one of the most important things I have ever done for myself it taught me me so much. You should eat to live not live to eat! Everything we do has consequences! I am and should be in charge of my own well being! It goes so deep as I appreciate so much more about living day to day than I ever did before! This has helped me in so many ways, not just health but life! Comment or email me for support and help. Jeanette