What is the Lemon Detox Diet

Hey all, i've been looking into the Lemon Detox Diet to figure out whether or not its good for you.

First of all: 

What is it?

The Lemon Detox Diet is a detox that will usually last for 10 days although it can be done for 7 or 14 days. It involves drinking 2-3 glasses of Lemon Detox drink in place of breakfast, lunch and dinner. The drink is a concoction of lemon juice, cayenne pepper and Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup™ which can either be bought or made at home. There are few different advertised ways to do the detox according to www.lemondetox.com.au including a relaxed version which is pretty much the same as the original version except you can eat solid food for lunch. For the sake of this blog i’m going to analyse the nutritional factors of the original 10 day long full detox.

Nutritional Factors

So how good is this detox for you? To determine this i'm going to compare the nutritional values of this detox to the Australian Dietary Guidelines.

Firstly consuming nothing but liquids for 10 days doesn't really abide by these guidelines. An adult is meant to consume (depending on age and gender) between 5-7.5 servings of vegetables, 2 servings of fruit, 3-9 servings of grains, 2-3 servings of meat, fish and eggs and 2.5- 4 servings of dairy (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2015, p.15-24). The only food group on this list that this detox provides is fruit. In each glass of detox drink there is 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and it’s suggested that you have around 9 drinks a day. 1 lemon yields about 4-5 tablespoons of juice (Jessy Yancey, 2015, para. 2) so you’ll consume about 2 lemons which is only 1 serving of fruit. Here’s a graph I made to sum all that up.

Next I’ll go into the amount of nutrients and kilojoules found in this detox and the amount you’re meant to consume. Now this will be the most easily shown in a table, but for a more in-depth view I suggest going to https://www.nrv.gov.au/node/3. This table shows what your daily nutritional intake should be according to the Australian Dietary Guidelines (the values are dependent on your gender and age.)

(Australian Food and Grocery Council, 2015)

(National Health and Medical Research Council, 2005)

Now this table shows your daily nutrition intake on the detox:

(My Fitness Pal, 2015)

Obviously the Lemon Detox Diet doesn’t provide you with enough nutrients or energy and consuming this little, even for a short period of time can be really harmful for your health. Without enough energy you may become tired and sick and without the right amount of nutrients and vitamins your bones, nails and hair can weaken.

Is This Detox Good for you?

Short answer; no. Detox’s have no scientific research saying that they work. Your body doesn’t need to consume nothing but lemon juice for a week to rid itself of toxins, it has the digestive system to do that. Short term problems can include stomach aches, pain in your muscles, headaches, and exhaustion (Tim Crowe, 2013). Yeah, this diet can help you to lose weight but it really isn’t good for your health. I’d suggest just altering your diet so that you eat more vegetables and grains and less processed foods. If you really want to try this detox, doing the relaxed option (eating lunch and replacing breakfast and dinner with the Lemon Detox Drink) will be better for you and will have less negative effects on your body.

References

Australian Food and Grocery Council. (2015). Daily Intake Guide. retrieved from http://

www.mydailyintake.net/nutrients/

Jessy Yancey. (2015). Your Main Squeeze: How to Make Lemon Juice. Retrieved from

http://farmflavor.com/your-main-squeeze-how-to-make-lemon-juice/

Lemon Detox. (2015). Which Detox Suits You. Retrieved from http://www.lemondetox.com.au/

rhowthelemondetoxworks.php

My Fitness Pal. (2015). Nutrition Facts. Retrieved from http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calorie-

chart-nutrition-facts

National Health and Medical Research Council. (2015). Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary.

Retrieved from https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/n55a_australian_dietary_guidelines_summary_131014.pdf

National Health and Medical Research Council. (2005). Nutrient Reference Values for

             Australia and New Zealand.

Retrieved from https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/n35.pdf

Tim Crowe. (2013). Do you need to detox to rid your body of toxins? Retrieved from

 www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2013/01/16/3670668.htm