A 10-Day Lemon Juice Cleanse Is Starvation With Better Branding
A $179.99 group program promised purification, but delivered highway naps, pigeon cravings, and a bathroom disaster.
In the bread aisle of a Whole Foods on a Sunday, a writer out grocery shopping asks a clerk where to find whole wheat bread. The clerk, a young man wearing a visor indoors that reads NAMASTE in all caps, chuckles at her. "Oh, we keep the poison in aisle 7."
A few steps later, passing a table where a man is recruiting shoppers for a group cleanse he is leading, she offers her own definition of the program. "What's that one called again? Oh, yeah...anorexia."
She is referring, she explains, to a 10-day regimen that costs $179.99 where shoppers fast together for support. For 10 days, the group takes only a tart peppered drink plus fiber supplements. The fee, in her telling, buys company for a 10-day fast with a price tag.
She says she knows because she tried it once. She grants that it delivered lighter weight and a feeling of being purified and detoxified.
Then she lists what happened to her body. She fell asleep behind the wheel on the highway, she caught herself fantasizing about eating a pigeon, and she lost bowel control.
She will keep eating solid food, grabs a couple of loaves of the so-called poison, and heads for the checkout.
Questions people ask
Can a lemon juice cleanse actually detox you?
No. The liver and kidneys already filter waste around the clock, and there is no good evidence that juice or cayenne regimens remove extra toxins. Most rapid weight loss on a cleanse is water and stool, plus some muscle if calorie intake stays very low for days.
Why would someone fall asleep driving and fantasize about a pigeon on a cleanse?
A diet of lemon juice, cayenne, and fiber pills provides only a small fraction of daily calories. The brain runs on glucose, so prolonged fasting can cause fatigue, poor concentration, irritability, and intense food fantasies. Driving while sleep deprived and underfed is dangerous, which is why doctors warn against fasting cleanses that impair alertness.
Why would a liquid cleanse cause loss of bowel control?
Fiber pills and large volumes of liquid can speed up bowel movements, especially with almost no solid food to bulk and slow stool. Lemon juice is acidic, cayenne can irritate the gut, and some cleanse blends have a laxative effect. The combination can cause cramping, urgency, and accidents.