THE LEMONADE DIET
Doesn't sound very healthy..
Claims
- helps detoxify and clean the intestinal tract
- great way to rapidly lose weight
- good source of essential vitamins and nutritients
- boosts energy
- helps rid the body of aliments
- glowing healthy skin
Frequent Doubts
- even though the diet claims to boost energy, many people who have tried the diet have have dizzy or even fainting spells
- during the diet, you cannot ingest solid food, which is a serious lack of essential vitamins and nutrients
- nutritionists have expressed concerns that while the salt water flush helps clean the intestinal track, it also gets rid of the good bacteria in the stomach
Food Options
While on the diet, you CAN'T eat any solid food! Just the lemonade, a salt water flush, and a laxative tea.
Comparison to the Food Pyramid
Compared to the food pyramid, the lemonade diet is seriously lacking in proteins, calcium, and even though there is some vitamins, there are not enough given on the lemonade alone. The lemonade formula may take care of a few nutrients, but not as many needed with the balance of the food pyramid.
What Makes This Diet Appealing to People Who Want to Lose Weight?
Due to the lack of proper nutrients, and a massive amount of detoxification, people on the diet lose weight rapidly. Famous singer and actress Beyonce Knowles tried the lemonade diet for 10 days and lost 22 pounds to gain a role in a movie. Not very many diets can provide so much weight loss in such a short time, so there is a lot of appeal in that.
Long Term Effects
The recommended length of time MINIMUM for the diet is 10 days, but I personally feel that going longer than that would lead to longer and worse effects. While on the diet you don't eat ANY solid food, and only consume two other liquids besides the lemonade. The person on the diet is not getting every nutrient needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Even after the diet is over, you can't go back to eating a full meal immediately. Every day has to have a strict and maintained diet to keep from getting sick until you finally build up to eating meals again. Long term effects could be various but dangerous.
Additional Information
The lemonade is not really lemonade, but a mix of grade B maple syrup (it has to be grade B), pure lemon juice, and cayenne pepper mixed in with a small amount of water!
While it was a great success of weight loss for Beyonce, she publicly admitted that the Lemonade Diet should not be used for longtime weight loss.