Master Cleanse

The Master Cleanse, aka the Lemonade or Maple syrup diet, is a type of liquid diet in which participants are required to drink a glass of lemonade 6-12 times a day. This is followed by an herbal laxative tea 1-2 times a day, and a glass of salt water. It was originally designed by Stanley Burroughs in 1976 to help detoxify and purify your body.
While not initially created as a weight loss diet, it was popularized in that sense by Peter Glickman’s 2004 book: Lose Weight, Have More Energy and Be Happier in 10 days. The lemonade mixture imbibed in this diet is a combination of fresh lemon or lime juice, maple syrup, water, and a dash of cayenne pepper.
This is an extremely low-calorie diet, with average intake ranging from 600-1200 calories a day. Participants are likely to lose weight since this diet forces your body to mimic a state of starvation. The recommended length of the “cleanse” is 10 days although some dieters have remained on the plan for as long as 45 days.
Most nutritionists feel that participants who lose weight on this diet are likely to gain it back when they resume their normal routines. Doctors recommend avoiding the use of this diet since it lacks many vital nutrients and could possibly harm your body.
There are no studies proving this diet’s efficacy as a detoxification treatment. Most studies suggest that our bodies actually detoxify themselves and that no cleansing treatments like the Master Cleanse are necessary for proper digestive functioning.