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.)
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(Australian Food and Grocery Council, 2015)
(National Health and Medical Research Council, 2005)
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Now this table shows your daily nutrition intake on the detox:
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(My Fitness Pal, 2015)
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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.