Also referred to as the master Cleanse, the lemon detox diet may not be a commonly referenced title, but this isn’t the latest addition to the host of diet trends. This form of body cleansing has actually been around for more than 50 years, with everyone from your colleagues to celebrities taking part. It seems we’re obsessed with the concept of cleansing the toxins from our bodies, but does it really work and could it result in the desired weight loss we think it does? This isn’t an everyday kind of health programme – it requires between 10 and 14 days to flush the toxins from your body, limiting your intake of food and drink to just lemon juice maple syrup, cayenne pepper and water, and also taking laxatives. The concept behind this liquid diet is that the acid levels in the lemons encourages your liver and gallbladder to rid themselves of toxins, boosting your metabolism and circulation, and giving the intestinal tract a break. People who follow this diet claim that the result of this cleanse is that the body is returned to its natural and most balanced state, giving many other benefits such as mental clarity and improved skin and hair health.
The detox is easy to follow and you need to maintain it for up to two weeks, consuming the recipe for a minimum of six times a day. The recipe consists of two tbs of lemon or lime juice, two tbs of genuine maple syrup, 1/10 tsp of cayenne pepper and 10 oz of water which can be hot or cold, whichever you prefer. Mix equal parts of the lemon juice and maple syrup to keep as a concentration, to be kept in a dark container. You need to keep the mixture cool and make sure that you make enough concentrate for as long as you’re incapable of making the fresh lemonade. Each time you want to make a glass of lemonade, measure 4tbs of the mixture into a glass and add water and cayenne pepper, then mix. The maple syrup is supposed to preserve the lemon juice and prevent it from oxidising. You should down this mixture any time the hunger pangs strike, and in addition to the lemon drink, you should take a laxative in the morning and at night. This is to keep the toxins moving out of the body by encouraging bowel movements.
So the celebrities endorse the effects, but what does the research say? According to Natural News, there are benefits to the cleanse in that you end up with a clean slate and can begin making healthier choices, but the programme shouldn’t be used as a way to lose weight. Instead, it should be used as a form of healthy start to encourage a chain of healthy decisions, both in your diet and in terms of exercise. You will notice weight loss as a result of the limited amount of calories you’ll consume, but you can’t maintain the diet for long periods of time and when you return to a regular eating plan, the weight will come back. For many people, the idea of fasting is more mental than physical, and this has its own benefits to be considered. As with any diet change, you should speak to your GP before embarking on the cleanse to make sure that it’s safe for you to do so, and to ensure that you’re doing it for the right reasons.
