1. Achey muscles and/or joints. Often a byproduct of dehydration, aches in muscles or joints mean the muscle tissue and fibers are not getting the nutrition they need, and are often overloaded with unnecessary chemicals or “nutrients.”

2.  Frequent headaches. Another dehydration signal and one associated with improper diet and exercise.  Headaches arise from problems in the blood-flow to the brain.  If there is a high level of toxic residue in your blood stream, it can cause frequent headaches.  This can also happen as a side effect when you body cleanse.  If you’ve ever had a caffeine addiction, you’re familiar with the headaches that arise from a sudden change in the blood stream chemicals, or lack thereof.

3.  Low energy or frequently being tired.  Your body’s vitality affects your mood and motivation levels.  When the body is busy trying to deal with an overload of foreign toxins, it tends to pull back on the abundance of life energy you are normally afforded.  A whole body cleanse can free up the body to give you more zest for your day instead of slaving away processing chemicals for you.

4.  Frequent colds or sickness. In a similar vein, a highly toxic bloodstream often results in a reduction of immune system agents that protect you from disease and foreign germs.  When your body is fighting to process toxins, it doesn’t have as many free resources to defend against invading agents.

5.  Coughs or a sore throat.  Mucus is a byproduct of toxic residue that accumulates in your breathing pathways.  An over-abundance of such residue can result in frequent coughing or sore throats.  Smoke-related pollutants are notorious for this effect.

6.  Runny nose or nasal/sinus congestion.  Many sinus problems are related to overall body chemistry.  Allergies and atmospheric pressure are only components of a larger sinus balance in your system.  If you’re toxic, meaning out of balance, your sinuses will let you know.

7.  Dense or yellow urine. You’ve surely noticed a discoloration or varying coloration in your own urine.  If not, you should check.  The more yellow or cloudy your urine is, the more contaminants and pollutants are being expelled from your body.  This means it’s time to take it easy and let things clear up.  You’ll know when they have because the color will begin to get more clear.

8.  Irregular, painful, or messy bowel movements.  Another touchy subject for some, but you can’t deny the overall digestive process we humans go through when we eat to survive.  If your digestive system is clogged up with toxins that it can’t process fast enough, it will malfunction.  If you have these bowel symptoms, it is sometimes best to perform a total cleanse to clear up the contamination.

9.  Acne or oily skin. Your pores are a key part of the body cleanse process, allowing toxins from your bloodstream to seep out through your skin.  This gets them out of the body where they just cause problems.  However, if this is happening in excess, as happens at adolescence when the body is dealing with a whole new set of hormones and chemical agents in the blood, it may mean you are overly toxic and could use a detox.

10.   Lack of food enjoyment or taste.  This one is a it less obvious but a major factor.  If you notice that regular and healthy foods aren’t satisfying your hunger, it may mean you have formed a dependency or addiction to the toxins you get from other, less healthy sources.  If you drink coffee for a morning jolt, but the caffeine is having less and less of an effect, then you’re reached a critical mass of caffeine in your bloodstream and it is having a reduced effect.  To compensate, perform a body cleanse to rid your body of caffeine (and your dependency on it) for a while.  Then, when/if you return to it, it will be a fresh stimulant to the body once again.

All of these symptoms are influential in self-diagnosing a toxic system.  Pay attention to the signals your body is sending.  It is a perfectly-balanced instrument capable of complete auto-pilot in the health department but you can easily throw it off-balance with poor choices.  Let your symptoms guide you to the root problems, which can often be taken care of with a total body cleanse to get you back on track with a healthy, fresh, clean start.

The cleanse is done in 3 different parts; the Ease-in, the Lemonade Diet and the Ease-out.  The first part, the Ease In, is a three day body prep.  The amount and types of food that most people consume on a daily basis are not conducive to this cleanse, so the first 3 days will slowly wean you off of foods and onto a juice diet.

The cleanse itself can be done for any amount of time.  3 days is the shortest time frame, but some people do it one day a week.  5-7 days is a good first try and 10 days will give you the best results.  Each day, you prepare your daily allotment of “lemonade”.  The lemonade you will be consuming is not your standard lemonade.  You will be making it with fresh squeezed lemon (or lime) juice, organic maple syrup and cayenne pepper.  This will be your diet for the next 10 days.  Anytime you feel hunger, you drink the lemonade.

The other big part of this body cleanse is the Salt Water Flush.  Each day (you can do this in the morning or the evening to fit your schedule) you will mix Organic Sea Salt into a glass of water and drink it.  You do not have to drink it in one go, but if you take a break, you may not be able to continue drinking.  This will cause a bowel movement.  It can take 5 minutes or it can take 60 minutes.  You should make sure that when you do the Salt Water flush that you are in close proximity to a bathroom.  You will most likely have 3-7 movements.  During the first few days, you will be moving all the solid matter out of your body.  In the following days, you will expel the toxins that are the reason you’re doing this body cleanse in the first place.

During the cleanse, you can drink as much water as you want.  Water will help keep you full and will chase the taste of both the Salt Water portion and the Lemonade out of your mouth.
The Ease-out is the same thing as the Ease-in.  Because your body has not been used to solid foods, reintroducing them slowly is a good idea.  Running out to McDonald’s for a cheeseburger would most likely make you very sick very quickly.  You should start slowly, with juices and then work yourself back up to where you are eating solid foods.

The Master Cleanse is not for the faint of heart!  It’s one of the most extreme detox methods available and can be one of the harshest of the body cleanse choices.  Jared Leto and Beyonce have both tried this diet with great results.  Beyonce, however, denounced the diet, saying that there are other ways to lose weight and she would not recommend it if someone wasn’t doing a movie.  It is a fairly large time commitment and can be more hassle than it’s worth.

Pop star opinions aside, The Master Cleanse is NOT for everyone and you should make sure you prepare yourself adequately for such an extreme body detox method.