The Lemon Detox Diet

The Lemon Detox Diet is one of the most popular cleansing regimens in the world.

Here’s how it works:

For 10 days (you can do as many or as few days as you like), you consume no food and instead drink only a mixture of water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and grade B maple syrup.

You can drink as much of the lemonade as you like.

The less you drink, the more aggressive your cleansing will be.

If you’re having a hard time on the cleanse, drinking more lemonade can ease the intensity of the cleansing process.

During the time that you are cleansing, you also do some kind of flush to allow toxins released into your digestive tract to exit your body. The famed Salt Water Flush is recommended by Burroughs in his book The Master Cleanser, which started the lemon detox diet trend. However, you can also drink a laxative tea or take a laxative supplement if you prefer.

After 10 days or however long you decide to cleanse, it’s time to break your fast and return to eating. This is one of the trickiest phases of the lemon detox diet.

You can start with a little orange juice alongside your lemonade to get your body accustomed to digesting the orange juice pulp. After a day of transitioning onto orange juice and your now-trusty lemonade, you can then resume eating solid food. Simple and light is best at first–like salad with very little dressing, or fruit, or soup.

If all goes well, in a few more days you’re fully off the cleanse and back to your normal way of eating.

Why Would Someone Do This?

It’s interesting…if you look at the Wikipedia page for Stanley Burroughs (the founder of the lemonade diet), it’s pretty clear the the entire entry is pretty down on his work. It’s not often I encounter such a thoroughly negative biography on Wikipedia outside of dictators, murderers and the like.

So what gives there? Why is there so much controversy around this man and the lemonade diet?

I’m getting a little off-topic here. Your question is, “Why would someone do the lemon detox diet? What good things happen as a result?” Don’t worry, though–I’m getting there.

It’s important to recognize that there are plenty of people–including, apparently, many doctors–who, according to Wikipedia, believe something along these lines: “The ‘Master Cleanser’ has been utilized widely since Burroughs’ death although it is regarded by the professional medical establishment to be more deleterious than beneficial.”

Now our question becomes even more interesting: if the professional medical establishment regards The Mastern Cleanser and its lemon detox diet as more deleterious than beneficial, then, seriously–why would someone do the lemon detox diet?

To answer that question, I’m going to have to speak from my personal experiences doing the cleanse and other types of fasts.

What It’s Like to Do the Master Cleanse

My first experience doing the Master Cleanse happened while I was living in Brooklyn, New York.

I carried my glass bottle of lemonade with me everywhere I went. City streets, the subway, my workplace–the crazy city swirling around me begged me to indulge my desires to eat something solid.

It was nice to be light with nothing in my stomach. After the third day, I felt great. My mind was clear. I enjoyed my heightened sensitivity to everything around me.

I can’t say whether I was actually passing toxins out of my body via the nightly salt water flush, but I did notice that I felt much better once I got whatever was in out. It was interesting to see food residues still emerging from my body four, five, six days into the cleanse.

One of the things I like best about the lemon detox diet is the fact that you really don’t have to suffer while you’re on it. You can simply drink a little more lemonade if you start flagging or feeling painfully hungry. The lemonade tastes good. It’s a nice thing to live off of for a short period of time.

The most positive benefit I received from my first bout with the master cleanse was the ability to examine and let go of a bunch of food addictions that I’d been carrying around. The newfound knowledge that I could adhere to a fasting regimen added to my confidence. And there are subtler benefits that had more to do with foo-foo things like Spirit, energy and Love.

All in all, my first experience with the lemon detox diet was a success.

How to Know if the
Lemon Detox Diet is For You

The lemon detox diet isn’t for everybody.

But is it for you?

First off, make sure you’re in very good health before experimenting with any form of fasting or cleansing. If you are sick in any way, then either wait until you’re better or consult your physician. The cleansing reactions brought on by fasting can be quite intense, and you need to be very careful unless you’re absolutely sure your body can handle the detox process.

Second, do you like to push the limits of what you think is possible for yourself? If your answer is yes, then you might enjoy the voyage of the lemon detox diet. It’s fun to see how much we’re capable of doing that we didn’t realize before. If you’ve never gone 10 days in a row without ingesting any form of solid food, the lemon detox diet is an excellent introduction to the world of cleansing and detoxing.

Finally, are you willing to put up with a little physical (and emotional, and mental…) discomfort for a longer-term gain? Although the lemon detox diet is one of the gentlest introductions to cleansing, it is still an at-times grueling physical challenge. The nightly flushes can be very challenging. At times, your body will be extremely tired. The hunger comes and goes, but sometimes it comes on in force. Be prepared for that.

Calling All Intrepid Health Seekers

In spite of what the professional medical establishment may say about the lemon detox diet, I’ve personally received a great deal of benefit from the several times that I’ve done it. Fasting has become an integral part of my life, and the lemon detox diet gave me a way into fasting that was gentle and allowed me to keep fulfilling my responsibilities while living in a big city.

I wish you success in your quest for well-being. Consider the lemon detox diet as a wonderful option on your way forward.