The Lemon Diet Craze

The Lemon Diet, also known as the master cleanse, is a diet resulting in rapid weight loss over a period of several days to about a week. Lemons being rich in antioxidants and vitamins, helps to detox the body. Thus, it is very important to introduce citrus fruits like lemon, grapefruit, oranges and kiwi in your daily diet.

The lemon detox diet was popularized by singer Beyonce Knowles who announced at the Oprah Winfrey Show that she lived on a lemon diet with cayenne pepper and maple syrup for 15 days and lost 20 pounds (9 kgs) in two weeks.

Nevertheless, the lemonade diet has been around for 50 years. Originally developed by Stanley Burroughs, this is designed to cleanse your body of toxins, the major benefit being rapid weight loss. The main reason for this weight loss is that this diet limits your caloric intake by a tremendous amount. This dramatic cut in calories results in a loss of considerable amount of weight in a very short period of time. This diet can be resorted to by someone who has to attend a social function in a couple of weeks and need to lose a lot of weight to look their best for the event.

Things needed:

• Spring water
• Grade B maple syrup
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Cayenne pepper sea salt

Instructions:

1. Lemon diet should be followed on a clear schedule. This diet is not suitable for a vacation or during a hectic period. Thus it should be undertaken in a relaxed manner, preferably at home or close to home.

2. Mix 12-14 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper and 12-14 tablespoons of maple syrup in 2 litres of water. This mixture is enough to last for the whole day.

3. Keep sipping small amounts of this mixture during the day whenever you feel hunger pangs. The mixture can be followed with plain water, if necessary.. 

4. Make a salt water flush by mixing 1 tablespoon sea salt in 1 litre of water and drink it all at once. It might seem difficult but it yields better results. The major reason for following this diet at home is because within an hour of drinking the salt water flush, one will experience a bowel movement lasting for about 30 to 60 minutes. It is more preferable to prepare the salt water flush in the evening.

5. This diet should be followed for 3 to10 days by drinking the same amount of lemon mixture and salt water flush each day.

Food Combination with the Lemon Diet

While following this diet, no solid food is allowed. It calls for 6 or more servings of the specialized lemonade mixture everyday. In addition to this, the salt water flush helps to cleanse the body. Different people incorporate this diet for varying amounts of time, mostly lasting for 2 days. Combining food throughout the entire process would, therefore, defeat its main purpose. However, food can be combined in the beginning and at the end of  the lemon diet to ease your body into and off the diet.

Things needed:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Orange juice
• Grade B syrup,
• Lemon juice
• Cayenne pepper
• Unrefined sea salt
• Non processed foods

Instructions:

1. Only fruits and vegetables should be consumed on the first day of the diet to ease your body into what it will be going through during the course of diet. The fruits and vegetables should, preferably, be raw.

2. Drink 3 litres of orange juice with 2 tablespoons of grade B maple syrup in it during the second day. Decide the period of detox. Most people detox for 2 days during which they can only consume 2 litres of lemonade per day when they feel hunger pains.

3. Drink a mixture of 3 litres of orange juice and 2 tablespoons of grade B maple syrup during the first day after you have finished detoxing.

4. Fruits and vegetables (preferably raw) should be consumed on the second day after completion of detox.

5. Fruits, vegetables and non- processed foods can be eaten during the third day after stopping of detox. This should be followed by grains such as brown rice and oats to ease you back into your regular diet.

  Points to be kept in mind

• Lemon diet is basically a detoxification diet, not a weight loss plan. Therefore, one is likely to regain at least half of the weight lost in the course of diet once the diet is over.
• It is absolutely essential to wean yourself off of caffeine before beginning the diet to avoid unpleasant withdrawal effects.
• This diet should not be followed for a period of more than 2 weeks (10 days being the maximum). In case of health issues, consult the doctor before following the diet.

Benefits Of Lemonade Diet:

1. The benefit of this diet is often explained in the form of rapid weight loss. To put it in a better way, this program enables the body to regain its balance of elements and maintain its optimum weight. Those who are not over weight lose between 2-3 kgs and those who are underweight re-establish the balance of the body’s metabolism. The process would have taken much longer if the body had to burn off all the excess fat.

2. The loss of weight is only a secondary effect, the principal effect being detoxification of the organs of the body. Moreover, the body gets rid of fat deposits. It is in the course of this purification that the skin and hair get embellished.

3. Detoxification will allegedly rid the body of warts, arthritis, asthma, stomach troubles etc. Besides, lemon juice and cayenne pepper will flush out excess fat from your body leading to rapid weight loss during the diet and cleanse the lymphatic system, of toxins. The maple syrup contains all the nutrients your body needs to function during this time.

Side effects of Lemon Diet:

As it is a master cleanse, the lemon diet will release toxins into your  body causing symptoms like headaches, dizziness, nausea or a general feeling of being tired and possibly other symptoms. The magnitude and occurrence of these symptoms depend on how many toxins you have in your body.

To conclude, just like any other diet, in case of a lemon diet also, it is appropriate to consult your physician before starting it.