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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Natural Remedies / The Master Cleanse: Crazy Detox or Beneficial Fast?

The Master Cleanse: Crazy Detox or Beneficial Fast?

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Master Cleanse 3-Phase Program
  • Is there any research on the Lemonade Diet?
  • Gentle Detox Sans the Master Cleanse

Why the Master Cleanse or Lemonade Diet is a protocol that will do more harm than good to your body even though you will likely lose quite a bit of weight in the short term.

master cleanse ingredients on a wooden counter

The first time I heard about the Master Cleanse (not to be confused with the Master Tonic) was while sitting on a bench at a playground over ten years ago.

One of the parents was ecstatically describing how she wanted to try the Lemonade Diet. Her husband was apparently already on it and dropping weight fast.

Intrigued, I asked her about the specifics of this wonder detox. As she described the ridiculously simple fasting regimen, I felt my eyes get so big that I’m pretty sure she must have thought they were going to pop out of my head.

How could consuming nothing but a mixture of water, fresh lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup 6-10 times a day for a recommended 10 days possibly be good for you?

Master Cleanse 3-Phase Program

Here’s the Master Cleanse three-phased program in its entirety if you are not already familiar: (1)

  1. Ease-In and Ease-Out: 3 days before and after The Lemonade Diet that slowly removes or re-introduces complex, processed (C.R.A.P.) foods from your diet.
  2. The Lemonade Diet: “10 Days to Lose Weight Fast, and Feel Great At Last”.
  3. Everyday Detox: Every day a Natural Detox Method must be engaged to eliminate waste such as an herbal detox tea, laxatives, or the Salt Water Flush.

Common sense is your first clue that the Master Cleanse is a very dangerous type of detox. Considering one’s long-term health is a priority over fitting into the skinny jeans for a weekend party. The research will tell you this as well.

Is there any research on the Lemonade Diet?

You see, there is absolutely no scientific basis or legitimate research to be found on the detox cleanse and diet known as the Master Cleanse.

A search of the objective scientific literature sites will confirm this for you in a hurry.

What’s more, there is no traditional practice in ancestral cultures from around the world that mimics anything remotely similar.

Given that there is no anthropological or scientific basis for conducting such a crazy, wild experiment on one’s biology, why do it?

Good question.

Gentle Detox Sans the Master Cleanse

The most optimal and safe approach to cleansing and detox involves not just eliminating toxins. It also must include proper nourishment of the body while the cleanse is occurring. This is especially true for the liver which is the body’s main detoxification organ.

A nourished body with a liver that is getting all the nutrients it needs is going to do an infinitely better job than a starved body and strained liver.

This may occur when large amounts of fat-soluble toxins enter the bloodstream in a short space of time such as what occurs during the Master Cleanse.

Elimination of toxins rapidly in the absence of any nutrition is an incredibly stressful event.

Because of this, it is very important to include proper nutrition in any detoxification or weight loss regimen.

Such precautionary measures ensure that permanent damage does not inadvertently occur.

Gentle is a key aspect of any safe detoxification protocol, such as what is achieved with a cleansing bath.

Anything marketed as beneficial that involves starvation or deprivation is a detox myth. (2)

Anything else and run for the hills!

In other words, it’s true that doing the Master Cleanse for 10 days will almost certainly cause you to lose some weight because you’re getting so few calories.

However, most of the weight loss will be water. In short, you will gain it all right back when you start eating normally again.

In addition, the physiological disruption from the cleanse will likely skyrocket levels of the stress hormone cortisol which may actually cause you to gain weight back more rapidly (and then some) in the coming months. (3)

What’s worse, you’ll also lose muscle and bone and possibly damage yourself in the process.

Worth the yo-yo effect?  

Your call, but science and common sense both say definitely not!

References

(1) The Lemonade Diet Ingredients and Recipe

(2) Liver Detoxification: Starve or Nourish?

(3) The effects of stress on body weight: biological and psychological predictors of change in BMI

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Category: Detoxification, Natural Remedies
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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