Sun 22 Mar 2009
Spring Liver Cleanse Diet – Standard Process
I’ve been contemplating going on this liver cleanse diet for sometime now but we finally got around to kicking this off. What’s a liver cleanse diet? Well first off, the liver spring cleanse diet is becoming a bit trendy. You’ll find many varieties of the liver cleanse on the internet including the famous Master Diet Liver Cleanse which is basically lemon juice, water, cayenne pepper, and molassas. That’s it – no food! I tried that a few years ago and only lasted 2 days before giving up and going out for greasy chinese food.
Compared to the Master Cleanse diet, the Standard Process liver cleanse is a whole lot ‘easier’ to do. On the plus side, you can eat as much as you like (vegetables and fruits). On the down side, it takes a full 3 weeks vs. the 5 days. Essentially it’s a vegan diet, no alcohol, no caffeine, no grain (except for 1 cup of brown rice or 1 cup of lentils) for 11 days. Then days 12-21, you’re allowed to supplement proteins with fish or chicken. The supplements are taken with each meal. By the way, I can’t help saying that the Standard Process packaging kind of looks like something from the Dharma Initiative from the TV show Lost.
We started on Sunday but first we decided to kick off the diet in style by having a plate of chicken and waffles at Amy Ruth’s in Harlem. Then we took a trip down to Fairway on the Upper West Side and stocked up my entire fridge. I’ll be blogging frequently about my experiences on the liver cleanse diet.
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starting on Monday! You will be my lead!
NICE! Good luck Mollie! It’s really not as hard as you think.
I just finished day 11 and have lost 10 pounds. I have had a LOT of tiredness, aches, flu like symptoms (or do I have the flu?) I can’t say I am going to the bathroom any more and don’t really understand how the toxins leave or if it is even happening. I hope this wasn’t an expensive hustle by my chiropractor. Somehow I took the SP Cleanse 2 days longer than I was supposed to. I am not having 3 shakes a day, I am only doing 2, so I am going to have a lot more product after 21 days are over. I would like to know more about what is going on with you. No one has posted in weeks.
wow 10 lbs in 11 days is a lot! Sorry to hear about the flu like symptoms. No, those symptoms should not be part of the diet although as I recall from the Standard Process website, it did say you may experience headaches. Are you drinking enough water? That is key. Also if you are feeling hungry, make the shakes and add extra SP Complete. Drinking plain hot water after a meal also helped me feel more satisfied if I was still hungry. 2 shakes/ day is fine cause that is what I did. Toxins should be leaving your body when you go to the bathroom. Maybe you’ll need to eat more fruit. Also the red beets really did the trick for me.
We completed our liver cleanse diet a few weeks ago and have moved back to ‘normal’ food although I still try to maintain at least 1 or 2 meals a day that are based on the diet such as the fruit shakes, grilled vegetables, or a nice bowl of salad. I hope it works out for you!
I did the SP Cleanse 2 years ago while breastfeeding my newborn baby! I did this under the direction of an NMD (Naturopathic Medical Doctor) and to help alleviate the Candida die-off rash that was taking over my upper torso. It worked for the rash and the Cleanse is ‘gentle’, no sensationalistic tales like I read about other cleanses on the internet. I just had more BMs and larger quantity of stool in each BM. My Mother did the SP Cleanse too and had the same experience.
Also, if you lost 10 lbs. then you were either urinating more or having a lot more BMs! The post above was almost 1 year ago – I wonder what Belinda thinks of the SP Cleanse now?
I highly recommend it.
I’m on day 13 and feeling great! But oh was I telling a different tale the first week. Headaches, irritability and extreme fatigue. Most of that is gone, I think because I was able to add in the lean meats two days ago. I too lost a lot of weight the first week, probably 7-8 lbs. It’s crazy how bad the first week was, thought there would be no way I could do 21 days, but at day 13 I feel like I could do this forever. I hope that after day 21 I can stay on this path of healthier, organic and sustainable eating. Go all SPers, you can do it!!
Yeah we just finished day 21 of our 2nd cleanse yesterday night. One thing that has helped us immensely is the RAW diet. Check your city for restaurants that serve RAW or go on Amazon and get a copy of Sarma Melngailis’s Living Raw Food. There’s some amazing recipes that are within the guidelines of the diet! http://www.plateoftheday.com/1103/
I’m so glad to hear other people had a hard time the first week. I have been doing mostly raw & all organic, I’m on day 5, and yesterday I was having intense, miserable food cravings. I wanted things I don’t even eat normally, like pancakes with butter and syrup or pizza loaded with cheese. I feel a bit better today, but I was really bothered by the food cravings since before I started SP cleanse I wasn’t having any food cravings. I hope the 2nd week is great!
Couple things – my chiropractor warned that there may be flu-like symptoms if one is very toxic. I’m on day four and have had nothing like that (just a bit of a dull headache now and then), but I don’t normally eat much of anything that is processed and have been off caffeine for a while now. Looking for good recipes – or this will get a bit old quickly. Looking up the Raw Diet now. thanks for the tip
Yeah the first week is probably the most difficult. Don’t do too much exercise and just relax. Be sure to drink lots of liquids. I like to drink peppermint or honey lemon tea.
Pick up a copy of Living RAW Foods:
http://www.plateoftheday.com/1103/
It’s got some great recipes that are mostly appropriate for the diet.
Don’t despair you’ll free great by the 2nd week for sure!
My husband is a chiropractor and I am an RN. I was hesitant to start the cleanse but here I am on day 2 doing ok. I have the headaches and today I felt nauseated after I worked out but as soon as I got home I ate some asparagus and drank water and feel better. I didnt think that we were allowed to drink anything but water. Can we have tea? I also saw some blogs where people were eating eggs. Is that allowed? Thanks.
There are a few vegetbles not listed in the guide and I was wondering if these were allowed in a salad…
- olives
- chick peas
- yellow corn
does anyone know?
I believe olives are allowed in the liver cleanse but chick peas and yellow corn are considered a starch. But really this is just a guideline, it’s up to you how strict you want to be. If you have a few spoonfuls of chickpeas with your salad maybe it won’t be as optimal as without but overall, your body is still cleansing.
My advice on the liver cleanse:
I would try to be as hardcore as you can for the first 11 days, then as you are beginning to eat chicken and fish you can ease back in. By day 11, you don’t really have that many cravings anyways.
Good luck!
Tea is allowed as long as it’s not caffeinated. Eggs, no, are not allowed sorry.
I am on day 6 and I feel great. Have lost 4.5 pounds. I am, however, eating small amounts of salmon or chicken at dinner with my rice/lentils and steamed veggies. Is that a no-no?
Contrats on the 4.5lbs! That’s a great accomplishment! As I understand it (and I’m not employed by Standard Process or anything) technically you aren’t supposed to eat any chicken or fish until day 11. Your body should be able to get adequate protein from the supplements and the lentils. But it’s up to you how strict you want to follow the regime and maximize the benefits. Let us know how your diet goes. Happy cleansing!
thanks for the tip on the chick peas. I’ll stop.
I’m on my 12th day and feel great.
Are organic egg whites allowed after the 11th day?
Are organic egg whites allowed after the 11th day?
I just finished the cleanse and only lost 2.5 pounds–very disappointing! I was pretty strict with it (I did add 2 eggs on the 2nd day that protein was allowed), but maybe used too much olive oil when roasting my vegetables? Also, I’m pretty petite, so I’m wondering if the shakes might have been geared more towards larger people? (I’m 5′0.). The first week was hard, but then I got used to it, and I felt great for a while . . . until last night, my 21st day, when I got a bad headache, which I still have today, and feel kind of like I did on Day 2. Go figure.
I think that’s pretty good to be honest. I actually didn’t eat any eggs the entire time but not sure if that has anything to do with it. I also had headaches but they usually went away after I had more water. Congrats on finishing the cleanse! I’m sure your body is thanking you for it!!!!!
Glad to hear of one other that lost just 2.5 lbs after the 21 day cleanse. I, too, followed the diet to the “t”, never had a headache or illness (but am not a caffeine, alcohol, or junk food eater) and lost very little in terms of effort into the 21 one days and beyond. Yes, I worked out, ran/walked, and worked 14 hour days (sure kept my mind off of food). Guess my liver is happier, but my ego is a bit bruised as I can’t seem to eliminate that persistent 5lbs. I am 5′5″ 122lbs, 51 years old, and am energetic and thankful for that. The cleanse reminded me that I can still do better when making food choices – so that is a positive. And I was amazed that I just wasn’t very hungry. Best of luck to those that are going the distance – you can do it!
Im having a real hard time. I did ok the first 2 days and i fell off the 3. I was so hungry. I really need to do this any suggestions.