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The Master Cleanse. Trusted and endorsed by Beyonce, so it’s gotta be good.

Most of us in the west are privileged to live in a time in which we don’t experience anything near true hunger. In fact, our next meal is so assured that we often find ourselves on a wave of sensation chasing. Much of what we ingest is well beyond what we actually need to sustain ourselves – and the rush of sweetness, comfort of fullness and jolliness of inebriation can become slippery slopes of addiction. Paul Graham, has written extensively on the ‘acceleration of addiction‘ in the modern world, and concluded that ‘we’ll increasingly be defined by what we say no to.’ This is very in line with the teachings from the Vipassana meditation courses that I’ve attended – that teaches you how to be a master of your mind, and more aware of your blind reactions.

From an early age, food was my ultimate comfort; I could always turn to cookies and pie to take me away from uncomfortable or unhappy times. This crutch has been ingrained in me since childhood and is a very hard cycle to break. Even when you’re on a good path, old habit patterns easily take hold, aided and abetted by the trickery of my own subjectivity: “Oh you’re doing fine, it’s just a slice of cake before bed.. I’ll go to the gym tomorrow!”. Left unchecked, my default decadent nature can take hold and I have certainly been guilty of all these addictions and more. And living a very social life, I find myself around alcohol almost every night, and it takes strength of character to say ‘no thanks’.

So once in a while (and typically after the December holiday month) I find it very helpful to challenge myself with a serious test of will. And the Master Cleanse is a serious test of will! What is the master cleanse? Some people conjure up an image of a muscular dominatrix, smiling and holding an enema kit. But it’s not so malevolent as that. You can read more about it here but in short: for 10 days you do not eat any solids – the only thing you consume is around 3 liters a day of a mixture of water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and grade B maple syrup (apparently this grade is more nutrient rich). Add to this daily ‘salt water flushes’ (made up of a liter of lukewarm sea salt dissolved in water’) that zips through your body and out the other side within 30 minutes, carrying with it any final intestinal junk. You get the idea – it’s not very pleasant.