Groan…Our Lemonade Diet review was prompted by yet another spam e-mail and spam fax promising massive weight loss with this diet – so we took a look.
Firstly, this diet isn’t about drinking nothing but 7-Up or Sprite for a while, it actually centres on a strange concoction based on freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Now there seem to be a number of versions of the diet knocking around on the internet, so we’ll focus on the one we were spammed with.
So let’s see what all the hype is about…
Lemonade Diet Review – How Does it Work…?
Our Lemonade Diet review would conclude that this is just another version of a liquid, in this case juice, fast diet.
Fasting diets are supposed to eliminate the toxins caused by a poor diet, alcohol, caffeine, lack of exercise, inadequate fluid intake and so on…the consequences of our modern lifestyles basically.
The synopsis provided with the spam sent to us claimed that we’d lose at least 10lbs in a week, and that the diet would eliminate waste, improve kidney function, enhance our digestive system, increase blood flow…and so on.
So what do we have to do to get the results promised?
For a minimum of 10 days and for as long as you can stick with it, you are supposed to drink the following concoction:
Yummy!
The above is one serving and you drink 8-12 servings a day, basically every 1-2 hours that you’re awake.
Or whenever you feel hungry…which will be most of the time as no food is allowed whilst you’re following the diet.
To lose more weight you’re supposed to reduce the amount of syrup you add to each serving.
Maple syrup has around 80 cals a tablespoon so even 12 servings a day will come in at under 1,000 cals.
You can also drink additional water if you get thirsty, which you’re likely to as you won’t be eating anything.
Lemonade Diet Review – Does it Work…?
This is a very low calorie diet that because of it extreme calorie reduction will result in some short-term weight loss, hence its appeal.
Starvation diets like the Lemonade Diet were not primarily intended as weight loss diets but were designed to cleanse the body.
Nonetheless, they have proved attractive to people looking for rapid weight loss.
The problem is, though, that most of the weight lost will be water and will go straight back on again once you start eating normally again.
You’re also going to unbalance your metabolism by following extreme diets like this one.
Your body will equate the extreme calorie reduction with starvation and will quickly slow your metabolism to conserve energy.
It will also break down muscle tissue, which is responsible for most of the calories you expend each day and use the protein to burn for energy.
This will further conserve energy, but will mean that when you come off the diet you’ll have less lean tissue to burn calories, making weight gain more likely in future.
We’d also be extremely concerned at anyone following a diet like this for more than a few days, if at all!
Following the diet for 10 days or longer is madness and you risk doing serious damage to your health in the longer term.
Given the narrow range of foods eaten, you’ll also be lacking many essential nutrients.
The diet also claims that there are enzymes in the lemon juice that burn fat, which is not scientifically proven, although similar claims have been made for grapefruit.
The cayenne pepper is also supposed to help you to lose weight, and there’s more on this in our page on natural herbs for weight loss.
As far as detoxing is concerned we’re sceptical as to its benefits.
Besides, eat a healthy balanced diet, cut back on alcohol and coffee, quit smoking, exercise and eat lots of fresh fruit and veg and you’ve no need to.
Lemonade Diet Review – The Bottom Line…
Our Lemonade Diet review would conclude that this is a ridiculous and potentially dangerous diet that should be avoided.
The science behind it is non-existant and whilst you may initially lose a few pounds, they’ll go straight back on again once you start eating properly.
There are other fasting, liquid diets around, all of which should be dismissed as fads.
If you’re looking for a well balanced diet that will help you to lose a healthy and realistic 1-2lbs a week, you may want to check out eDiets and get a FREE eDiets Profile.
Our Lemonade Diet review verdict? A potentially dangerous waste of time – skip it!