Several celebrity sisters have also tried the program, which is enjoying a resurgence as a fast-acting diet. There are reports that Beyoncé Knowles lost 20 pounds in two weeks for her upcoming role in Dreamgirls, and Howard Stern's sidekick, Robin Quivers, claims to have dropped 70 pounds over three 21-day fasts.

Curious but skeptical, I researched the program, which naturopath Stanley Burroughs created more than 50 years ago, not as a diet, but to help people eliminate from their bodies toxic substances found in the environment, both indoors and outdoors, as well as to counteract the damaging effects of a bad diet and lack of exercise.

I didn't need to lose weight, but I did want to detox. I followed Burroughs's protocol of drinking a specially concocted "lemonade," along with salt water and laxative tea. I stayed sedentary in hopes of not dropping too many pounds. Four days later, I was nine pounds lighter.

Sounds good, right? But what happens once you go back to your regular diet? Will you gain back every pound--and then some? And for the many people with high blood pressure or diabetes, is it safe to live even temporarily on a sugary drink or to consume so much salt water? Read on.

How Low Should You Go?

The Master Cleanse fast entails replacing food with a lemonade made up of the following ingredients, which can be adjusted to taste or to slow weight loss by the addition of more maple syrup:

2 tablespoons fresh, organic lemon (or lime) juice
2 tablespoons organic grade B maple syrup (grade B syrup contains more nutrients than grade A)
1/10 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
12 ounces very warm distilled water

You drink the lemonade 6 to 10 times a day. You should also drink laxative tea and salt water (2 teaspoons of noniodized sea salt, dissolved in 1 quart of water) daily to keep your bowels moving. (Warning: Stay close to the bathroom!)

Dieters shed pounds quickly--two pounds a day is common--because they consume roughly 700 calories a day, versus the roughly 1,800 to 2,000 the average lightly active woman needs to maintain her weight. (Go here to calculate your caloric needs.) Proponents of the diet claim that it "melts" fatty tissue, but the weight loss can also be attributed to the loss of water weight and the removal of whatever toxins and waste your body sheds during the detoxifying process. Note that detoxification may also help boost your metabolism.

Experts warn against consuming fewer than 1,000 calories a day without medical supervision. The lemonade's ingredients are supposed to provide minimal nutrition, break up mucus, and warm the body. But protein, grains, vegetables, starches, good fats, and a balanced selection of fruits are obviously missing.

"The Master Cleanse is basically a starvation diet," says naturopath and detoxification expert Roni DeLuz, R.N., N.D., Ph.D., of the Martha's Vineyard Holistic Retreat in Massachusetts. "Depriving our bodies of nutrition sets us up to yo-yo to a higher weight. When we make the body think it's starving, once we resume eating, it will hold on to every nutrient, and we will get even heavier."

Beyoncé told the New York Daily News that she gained 12 pounds immediately after completing the diet. I regained my lost weight, but I have a naturally fast metabolism, so I didn't get heavier than before. Most of the women I've spoken to in my church who have tried the diet--and they number more than 10--say they are back to at least their previous eating habits and size.

A Question of Safety

With diabetes, high blood pressure, and other chronic conditions on the rise, some experts also have concerns about the health effects of such an extreme diet.

"The Master Cleanse is not appropriate for every individual. The question needs to be, 'Is it good for me?' " says Philadelphia herbalist, homeopath, and health consultant Glenn Ellis. "A diabetic or borderline-diabetic woman who follows the diet for a period of time--someone could find her on the floor in a diabetic coma. Our blood pressure reflects the balance between sodium and potassium in our body. Depending upon the individual, two teaspoons of sea salt could be a whole lot or insignificant."

"If you're not malnourished when you start the program--and many people already are--you certainly will be by the time you finish, which will cause some people to develop a serious illness," Dr. DeLuz says. "These types of programs also cause too many toxins to dump out of our fat cells, where they're stored, and into our bloodstream. For example, if too much of the pesticide DDT downloads too quickly, it can make you very sick."

Dr. DeLuz shares Ellis's concerns about the volume of syrup and salt: "So much lemon and sugar makes the body overly acidic, causing people to become more tired, hyperactive, stressed out, emotionally unstable, and angry. Too much cayenne pepper can make you develop fever blisters or trigger viruses."

It's also important to come off the Master Cleanse according to instructions, adding foods back into your diet over several days. After being detoxed, the body may not tolerate synthetic ingredients well--the artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, hormones, pesticides, and so on that are commonly found in food. And the longer you've been on the Master Cleanse, the more extreme your body's potential response to going back on a regular diet, especially if you eat lots of artificial, processed foods.

In fact, DeLuz says that returning to your old ways right away could land you in the hospital. I experienced firsthand some effects of having a clean system. After eating several slices of pie following my detox in an effort to put a few pounds back on, I started to look like a pimply faced teenager. Normally, pie wouldn't have caused me to break out.

The bottom line: "You shouldn't do the Master Cleanse for more than a few days at a time," says Dr. DeLuz.

Ellis adds, "[If] someone considering doing it is serious about improving their health, the best way to do that is to get their vital signs checked beforehand in a general medical exam to make sure no red flags come up."

Have you tried the Master Cleanse? Tell us about your results in the comments section below.

Hilary Beard is a Philadelphia-based writer

Published on: 09/19/2006

American Dietetic Association Nutrition Fact Sheets  
The Lemonade Diet  
The Master Cleanser by Stanley Burroughs  
National Library of Medicine: Losing Weight  
Weight-Control Information Network  






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