The lemonade diet, also known as the maple syrup diet or the master cleanse diet, has been popular in many countries for more than fifty years. This fasting and detoxification1 plan, which is also used as a rapid weight loss diet, was developed by doctor Stanley Burroughs. Several years ago the interest in the lemonade diet was revived by Beyonce who told that she had been able to lose twenty pounds on this program.
How Does Lemonade Diet Work?
The lemonade diet was meant for cleansing the body and correcting numerous diseases through this process. It helps to flush supposed toxins from the organism.
The maple syrup diet is very severe.
It prohibits eating any foods and dieters are allowed to drink only a special concoction made from lemon juice, maple syrup, pure water, and cayenne pepper.
In the course of the program, dieters consume the lemonade concoction, salt water and laxative2 herbal tea. They should drink salt water in the morning, from six to twelve glasses (about 110 cal per a glass) of lemonade during the day, and laxative herbal tea of any brand in the evening.
Lemonade Diet Plan
The lemonade diet lasts from ten to forty days. During this period you are not allowed to eat anything. You may just drink the special lemonade made from lemon juice, water, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup. One glass of this concoction contains approximately 110 calories. You should also drink salt water in the morning and herbal laxative tea at night. When you end the diet you should transition to regular food little by little.
Here is a more detailed explanation of what you need to do during the lemonade diet.
Before starting of Lemodane diet
First of all, even before you go on the lemonade diet, buy lemons, cayenne pepper, maple syrup, sea salt, and laxative tea. You should have these products in sufficient quantities from the very beginning. Do not forget to buy much toilet paper. You should better purchase adult diapers too. Warn your family that you will need the toilet very quickly when you are on the diet.
In the course of Lemonade diet
In the morning, prepare salt water according to the instructions and drink one quart remaining not far from a toilet.
Drink from six to twelve glasses of the lemonade during the day. It should be the special lemonade concoction, made from lemon juice, cayenne pepper, maple syrup, and pure water. There are also some alternative recipes. If you want to lose weight you should drink no more than six glasses of the lemonade. If you are interested in detoxification of your organism you may drink up to twelve glasses.
In the evening, before you are going to go to sleep, drink herbal laxative tea.
You should realize that during the lemonade diet you will be really hungry. You may undergo weakness, vomiting, dizziness, joint pain, and some other health problems.
Breaking the Lemonade diet
You may finish the diet when you accomplish the scheduled number of days or when you are no longer able to follow it. If you do not want to distress your body you should come off the lemonade diet gently.
This plan will help you to do it.
- Day 1 – Drink diluted orange juice. You will need several glasses. Sip it slowly.
- Day 2 – Drink orange juice in the morning and in the afternoon. Eat the vegetable soup cooked according to the special recipe for dinner.
- Day 3 – In the morning, continue drinking orange juice. For lunch, have some vegetable soup and four rye crackers. You may also eat fresh vegetables, fruit and salad for you dinner. You are still not allowed to eat meat, eggs, bread, fish or pastries. Do not drink milk, tea, or coffee.
- Day 4 – You are allowed to revert to your regular diet. It is recommended to continue drinking the lemonade for breakfasts.
What should be avoided?
There are some things that must be avoided at any cost if you follow the lemonade diet.
- First, you are not allowed to eat anything.
- When you are on the diet, you may not use honey in the lemonade concoction.
- You should not take vitamin pills or supplements.
- You may not drink alcohol, tea, cola, or coffee.
- You are not allowed to smoke.
Burroughs says that dieters may drink extra pure water or even mint tea.
What Are the on Lemonade Diet Benefits?
It has not been scientifically proved that the lemonade diet really rid the organism of toxins. Moreover, if your liver works properly, it is able to purify the body of all impurities and there is no evidence that people need anything like this to get rid of the toxins.
Are you going to lose weight on the master cleanse diet? Sure. Even if you drink the maximum permissible dose of lemonade, which is twelve glasses per day, you will get only about 1300 calories, when an adult person needs approximately 2000 calories. Moreover, you will drink laxatives which contribute to weight loss.
It is unknown whether the lemonade diet has any cardiovascular benefits, but as a rule weight loss helps to reduce blood pressure and decrease cholesterol levels.
Are There Any Health Risks?
The lemonade diet does not reflect universal guidelines for healthy lifestyle and weight loss. For most healthy people, one cycle of this program is innocuous. But if you go on and off the master cleanse diet continuously, you can have problems with kidneys, heart, immune system, stomach and other organs.
Laxatives can cause dehydration even if you drink twelve glasses of the lemonade per day. The diet plan lacks nutrients: vitamins, protein, minerals, fiber, carbohydrate, fat, and calories.
The lemonade dieters often experience various side effects, such as nausea, pain, fatigue, vomiting, irritability, etc.
In fact, most medical doctors and dieticians do not recommend the lemonade diet and advise some other eating plans for losing weight and cleansing the body.
What Foods Should Be Eaten on on Lemonade Diet?
As stated above, solid foods are not permitted. Supplements and vitamins are not allowed either. You may drink the lemonade drink, laxative herbal tea, and salt water. After following the diet for four – fourteen days, you should slowly return to regular products, starting with vegetable soup, fruits, vegetables, and juice.
What Foods Should Be Avoided?
No other food is allowed during the lemonade diet. You may not smoke or consume alcohol, coffee, cola, tea, or any other drinks.
Lemonade Diet Success Stories
Beyonce on Lemonade Diet
Even if you do not like music, of course, you have heard something about Beyonce, who is one of the most famous rhythm and blues singers in the world. What is more, she is a pretty popular actress. For one of her roles (they say, for the movie “Dreamland”), Beyonce had to lose excessive weight and decided to follow the lemonade diet.
It was Beyonce’s nutritionist who advised her that she should try the lemonade diet if she wanted to slim down fast. This diet worked great for Beyonce who managed to lose excessive weight and looked terrific in that movie. Since then, thousands of people got interested in the lemon diet and many of them call it the Beyonce diet.
Jennifer Hudson on Lemonade Diet
Popular actress and singer Jennifer Hudson once lost about 80 pounds. Her weight was over 200 pounds. With the help of the lemonade diet she managed to go down to 120 pounds, which is amazing!
First of all, she tried to avoid the so called “diet mentality”, because Jennifer did not want to be stuck with a diet for the rest of the life. Then she began to moderate her food and count calories. Finally, Jennifer Hudson started practicing the lemonade diet and due to it she was able to lose excessive weight. As you can see, now she looks perfect and keeps herself in shape.
Laura on Lemonade Diet
Laura was in great shape back there in high school days. She could wear any clothes she wanted and felt excellent because she knew that she looked beautiful. When Laura got married and gave birth to her children, she began to gain weight.
First, she did not realize it but finally she understood how fat she had become. Moreover, she even felt disgusted with herself. She avoided looking in the mirror and thought that her husband did not love her anymore.
Laura started searching for an effective solution because she was eager to get back her slim body. She kept looking but was able to find only some fad diets that produced no effect. At last, Laura came across the master cleanse diet and made the decision to follow it.
Her first try was not very successful. She lost about ten pounds during three days but then she gave up because of her busy life, returned to her old habits and regained the weight.
She felt very disappointed and decided to try the lemonade diet once more. In the course of fourteen days Laura lost more than 35 pounds of excessive fat. Now she knows that this diet really works and recommends it to everybody who needs to drop pounds.
Robin Quivers on Lemonade Diet
Robin Quivers is a famous radio personality and she is one of those celebrities who have recently popularized the lemonade diet. Robin decided to go on a diet after she felt embarrassed by her excessive weight during a dance in her friend’s wedding.
After that Robin started looking for an effective diet and came across the master cleanse. It was magician David Blaine who told Robin about the lemonade diet when he was one of the guests on the show of Howard Stern.
Robin Quivers followed the lemonade diet for twenty one days and managed to lose almost 70 pounds. She assures that the diet not only helped her to slim down but also rid her of joint pain. Now Robin follows a vegan diet.
Bottom Line
The lemonade diet is really very effective for losing weight because it creates a huge calorie deficit. But it is very likely that you will lose muscle and water weight, not fat. As for purification and detoxification, the liver is able to do it by itself.
The diet is very severe and hard to follow. You will feel very hungry. You may get fatigue, diarrhea, headache and many other health problems.
Anyway, if you are going to follow the lemonade diet, consult a doctor first.
- Detoxification is process of ridding toxins of the body or treatment of drug addicts and alcoholics.
- Laxative is something that a person eats or drinks to facilitate or stimulate evacuation of bowels.
