The Lemonade Diet: How Does the Master Cleanse Work?

The lemonade diet, formally called the Master Cleanse by its creator, Stanley Burroughs, relies on complete abstinence from eating solid foods to loss weight. Although weight loss is quick, it can also be dangerous and is rarely long term. Many healthcare professionals speak out strongly against the lemonade diet, which has few essential vitamins and minerals.

The lemonade diet requires its participants to drink a mixture of water, fresh lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and grade B maple syrup. That is the only thing ingested during the lemonade diet, other than laxative teas and what is called the salt water flush. Drinking laxative tea and the salt water flush helps purge the stomach and bowels, something that is essential when no solid food is being eaten for a long period of time.

Supporters of the lemonade diet say that it helps them increase energy and lose weight. The lemonade diet is supposed to help flush harmful toxins out of the body increasing the well being of the person on the diet. People who regularly do the lemonade diet claim it allows themselves to refocus on healthy eating habits by confronting any harm they have done to their body through unhealthy eating.

The book where the lemonade diet is outlined claims the lemonade diet helps cure a variety of ailments, including ulcers. Actual medical science has never proven these claims. Instead, science suggests that any positive effects the lemonade diet has in addition weight loss are from the placebo effect.

The minimum recommended time for the lemonade diet is ten days. Some people spend much longer on the diet, even living on lemonade for more than 30 days. Many people have used this method for rapid weight loss. Although there are some calories in the lemonade diet from the maple syrup, most people get far less than their recommended calories for the day from this diet. Also, the lemons in the lemonade diet drink act as a diuretic, so much of the initial weight loss is water.