The master cleanse, or lemonade diet, is a detox diet introduced in the 1940s by Stanley Burroughs. It has experienced a resurgence in recent years, especially after superstar Beyonce used it to drop significant weight for her role in the movie "Dream Girls." The version followed today was published in 1976 and outlines a strict regimen in which dieters drink a concoction of lemon juice, purified water, maple syrup and cayenne pepper up to six times a day. No other food, except for a slimming laxative tea and a salt water solution, is consumed for as long as two weeks. Although adherents of the diet report remarkable results, science and nutritionists are not convinced it has any merit.
Poor Nutrition
You will lose weight on the master cleanse, because you are essentially starving your body. There are almost no nutrients in the lemonade, except for some vitamin C from the lemon juice. If you follow the diet for the prescribed two weeks, you risk energy slumps and nutritional deficiencies.
Digestive Discomfort
Lemon juice acts as a diuretic and mild laxative. As the body purges, you will find yourself visiting the restroom often. Some people find their digestive system shuts down in response to the fast, and constipation results. An empty stomach also creates feelings of nausea.
Hunger
Not eating makes you hungry. This hunger can make social functions, including regular meals with your family, difficult because you cannot focus on anything but what the other people are eating. A lack of food may also result in unpleasant headaches, dizziness, fatigue and sluggishness.
Weight Gain
The diet was designed as a cleanse, not as a weight loss tool. Burroughs even notes in his book that at least half of the weight you lose during the fast will return when you go back to regular food. Many people who follow the fast feel so deprived that they immediately binge at the first opportunity -- despite the diet's recommendation that you ease back into regular food gradually and healthfully. The body, starved for days, hangs on to every calorie available and stores it as fat in expectation of future fasts.
Loss of Lean Muscle
The weight you do lose is largely from water retention. Even if you can muster the energy to exercise, your body is starved of any fuel source and will begin to eat away at lean muscle in order to keep going. When you regain the weight upon completion of the fast, it will be in the form of fat -- so your final end result is a higher body fat percentage.
Lack of Scientific Support
No studies have been done on the master cleanse. Most nutritionists, including CBS contributor Keri Glassman and author Joy Bauer, reject the diet outright as a fad. They believe that the positive results in terms of energy and improved perception of health come from excitement about losing weight and the fact that through the cleanse, individuals have removed all junk food from their diets. A clean diet that includes whole foods such as lean proteins, fruits and vegetables and whole grains could achieve the same positive results, without negative health implications.
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