First created in 1941 by fellow New Yorker and nutrition guru, Stanley Burroughs (1903-1991), his intent was simple. Stanley Burroughs’s Master Cleanse was to treat ulcers and other internal aliments.

In 1976, Stanley Burroughs’s Maple Syrup Diet became popular as a detox and weight loss diet when he published his book, “The Master Cleanser”. His fans were natural health enthusiasts, interested in using natural means to detox and flush deadly toxins like pesticides and food additives out of their bodies.

Burroughs promoted a number of alternative practices beyond the master cleanse fast, including light therapy, deep massage, and reflexology, and he was a vegetarian.

Amazon.com reported (as of 2007-04-10) a sales rank of #170 for The Master Cleanser.

Excerpt from Chapter 1:
“For the novice and the advanced student alike, cleansing is basic for elimination of every kind of disease. The purpose of this book is to simplify the cause and the correction of all disorders, regardless of the name or names. As we eliminate and correct one disease, we correct them all, for every disease is corrected by the same process of cleansing and building positive good health. Man’s mastery of disease will only be final when ignorance and fear are overcome by proper observance of all laws pertaining to the creation of bones, flesh, and blood.”

Other topics included:

* A Word About “Epidemics” and “Germ-Caused” Diseases
* The Origin of the Lemonade Diet
* Is the Lemonade Diet Also a Reducing Diet?
* How to Make It
* What About the Use of Honey?
* Helping the Cleansing Along
* Should I Take “Supplements”
* Will It Make Me Feel Bad or Weak?
* How to Break the Lemonade Diet
* Menu Suggestions
* Special Needs and Problems

Download the original Stanley Burroughs’s Maple Syrup Fast here.