Master Cleanse (also called the lemonade diet or lemon detox diet) is a modified
juice fast that permits no food, substituting
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
and
lemonade
Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage.
There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using ...
made with
maple syrup and
cayenne pepper
The cayenne pepper is a type of '' Capsicum annuum''. It is usually a moderately hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes. Cayenne peppers are a group of tapering, 10 to 25 cm long, generally skinny, mostly red-colored peppers, often with ...
. The diet was developed by Stanley Burroughs, who initially marketed it in the 1940s, and revived it in his 1976 book ''The Master Cleanser''.
Proponents claim that the diet tones, reduces and cleanses the body, allowing the body to heal itself. There is no evidence that the diet removes any toxins or that it achieves anything beyond temporary weight loss, followed by rapidly regaining the lost weight.
Though unlikely to be harmful over the short term, Master Cleanse and similar programs can be harmful over the long term. The diet lacks protein, fatty acids, and other essential nutrients and depends entirely on
carbohydrate
In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or m ...
s for calories. The daily laxative regimen can cause electrolyte imbalances and disrupt the normal gastrointestinal
microbiome
A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably wel ...
. In the longer run, staying on the Master Cleanse diet could result in severe
metabolic acidosis
Metabolic acidosis is a serious electrolyte disorder characterized by an imbalance in the body's acid-base balance. Metabolic acidosis has three main root causes: increased acid production, loss of bicarbonate, and a reduced ability of the kidneys ...
, which can lead to coma or death.
Nutritionist Jane Clark points to a lack of essential nutrients in this program, citing a deficiency of protein, vitamins, and minerals. As a result of these deficiencies, including far fewer calories than the recommended amount for health and optimum functioning, individuals on the diet may experience headaches and a variety of other symptoms in the short term and the diet is potentially harmful over the long term.
While the Master Cleanse diet can result in short-term weight loss, unless lasting changes are incorporated into one's diet after the regimen, the weight lost during the fast will be regained once the diet is stopped. Dietician Keri Glassman has said those following the diet are "guaranteed" to gain weight after stopping.
See also
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Detoxification (alternative medicine)
*
List of diets
An individual's diet is the sum of food and drink that one habitually consumes. Dieting is the practice of attempting to achieve or maintain a certain weight through diet. People's dietary choices are often affected by a variety of factors, incl ...
*
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable clai ...
References
External links
What to know about the lemon detox diet- Medical News Today
{{Fad diets
Alternative detoxification
Fad diets