Seven days without eating a single thing and I’m feeling fine. The past few days have been pretty easy, actually. I’m now totally used to just taking a swig of lemonade every time I get a hungry. I’ve got plenty of energy and don’t feel very different than when I was eating. One could say that all is well.

Well, almost all is well. Besides a slight tingle in my fingertips that started yesterday (I’m sure that can’t be good), the only other physical side effect that I’ve noticed is that my teeth were very sensitive when I brushed them on the night of Day 5. It was pretty much the same on Day 6 and then a little worse on Day 7. By pure coincidence, I went to the orthodontist yesterday (Day 7) to get get a consultation regarding the Invisalign process that my sister is just finishing up now and highly recommended. The orthodontist commented how my gums were receding a bit and handed me a mirror to check them out for myself. Sure enough, they were receding – a condition that I’m sure was mot present before I started the Master Cleanse. As soon as I got home I quickly searched the internet to see if others on the Cleanse had the same problem. Sure enough, there were. I was mad at myself for not doing enough research before starting the Cleanse, but that soon passed – I had done a lot of research, but you can never find everyone’s problem’s. I hadn’t read anything about persistent anal bleeding before I started either, yet there it is on the internet. Dodged that bullet.

Since I’m doing this detox for purely investigative purposes and not because of some nagging health problem, I’ve decided to cut the Cleanse short to spare my poor gums. 7 days was my initial goal but then I bumped it up to 10. Now I’m back to 7. Most of the people who had complained about receding gums said that everything returned to normal after stopping the Cleanse, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. You can never be too careful when it comes to oral hygiene.

So it is now officially the beginning of Day 8 and all I’m supposed to ingest today (coming down from the Cleanse is a very important process) is freshly squeezed orange juice, and then tomorrow I can have some vegetable soup. Monday will allow me to have some raw fruit and vegetables and then I can go back to eating “normally” on Tuesday. My plan is to orange juice it all day today (yes, I just used “orange juice” as a verb) and then advance the veggie soup to tonight so I can start with the solids tomorrow (I’ve always been advanced).

All in all, this has been a very good experience and I would recommend it to most people. As always, do your research beforehand and if any questions of concerns arise, immediately do some investigation. I look forward to seeing how my body will react to the reintroduction of food after not eating for an entire week. Most people say that they have a heightened awareness of what they’re putting into their bodies after doing the Cleanse. I wonder how long that will last.