The lemon detox diet that Beyonce Knowles used to lose 20 pounds over the course of 14 days was none other than one of the oldest and most popular cleansing regimens around – The Master Cleanse. The Master Cleanse, also known as the Lemonade Detox Diet, is a modified juice fast recipe created by Stanley Burroughs in the 1940’s. Yeah, its that old!  It gained more popularity later in the 1970’s with his books The Master Cleanser and Healing For the Age of Enlightenment. The Master Cleanse has gained more and more popularity as a weight loss diet. Nutritionists have criticized and knocked it for it’s lack of nutrients as a proper diet. We must remember that this is not a permanent diet and it’s main goal is not weight loss. It is in fact a FAST. A juice fast. It’s purpose is to detoxify the body. Weight loss will naturally follow from both restricted caloric intake as well as from the detoxification process itself but the detoxification and elimination of built up toxins in our body is what this cleanse or detox diet is all about. The lemon detox diet is not only about losing weight but reestablishing vigorous health, positive outlook and to get us back on the road of healthy eating / living. This process detoxifies so well it can effectively eliminate addictions.

Beyonce Lemon Detox Diet Recipe

1. 10 oz Purified Water
2. 2 Tablespoons Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice (From organic lemons if possible)
3. 2 Tablespoons 100% Dark Maple Syrup (USDA organic if possible, grade A or B)
4. 1/10 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (Organic if possible)

A pre-made kit (as pictured above) can be very convenient and eliminate a lot of guess work, as well as time searching through stores. All you need is to buy the lemons.

Mix all ingredients and you will have a light brown liquid solution with red flakes, the Goldschläger of health tonics. And that is what Beyonce used to detox and lose weight with. The so-called “Beyonce Lemon Detox Diet” everyone is scouring the internet for. That’s it! Drink 6 to 12 glasses of this concoction every day for 10 days. An evening laxative is to be taken every night close to bedtime, with the encouraged option of a morning laxative as well. This is to flush out all accumulated fecal matter, as well as toxins that are trying to be eliminated and sitting inside your intestinal walls. I personally discourage using stimulant laxatives (bisacodyl, sennosides, etc) as they can cause damage to the proper peristaltic  functioning (mechanical muscle contractions) of your intestines. I recommend using a salt water flush as your best natural laxative but other saline or osmostic laxatives are also safe for the short duration used for the lemonade detox diet (e.g. magnesium citrate, milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide), etc.). Herbal laxatives could also be good. Take these laxatives using the recommended dosage on the packaging. I will also explain how to make your own homemade salt water flush. Salt Water Flush – Buy natural, non-iodized sea salt. Put about a tablespoon in 20 to 32 ounces of water (warm water is best if you can tolerate it). Stir around the salt until it has dissolved and drink that sucker as fast as you can, chugging, if at all possible. It won’t be pleasant… unless you have an unnatural thirst for salt water. Don’t underestimate this simple detox “lemonade.” It might be simple but there is a reason that it’s stuck around for decades and successful books are still being published about it.

Preparing For the Lemonade Detox Diet

It’s best to ease into The Master Cleanse. You don’t want to go from eating cheeseburgers, soda and drinking loads of coffee or caffeine to nothing but a solution of modified lemonade. You CAN but the adjustment will be much more difficult. Ideally, you want to take 2 to 3 days to slowly remove processed foods and meat from your diet and eat lighter foods including fruits and vegetables. Oh! And don’t forget to wean yourself off of the coffee or caffeine or any other substance you rely on (that includes cigarettes). The Master Cleanse will eventually help you overcome these addictions. Besides essential medications prescribed by your doctor, you want to be as completely free from ingesting anything but The Master Cleanse lemonade solution as possible. Many recommend even going off prescribed medications (I’m not suggesting that). With such extreme changes to your diet, it’s always good to discuss the decision to do these kinds of “radical diets” or changes to your health regimen with your doctor, naturalist or functional medicine practitioner… especially if you have preexisting health concerns. For 99% of people this is a 100% safe diet. ( 60% of the time, it works every time – Anchorman). All joking aside, this is a very safe, healthy and restorative cleansing process.

Mentally Prepare For The Master Cleanse

Most will NOT prepare for the likely obstacles that will present themselves along the way on this diet… and that could spell failure. The first three days are especially hard as you have caffeine withdrawals, headaches and general unease from the purging of toxins (it’s not that bad, you can do it!). Here are some possible scenarios you may not consider going in.  

Financially Budget For the “Beyonce Lemon Detox Diet”

How much can a few lemons and some maple syrup cost? Probably more than you think. In the long haul, you are probably saving yourself money from the meals or groceries you would normally be paying for… but not by much. Let me illustrate… At Super Cheap Walmart

Lemonade Preparation Trick

You are supposed to be making these 10 oz drink concoctions every time you feel hungry or need energy. You can imagine the amount of time you have to pause from whatever you’re doing to go down to the kitchen and make a glass. Or maybe you pre-make as many as you can and store them in bottles for work or wherever your daily routine lands you. Since you will get the most enzymes from the lemon after it is freshly squeezed (oxidation from exposure to the air will gradually degrade and make the enzymes less effective) you want to freshly squeeze your lemons as often as possible. That usually is pretty unrealistic. “Hold on guys, I gotta go squeeze some more lemons. Just finish the presentation without me.” So there are two things you can do.

1. Nalgene Bottle – I like to use a standard Nalgene bottle that contains roughly 30 fl oz and make enough of the Master Cleanse lemonade solution to fill that. It’s basically three of the standard Master Cleanse 10 oz glasses. I drink this fairly quickly and it minimizes my time playing lemonade chef in the kitchen.
2. Pre-Make Special Combination – According to Mike Olaski (themastercleanse.org) you can pre-make fresh squeezed lemon juice and combine it with organic maple syrup. The syrup will act as a preservative to keep the lemon enzymes intact (for 1 day).

Combine these in an even 1:1 ratio. Store them in a cool, dark or opaque container to keep light and heat out. Do not mix with cayenne pepper or water until you are ready to make and drink The Master Cleanse lemonade drink.

Lemon Detox Diet No No’s

Don’t use store bought lemon juice. You need FRESH lemon juice straight from the lemon.

Don’t use regular syrup. It is not the same and in fact, is loaded with extra sugars, preservatives and high fructose corn syrup (something that clogs your liver not detoxifies it).

Don’t drink LESS than 6 glasses a day of the detox lemonade and also drink additional water on top of this.

Don’t put your lemons in the fridge. Allow them to ripen at room temperature. If you buy in bulk, keep 10 of the ripest out and refrigerate the remaining.

Don’t break the Master Cleanse WRONG. Read below on how to break The Master Cleanse.”

Breaking the Master Cleanse… the Right Way

The Master Cleanse is a juice fast. In a traditional fast, you abstain from food and only drink water (which is highly acclaimed for it’s detoxifying and healing abilities as well). It is, however, more difficult to endure. A juice fast, such as the The Master Cleanse, is abstaining from any nutrition but water and juice. With either a traditional fast or juice fast you must break the fast or break-fast correctly. Why must you break it correctly? Your body has adapted to only receiving its nutrition through simple, easy to digest liquids. The systems responsible for creating certain enzymes and carrying out specific functions to break down and assimilate more complex foods have been temporarily shut down.  If you ate something highly processed or even something we think as simple like meat (which is actually quite complex to break down) immediately after finishing The Master Cleanse, you would get quite a painful gut ache as your body struggled to digest it. You have to slowly get those enzyme factories up and going again. How to break the lemonade detox diet? Just as you should have eased yourself into the cleanse, it is even more important to ease yourself out and back into your normal diet. If you don’t, you will wreak havoc on your digestive system and body.

1. Day 1 – Start with broth and then orange juice (100%).  Gauge how your body is handling this. If going well, later in the day add some light vegetable soup.
2. Day 2 – Slowly start eating more complex foods. Remember, when you get sick you eat the BRAT diet. BRAT is an acronym for bananas, rice, apple sauce and toast. These foods are easier on the old tum tum. Remember, listen to your body. Introduce something more complex a little at a time, allowing enough time to see if your body handles it without any ditress.
3. Day 3 – If everything has been going good, without a hitch, then start introducing some beans, then fermented foods like yogurt and lastly fish or white meat and onward. Many advocate going to a vegetarian diet and after feeling as good as you will after The Master Cleanse, you might pause to consider it. I paused but then continued on.

Benefits of the Lemon Detox Diet

1. Liver and bowel detoxification
2. Weight loss, eliminating fat stores that can house a lot of toxins
3. Clarity of mind and ability to see life through a clearer lens
4. Positive outlook on life
5. Eradication of many ailments, addictions and disease
6. Body transformations. Skin rejuvenates, eyes clear, sun spots disappear. Results vary

So, whether you call it the Beyonce Lemon Detox Diet or The Master Cleanse, it’s the same thing. And if a celebrity like Beyonce Knowles is shouting out from the rooftops how well this blue collar, cheap cleanse works (including her 20 lbs of weight loss in 14 days), it’s probably worth checking out. After all, Beyonce can afford any cleanse or hollywood detox diet available but she used this inexpensive, tried and true cleanse; The Master Cleanse. Check it out and do it right. Your body might thank you.

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