The master cleanser diet is actually a juice fast.  The idea is that you are not going to eat any solid food for a period of about a week or two, thus helping you to lose weight while also cleansing out your system of accumulated toxins.  Now some people argue and debate the idea that we have toxins that get stored in our bodies.  While this will always be debatable, there is no doubt that drinking fluids for several days and dropping a lot of excess weight is definitely having a positive effect on our overall health.

The master cleanser recipe involves lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper.  You mix this up each morning and take a shot of it throughout the day whenever you feel hungry, always chasing it with lots of water.  You do not eat or drink anything else.  Most people recommend doing this for at least 3 days and most shoot for either one or two weeks.  Some people have gone much longer but there is not necessarily a point after a certain number of days.  The best strategy is to shoot for a one week fast and then return to extremely healthy eating, consisting of mostly fruits and veggies.  If you can change your diet long term like this, then that is much more beneficial than doing a 30 or 60 day fast, but then returning to unhealthy eating habits.

I personally did not see a whole lot of benefit of the master cleanser over a regular juice fast.  Some people claim that the maple syrup helps them with hunger control, but most of these claims are from people who have never tried it without the syrup.  I have done both and I can honestly say that the hunger goes away on the second day of any fast, regardless of whether or not maple syrup is used. 

Some people use a small bit of lemon pulp when they are preparing their master cleanse juice for the day, but I think this is a mistake, especially if you are prone to hunger while fasting.  If you find it challenging to control your hunger pangs during a fast, I strongly recommend that you use no pulp at all, as this really is solid food, and it will awaken your digestive system and turn the hunger pangs on full throttle.  Better to go with strained juice at all times so that you do not get any inklings of hunger.

If you are not sure about trying the master cleanser, I would suggest that you start out with a simple juice fast first and see how you like the effect.  I would follow these guidelines if you have never done a juice fast before:

1) Shoot for 3 days on your first fast.  Any shorter and you will not get much benefit. 

2) Do not eat any solid food during the fast, including pulp in juices.  Make sure you strain your juices completely.

3) Drink as much juice and water as you want.

4) Use at least some live fruit in every drink.  I recommend straining the juice from a lemon and adding it to any type of pulp-free juice.

5) If you can afford it, get a nice juicer that strains the juices for you and buy lots of organic fruits and veggies.  This is extremely expensive though and you have to buy a lot of weight in organic produce in order to produce sufficient quantities of juice for a fast.  I use cheap store bought juice, which is pasteurized unfortunately, but then add in the live lemon juice from a strained lemon. 

6) You have to add in living fruit juices or you will not get the same level of cleansing on your fast.  The living fruit as enzymes in it that aid in digestion and will help to cleanse your system out more thoroughly. 

7) Exercise during your juice fast.  This is not possible on a water fast but it works great on a juice fast.  The exercise will help you drop weight very quickly and also accelerate the benefits of the fast for you. 

Whether you choose to do a juice fast or the master cleanser diet, the benefits you receive from doing so will be tremendous.  You really will feel energized and amazing light.  People think that they will feel fatigued due to not eating any food, but the exact opposite happens as our bodies are freed up of all the energy that we would normally spend on digestion.  If you normally eat 3 solid meals every day, then a full 40 percent of all your energy is going just to the digestion of food.  When you fast, that energy is freed up and can be used for other things, such as healing your body.