Lemonade Diet

The Diet:

The basic recipe for the lemonade:

• 2 tbps (about 1 lemon) of fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tps of grade A maple syrup
• 1/10 tps Cayenne Pepper
• 8 ounces of water

If that recipe looks familiar it is because it is the same one your mom used to make for you when you were a kid. Assuming your mom didn't love you and was also insane. According to the lunatic who invented this diet, it should be followed for 10 - 40 days. This diet isn't supposed to be used with any supplements.

However, every other website I read warned about muscle loss. So I decided to go slightly against the rule and substitute protein. I had either protein powder shakes or protein bars each day. Usually this equated to between 40-80 grams of protein.

The Experience:

Monday morning I was 5 pounds up from the Sunday before starting Eat To Live. I decided to eat only fruits and vegetables that day. In the evening I drank a quart of prune juice, to help flush my digestive system. By the next morning I was 5 pounds down, basically even with where I was before I started Eat To Live. The results number reflects that initial weight adjustment.

The lemonade tastes pretty decent. I found myself increasing the amount of cayenne pepper. You just feel a little heat from the pepper in the back of your throat. One thing I did notice is cayenne pepper tends to sink pretty fast, so each subsequent sip will become a little hotter. By the end of the week I was using half a teaspoon or so of pepper for 8 ounces of water. The lemonade and protein wasn't quite enough. At one point Wednesday evening I was feeling so hungry I took a few handfuls of raw oats and ate them. I quickly decided not to eat anymore. I also had some cheese a couple of nights. I didn't have any chocolate chips in my freezer, which is probably the reason I was able to lose any weight.

Originally I was going to only do this diet for 3 days, but Friday morning I woke up and I actually wanted to have more of the lemonade. So I caution you that there appears to be some kind of addictive drug in the cayenne pepper. I ended up having more lemonade both Friday and Saturday, but not as much as before. Supposedly Cayenne pepper has a lot of reputed benefits:

• Anti-Irritant
• Anti-Cold and Flu
• Anti-Allergen
• Digestive Aid
• Helps Produce Saliva
• Detox Support
• Joint-Pain Relief
• Tropical Remedy

On Tropical Remedy one website says "as a poultice, cayenne has been used to treat snake bites, rheumatism, inflammation, sores, wounds and lumbago." Okay... In my clinic for people who don't believe in real medicine I've treated gunshot wounds with cayenne pepper. For some reason the patients always succumb to their wounds, but I'll be deep in the cold ground before I stop treating them with a spice.

This diet is supposed to be a cleanse. After the first day your stomach is completely empty, so I am not sure what you are supposed to be cleansing, unless it is energy. This diet is very effective at purging energy from your body. There were times when I would feel dizzy and get very fatigued. I tried to exercise each day, but it was very difficult considering the low energy. Friday evening I was incredibly tired while in an Aikido class. The sessions are ninety minutes long; thirty minutes in I was already out of energy. Somehow I made it another hour. I staggered out of Aikido completely drained. I ended up stopping at Subway on the way home and got a sandwich. After I ate it I felt like throwing up (but didn't).

The Result:

Not only did I get rid of the temporary weight from the gorging the previous week, but I managed to lose 3 pounds. That was a little surprising. Hopefully it wasn’t all muscle and brain matter. Now if I can just kick this cayenne addiction...