How to Hit Reset on Your Healthy Diet With a Wake-Up Cleanse

Jermaine Dupri, The Beet's Creative Advisor, has been vegan for almost 15 years and likes to think of himself as a healthy eater. But during quarantine, he's been eating more than he wants to, or likes to, having "breakfast, lunch, a second lunch, and dinner every day." We love the idea of a second lunch as much as the next guy, but when Dupri said he had found a cleanse that "wakes up" your metabolism and hits reset on your healthy diet, we had to learn more.

Here is how Dupri manages to "hit reset" on his diet, and restart his mental commitment to eating a healthy vegan diet of whole plant-based foods and quell hunger cues and get back on track. This diet is all about fasting, so if that's not for you, check out The VegStart Diet.

Editorial Note: Not everyone is suited to try a cleanse or a fasting diet this extreme, and before you do a cleanse or any drastic change in the way you eat, consult your doctor or a nutritionist to find out if this is the right approach for you. If you're curious and cleared for takeoff, learn how to "hit reset" from Jermaine.

The Beet: Tell us about this cleanse. Why did you start and how do you do it?

JD: Today is my 17th day on the Master Cleanse. It consists of a mixture of water with lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper whenever you feel hungry or headachy. You can make this at home but I go buy this one from Suja at Whole Foods. When I go I buy them out because you can only get six to a case and if you are going to fast for as long as I fast you need five or six cases.

The Beet: So it's as simple as that? Drink when hungry?

JD: "You drink this every time you feel hungry. Every time you get a hunger pain or a headache, you're supposed to drink this and it starts training your body that you're drinking or eating something. So the hunger goes away. The first three days of this fast are the hardest because you can get headaches. You end up going to sleep early because you do get tired. Me? I defy that and stay up all night working in the studio. Yesterday was my weakest day, I couldn't get going. When you feel weak and then you start to feel different, it means your body is paying attention to the fast."

The Beet: So you use it to hit re-set on your metabolism and then eat healthier?

JD: "Yes, It's really to hit restart and get your metabolism moving in the direction you want. You want your metabolism to pay attention to your eating habits. Some people eat salads every day and say they aren't losing weight but its because your metabolism gets stuck at a certain weight. You have to shock your metabolism into moving and then the weight comes off."

The Beet: Other than sipping the master cleanse juice, what do have to eat?

JD: "Nothing, this is a no eating, all liquid master cleanse. If I absolutely have to eat something it would be raw almonds. I have almonds all the time just plain raw ones not the ones with salt or any type of seasoning. They must be raw."

The Beet: How long should anyone stay on this? What's your best advice?

JD: "At the most ten days. The first three days you are going to pay attention to how you feel. You may have a headache and need to fight through it by just sipping on the master cleanse. The first three days are going to be the worst as your body adjusts. Then the next day you will feel like you made it, but you still have to keep going to reach your goal."

Above, Jermaine shows his full supply of the drink that helps him sip his way to a diet reset.

The Beet: Is the hardest part of this making the commitment

JD: "Yes. We don't have a reset or restart button, so you have to restart your mind in some way.

"The discipline to become vegan and get on this path is the same discipline of doing a cleanse. it's a decision. So I like to ask myself: Can you go for five days and drink just this? That is a great restart. What this fast does is make you realize that eating is mental. It’s a mind game. Most of the time people eat when they aren’t even hungry. It’s like when someone walks in with a bag of McDonald's and now because the fries smell amazing, you eat some even though you aren’t even hungry.

"I am sure that when people do intermittent fasting, they also shock their metabolism. That is the point, to get your body to start to react and to notice what you're eating. I know when my body starts to react to this cleanse, I can feel it and it feels so much better."

The Beet: So you sip the master cleanse and you don't keel over?

JD: "No, I can sip one of these bottles for 4 hours. When you become vegan you feel and see the difference in food and your body. It’s the same thing here. Fasting makes you appreciate all the ingredients you see on the bottle’s label. You read what's in the bottle and you really feel and taste the ingredients; the carrots and beets .. you can feel it going in your body.

"The most important part of doing this is that people pay attention to their metabolism. You can eat whatever you want and lose weight as long as your metabolism is working. That is a factor people don't understand."

To make the lemonade at home, mix 6 to 12 10-fluid-ounce glasses of water, add 2 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice, mix in 2 tablespoons genuine organic grade B maple syrup and add a pinch (1/10 teaspoon) of cayenne pepper.

Editor's Note: If you want a healthy diet that allows you to eat three meals and a snack every day, check out The VegStart Diet, which The Beet developed with a Registered Dietician, Nicole Osinga. The 14-day plant-based plan allows you to eat healthy foods, provides 56 easy and delicious recipes, and you will lose weight on a healthy diet of mostly vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and nuts, and seeds. Check out The VegStart Diet here.