Chances are as you are reading this you may not be feeling so well. If not yourself, you probably know someone who is or has been “out sick” the past few days. In fact a recent Harvard University study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that Americans are generally less healthy now than they have been in the past, and are less healthy than most other industrialized nations. The study found high rates of people in the United States with conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease just to name a few.

Perhaps one reason is that we are living in a toxic soup. There are currently over 70,000 industrial chemicals in use in the US today. The EPA has labeled at least 65,000 of them as in some way harmful to human health. We take in these toxins in the air we breathe, the foods we eat, and the water we drink. The toxins build up and impair all sorts of body functions. Specifically these chemicals negatively affect the body’s immune system and nervous system.

Detoxify For Health

For centuries many cultures have recognized the value of detoxification – cleansing the body of toxins to regain health by a fast. Today there is a lot of scientific evidence for the health benefits of cleansing through fasting. When the body is deprived of food it must turn to its own resources. That means the breaking down of stored fats in a process called autolysis. When we take in all of these chemicals and toxins, they get stored in fat. Fasting burns the fat, and gives the digestive organs and the liver the opportunity to purge the body of the poisons that were locked within the fat cells. And of course fasting brings with it the added benefit of losing weight.

However there are right ways and wrong ways to fast to detoxify. Many detoxification diets have come and gone over the years but one that has been proven to be effective for over 50 years is the Master Cleanse, also known as the Lemon Diet.

The Master Cleanse Diet was first purported by Stanley Burroughs in his groundbreaking book The Master Cleanser.  Since then, the Master Cleanse Diet has been used successfully by millions to lose weight and regain good health. Most recently the Master Cleanse or Lemon Diet was the subject of the national best seller, Lose Weight, Have More Energy & Be Happier in 10 Days by Peter Glickman.

In the book, Glickman picks up and expands on Burroughs’ overall philosophy of improving health and managing disease through the Master Cleanse and other healthy lifestyle practices. The book takes the reader though the process of how to safely and effectively use the Master Cleanse Diet, which consists of eliminating all solid foods, and reducing you intake for 10 days to a diet of an elixir made from lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper.

Doctors who practice “Environmental Medicine” have used the Master Cleanse for decades. They say that “The Master Cleanse is simple and combines & surpasses many other detox methods.” One such holistic medical practitioner in the state of Florida, says he recommends the Master Cleanse diet regularly for his patients, and feels it is an enormous benefit to them and his practice.