There are many different diets and cleansing options that are swirling around the Internet. One of the most popular ones is called the Master Cleanse, or the lemonade diet. This involves giving up food for x amount of days and drinking homemade lemonade that includes lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. There are also other things that can be done in conjunction with consuming this drink that I didn’t partake in.
This week my roommate, Katie, and I decided that we were going to give this cleanse a try. She had done it once before over the summer and had been successful. We decided that during the week would be best and that we would attempt for 4 days: Tuesday through Friday.
Making the lemonade is very easy; we made it the night before so that we wouldn’t have to worry about it in the morning. Tuesday morning I had my first glass and thought, “this isn’t that bad, I can do this.” Before I left for class I had another glass and went on my merry way.
When I got home that night I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was munch on something. Six hours into the cleanse and I was definitely feeling the effects. Two of the things that affected me most were the lack of energy and the chills. Normally I like to unwind and watch a TV show before getting down to business and doing some homework. Today, even after having a pretty chill day, I couldn’t even bring myself to get off the couch. The only time I did was to change into warmer clothes because I was freezing despite the fact that my apartment has been that temperature for the past couple weeks. Eventually I was able to muster just enough energy to almost complete my assignment, leaving the rest to the morning before class.
Wednesday I woke up and was insanely hungry. After about two glasses of the lemonade, the hunger was somewhat better but my mood didn’t improve. It’s really hard to give up food all together and drink the same drink for an extended period of time. On Wednesdays, I have two more classes than Tuesdays and it requires a lot more walking around campus, which is using up a lot of the energy that the drink gives you. Any extracurricular activities will also take a lot more effort than when you are consuming food.
I sound very negative when talking about my experience on the diet, but I think that the cleanse is an option if you want to kick start eating healthier. One of the things learned so far is that the human body doesn’t need that much food to function well. I was consuming the bare amount, probably less than I should be, without the proper nutrients that I should consume per day, and I was still able to get up and go to class and participate; it just required a lot more effort than normal.
As a recommendation, if you have an active lifestyle, doing thing cleanse during school is probably not your best option. By the end of day two, Katie and I made the decision to stop because both of us were both feeling too faint to move forward, especially looking at our schedules. I work as an intramural referee and I would prefer not fainting on the ice in front of everyone.
Next Fad Diet: The Paleo Diet