WHY I HATE THE MC (but it may be good for you!)

OK, I'm trying to not be negative here, but I want to share my experience and see if anyone agrees with me. Myself and two friends decided a few weeks ago that we should try the MC/Lemonade Fast as written about in the Stanley Burroughs book and on this website/message board. We spent about two weeks reading the book, reading the boards, buying the ingredients, etc. Its probably helpful to know that one of the guys was mainly concerned with weight loss, and the other two more for the detox benefits. Anyways, we picked the date and began the MC. As everyone has already said the salt water flush is very nasty (I did do the full quart), but more than that, I couldn't get over how nasty the lemonade drink was. I made them every few hours and drank them but always ending with a look on my face like I just saw a dog get run over. But, there were the posts about how it would begin to taste better, so we rolled with it. The bottom line is this - we only lasted two days. By evening of day two I felt nauseous, VERY hungry, and actually went into a little mental panic about not be able to get food. Everywhere I had been for two days I saw people eating (I have to go to work so I couldn't avoid it) and equated it to being in jail...but a friend reminded me that even in jail they feed you. What I basically realized that night was I WAS MAKING MYSELF SICK. The feeling I had was exactly that of being sick. Logically, I could not see carrying through with something that intentionally made myself sick. If it was doctors orders, thats a different story, but I was doing this almost out of a sense of masochism. Well that was that, I called the other guys and we talked about it for awhile and all felt the same. The one who wanted to lose weight has set more realistic goals of better eating habits and increased exercise. As for myself, that night I ate a cheeseburger with avocado and bacon, chili cheese fries, and a few diet cokes (thanks Tops in Pasadena!) I never felt so good in my life. I don't know, maybe the stuff in my body is supposed to be there, and when the doctor says blood pressure or cholestorol is getting too high, I can make diet changes then...but for now (I'm 24) I plan on enjoying life.

In hindsight, I think we would have lasted longer if we would have set more unfantastic goals. Anyone who can go 10 days the first time around has some serious willpower (or may be a bit crazy). We probably should have started with 3, then 5, then later 10. I have a friend that has fasted several times for three days and said he can feel the detox even then. The other day I told him I was still upset about my fast. He said "why, because you didn't go at least three or five days?" I said "No, because I wasted two perfectly good days when I could have been eating and enjoying myself."

As an endnote. I am now fighting a very bad fever (temps over 103). When the fever started, it would have been the ninth day of the MC. My doctor said of course the two days of fasting had nothing to do with getting sick, but can you imagine if I hadn't eaten for nine days then got a fever? I have no doubt I would have ended up in the hospital.


This was just our experience with it, and like everyone says on this board do what is right for your body. So if you're thinking about doing the MC, be in tune with your body and know when to stop when you cannot handle it. I am not a quitter, but the Master-Cleanse just wasn't right for me.

Ben Tweet