Salt Water Flush Recipe

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CN – Are you like 20 percent of the public that suffers from constipation? It’s nothing to be ashamed about, so even if high-fiber foods don’t always do the trick, consider a salt water flush. Sometimes called a “salt water cleanse” or a “master cleanse,” it’s designed to help you cleanse your colon and digestive system by bringing on a forced bowel movement.

The key part of a salt water flush recipe is salt itself, as it’s needed for many biochemical processes. The official salt water flush has become more popular over the past decade as a “hack” to facilitate digestion and cleansing as part of a kick-start when doing a “master cleanse” program. Drinking a salt mixture ignites the body’s own mechanism of natural detoxification and waste elimination, helping to get your digestive system back on track and in the process making you feel lighter, less sluggish and less weighed-down.

The salt water flush is most effective if you perform it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. If you do it later in the day, just make sure you haven’t eaten anything in the past one to two hours.

To perform a simple sea salt flush at home, start with 2 teaspoons of sea salt, which can be colored salt, such as pink Himalayan salt or “gray salt.” (Make sure it’s pure salt, for you don’t want to use iodinated salt — so always make sure there is no iodine added at all.)

Heat up 1 liter of filtered water. You want the water to be warmer than room temperature, but not boiling or very hot. It should be cooler than the temp you would use to brew tea or coffee.

Grab a glass jar with a lid and add the salt, hot water, and some fresh lemon juice or lemon water (which helps cut the taste of the salt). Shake it vigorously to fully dissolve the salt. Make sure no granules are visible, which will settle at the bottom of your jar/lid if they’re still undissolved.

Drink the mixture quickly, within a few minutes if possible (under 5 minutes is the goal). Since it doesn’t taste great (it’s very salty!), you will probably want to drink it down as fast as you can.

Lay down on your side and massage your belly on one side, then repeat on the other side. Holding in the mixture for at least 30 minutes is ideal.

Within a short time after finishing the mixture, you should start to feel the urge to go to the bathroom. Once you feel you can no longer hold out, go to the bathroom. You might have to go more than one time, sometimes needing to use the bathroom several times before you’re fully “cleansed” and your colon is emptied.

After doing a cleanse of any kind, it’s a good idea to take a probiotic supplement and load up on healthy foods, which helps establish healthy bacteria in your internal gut flora (microbiome) and provide you essential nutrients/electrolytes.