Historically, fasting is a way that religious people prepared for a ceremony, or High Holy Day. It was to make the body pure for God. This type of fasting, still done today in many religions, lasts hours or at the most a few days. However, many people have taken the weight loss that comes with not eating, and transferred it to a new diet trend: fasting for weight loss.
This has culminated in what we now know as the Master Cleanse Diet - also known as the Lemonade Diet or the Maple Syrup Diet. But, did you know that the Master Cleanse was not actually a diet in the beginning?
That's right. It started out as a way to eliminate toxins from the body, to detox, as we say now. Lasting as long as a month and a half, the idea is to subsist on nothing more than glasses of a concoction made from water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. It's actually not a fast at all, since you are putting something in your body.
The lemon juice act s as the cleanser; the maple syrup is to give your body the energy it needs. No one ever talks about the cayenne pepper, for some reason.
It stands to reason that ingesting nothing but what amounts to lemonade for up to weeks at a time will make you lose weight. However, let's take a look at some of the facts.
1. You can't do the Master Cleanse forever. Your body needs a wide variety of vitamins, nutrients and minerals in order to survive, let alone thrive. Eventually, you're going to have to eat food.
2. This is not a suitable long-term weight management program. As soon as you do eat food, you're going to gain weight - even if you plan on drastically altering your daily diet, to raw foods, macrobiotic foods, or strict veganism.
3. When your body has not had any solid foods for this long, there is a pretty good chance that your digestive tract will cease passing food, which makes for bad constipati on and painful bowel movements.
4. Doctors do not recommend the Master Cleanse diet, and many health officials go so far as to say it's dangerous to your health.
Beyond these facts, it's just plain boring! There are so many other ways to lose weight and feel great that allow you to also enjoy delicious meals and feel full and satisfied.
That being said, there is no harm in doing the Master Cleanse for a day, or two. It can give you the jump-start, or to give you motivation, to make a clean break from unhealthy habits. But, as a diet plan, fasting for weight loss does not make good sense.