How Does a Lemonade Fast Affect the Body?

Lemonade fasts have become increasingly popular due to celebrities reportedly using them to lose weight quickly. Most lemonade fasts are based on the book "The Master Cleanser" written by alternative health advocate Stanley Burroughs. When on a lemonade fast, you drink a mixture of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and purified or spring water. Someone on this fast will drink this blend throughout the day, whenever they feel hungry. The faster will not eat or drink anything else while fasting, except for drinking an herbal laxative tea in the evenings and having a saltwater flush in the mornings. The suggested length of the fast is at least 10 days.

Within 3 days of fasting, your body will stop expending the energy it normally uses to digest food. Instead, according to the theory of this fast, it will focus using this same energy on cleansing the toxins from your body. The combination of the salt water flush, which "massages" your colon, and the herbal tea, which works as a natural laxative, work to cleanse your colon. The citrus juice, high in antioxidants, will boost your immune system while acting as an astringent, which means it will constrict and contract body tissue, encouraging them to release toxins. Since many of the body's toxins are stored in fatty tissue, it also encourages fat loss. The combination of acerbic citric acid and vitamins in the lemon juice blended with the cayenne pepper is believed to break up mucus throughout the body. The high amount of fluids taken in during the fast along with the flushing brought on by the herbal tea and saltwater will wash out the unrestricted mucus.

A lemonade fast is said to have many other benefits as well. It is believed to help clean the kidneys and digestive system, help promote healthy blood vessels and arteries, clear up skin problems and even relieve allergies. Your internal organs are allowed a chance to rest, which--as with every other part of your body--is beneficial and encourages rejuvenation. The first three days of the fast are reportedly the most difficult. From the fourth day on, the hunger is said to be much more manageable. This fast is purported to provide the maximum amount of benefits when carried on for 10 to 40 days.

As with any diet or major change in behavior, you should contact your primary care physician to make certain that you are healthy enough to begin and maintain a fast. If at any time during the fast you faint, feel very light-headed or have a dip in blood pressure, seek medical help. When coming off the fast, take in food slowly. Introduce broths and juices the first couple of days, gradually incorporating more solid foods as you are able to eat them.