Juice fasting and the Master Cleanse

Domain XII · Complementary, energy & biofield · Stanley Burroughs · 1976

What it is

Juice fasting replaces ordinary meals with juices or similar drinks; it sits within a wider family of "detox" and "cleanse" programmes that also include eating only certain foods, supplements, herbs, colon cleansing and saunas, sold commercially, offered at health centres or used within…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: the Master Cleanse ("lemonade diet") as attributed to Stanley Burroughs's The Master Cleanser (1976) and as summarised by secondary sources, plus commercial juice-only "cleanses" and juice fasts as the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) describes them. Sections 1 to 3 describe the method as its proponents and regulators present it; section 4 is the psychotherapist's…
• Regulation and licensing. No licence is required to sell juices or books or to run a juice-cleanse business in the US or UK. In the US, the FDA and FTC have acted against detox and cleansing products for hidden ingredients, false claims to treat serious disease, and colon-cleansing devices marketed for unapproved uses. In the UK, the ASA and CAP state that the liver and kidneys do the body's detoxification and that…
• Regulatory status (one line): sold as ordinary food, drink and books; health and disease claims are restricted by advertising and food-claims regulators, not by licensing of the practice.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (one line): a small number of low-quality human studies; no compelling evidence that detox diets remove toxins or produce lasting weight loss, and no studies of long-term effects.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• your own urge to campaign rather than support. Working: the client feels they acted, if they wanted to.
• binge-compensate cycles; planning the next cleanse as punishment; low mood. Working: the client's self-worth is less tied to completing the regimen.
• cleansing as a safety behaviour that maintains anxiety; restriction escalating. Working: the client tolerates uncertainty about symptoms with less need to cleanse.
• weight loss, faltering growth, a child's distress around food, parental beliefs overriding medical advice. Working: the child's nutrition and medical care are secured.
• debt, shame about spending, isolation from non-members, escalating commitments. Conflicts of interest: never sell, endorse or receive referral fees for cleanse products or programmes.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.