It’s common for people to want to lose weight quickly before a big event or a trip, but there is a right way to lose weight and a wrong way to lose weight. Recently, there has been a trend of trying to use certain diets that celebrities have used in the past. Many of those diets are ridiculous and basically consist of starving yourself.
One of the most famous of these diets is the “Master Cleanse”. Beyonce went on this particular diet, and so of course, many people followed in her footsteps. At least they attempted to follow in her footsteps (myself included), but the diet is very strenuous on the body. The diet was originally founded in the 1940’s as a remedy for ulcers, and then later altered to the description to a weight loss plan. The layout of the plan is to only consume three selected meals for ten to fourteen days, and then gradually add in other food after. Sounds easy enough right?! However, when I say “meals” I mean liquids, and when I say “add in other food after” I mean you actually get to eat solid food again. There are four drinks permitted for the diet: a Salt Water Wash, a Lemonade Drink, Peppermint Tea, and Herbal Laxative Tea. The Lemonade Drink is the main source of energy from the cleanse, and it is the drink that is taken the most often; six to twelve glasses per day. The ingredients of the drink are lemon juice, water, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup.
While the maple syrup may charge your body with some energy, there are many side effects due to the lack of nutrients in the Master Cleanse diet. Pulled from the full list from the Master Cleanse site, nausea, dizziness, and diarrhea are just some of the negative reactions the body may encounter. The Master Cleanse claims that experiencing these side effects indicates that you need to drink more of the lemonade, and that the diet is actually working! Great!
In reality, the reasons you are feeling so bad is because your body is not receiving the calories or nutrients it desperately needs. An average grown woman should be consuming anywhere between 1500-2000 calories per day in order to be functioning properly (Gunnars). The Master Cleanse diet only supplies the body with 650 calories per day, and keep in mind, that is only if you are drinking all twelve glasses of the lemonade drink (Cespedes). With simple math, it is evident that the Master Cleanse is 850 calories behind the minimum recommended daily calorie count. Yikes.
In addition to falling behind in calories, your metabolism drops because your body thinks it is being starved. In order to conserve energy, your body stores fat (which is the exact opposite of what you are trying to do). While the fat is being stored, your muscle is what is sacrificed to burn (Gueren).
Not only are you contradicting the purpose of the diet, but you are putting yourself in some serious medical risk. Like I said before, the body does not function the way it is supposed to without the correct amount of nutrients entering the body. So, the body will have to resort to taking the nutrients from itself. The most severe risks include: broken bones, anemia, and various heart problems. Your bones will grow weak because your body needs calcium, anemia could result from your body removing the iron from your blood for uses in other parts of the body, and lastly, your heart is the most important muscle in your body, and since you tend to lose muscle mass during crash diets, your heart can grow weak. For the complete list of all potential risks (including emotional), you can find them here.
The best and healthiest way to lose weight is to eat right and stay fit!
Sources:
Cespedes, Andrea. “How Many Calories Are in the Master Cleanse Diet?”LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
Dreifke, Sarah. “Why A Crash Diet Isn’t A Healthy Solution / Nutrition / Healthy Eating.” Why A Crash Diet Isn’t A Healthy Solution / Nutrition / Healthy Eating. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
Gueren, Casey. “Here Is What Crash-Dieting Does To Your Body.” BuzzFeed News. Buzzfeed Inc., 11 Mar. 2015. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
Gunnars, Kris. “How Many Calories Should You Eat Per Day to Lose Weight?”Authority Nutrtion. Authority Nutrtion, 29 July 2016. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
“Master Cleanse – Lemonade Water Detox Diet- Effective Recipe For Weightloss – 7Min Blog.” 7Min Blog. 7Min Blog, 15 July 2016. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
Olaski, Mike. “Master Cleanser Side Effects: The Definitive List.” The Master Cleanse. The Master Cleanse, 20 Jan. 2016. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
Image 1: http://familysponge.com/health/start-the-master-cleanse-detox-recipe/
Image 2: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/winter-break-as-told-by-michael-scott
Image 3: http://dalesaunders.blogspot.com/2013/07/eat-right-and-stay-fit.html
I actually thought this post was pretty accurate. I do a lot of research on health and working out and everything you stated was true. I think alternatives to those extreme diets are working out and making progress naturally. You could also change your diet to healthier options. Diet plays a large part in weight loss and weight gain. I’ll leave a link underneath to an article that shows how vital a good diet is to losing weight.
https://www.americansportandfitness.com/blogs/fitness-blog/7046800-sports-nutrition-diet-is-half-of-the-battle
Sorry if it’s not a live link, I am kind of confused on how to do that on the comment.
I have a friend back home who tried the “water diet.” The water diet is exactly what it sounds like, no food only water for 5 days. Although he lost weight it was not healthy weight. His grades in school plummeted in those 5 days because he had no energy to focus. I’m all for a healthy diet but most people who do these extreme diets do no research before hand.
I always find the different ways of dieting very interesting. It is crazy to think the lengths some people are willing to go just to diet. Some models even insert a tape worm in their body so they can enjoy eating without gaining any weight. According to Healthy Weight Forum , the tapeworm reduces the amount of calorie intake. However; this process is very risky because if you don’t remove the worm soon enough it can be very dangerous to your health!
As a girl who has looked into all of these crazy diets but has yet to actually try any of them, I can stay that I am stunned by this article. I can’t believe that a diet with such negative side effects is even the tiniest bit popular among people. Even with popular celebrities endorsing it, this seems quite insane to give it a try. However, my friend was looking for a juice cleanse this summer that would help her lose a few pounds and still be healthy for her body as well as being affordable, and after a lot of research, she was able to find this one. It is completely safe and will not have any of those harmful effects on your body! This one is really designed to make sure you’re eating healthy and getting all your servings of fruits and veggies throughout the day as well as providing you with fiber and antioxidants!
So if you’re looking for a simple diet to stay healthy you might want to give that one a try! She liked it a lot!!
Personally though, I don’t think I will ever get to the point where I find it necessary to try one of these crazy diets. It’s so scary to see how fast your body can begin to negatively change from this diet, and I’m really not even sure how this diet could sound like a smart idea to anyone. Now I’m no nutrition expert, but lemon water and maple syrup (even if it is organic) doesn’t sound too appetizing or healthy to me!! I think I’ll stick with my fruits and veggies and keep active!! That sounds the most logical to me!
In this day and age i completely agree that the pressure to keep up with an image is at an all time hight. Today it is less about loving your body and treating it right and more about looking like you are doing so. We seem to think that the secret to looking good and healthy is looking thin, which is absurd. As cliche as it is, our bodies were all built differently, we are individuals and what works for someone may not work for everyone. We see so many celebrities, much like Beyonce, endorcing certain diets or weight loss products all over social media and assuming that they look as incredible as they do simply by using the products they are endorcing. Im sure if we also got part of the paycheck that they get for endorcing these products we would all care less about what we actually looked like. Truth be told, celebrities often workout multiple times a day to maintain their figures, no diets or gimmicks make them look that way. The book “Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight-Loss and the Myths and Realities of Dating” is an incredible read that discusses healthy ways to lose a reasonable amount of weight, the dream to look like celebrities, and addresses common misconceptions. I would strongly recommend taking a look at it.
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=MclPzoZrNL8C&oi=fnd&pg=PP11&dq=celebrity+weight+loss+&ots=brV4OoodLt&sig=TwJ3wp6wH-v3bTxnw-FtgoU7ihQ#v=onepage&q=celebrity%20weight%20loss&f=false
In this day and age i completely agree that the pressure to keep up with an image is at an all time hight. Today it is less about loving your body and treating it right and more about looking like you are doing so. We seem to think that the secret to looking good and healthy is looking thin, which is absurd. As cliche as it is, our bodies were all built differently, we are individuals and what works for someone may not work for everyone. We see so many celebrities, much like Beyonce, endorcing certain diets or weight loss products all over social media and assuming that they look as incredible as they do simply by using the products they are endorcing. Im sure if we also got part of the paycheck that they get for endorcing these products we would all care less about what we actually looked like. Truth be told, celebrities often workout multiple times a day to maintain their figures, no diets or gimmicks make them look that way. The book “Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight-Loss and the Myths and Realities of Dating” by Gina Kolata is an incredible read that discusses healthy ways to lose a reasonable amount of weight, the dream to look like celebrities, and addresses common misconceptions. I would strongly recommend taking a look at it.
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=MclPzoZrNL8C&oi=fnd&pg=PP11&dq=celebrity+weight+loss+&ots=brV4OoodLt&sig=TwJ3wp6wH-v3bTxnw-FtgoU7ihQ#v=onepage&q=celebrity%20weight%20loss&f=false