We have probably all seen the Lemon Detox commercials for one of the latest snake oils to hit the market. It has all the red flags of a fraudulent product, celebrity endorsements, miracle claims and personal testimonies. What I can’t find is any scientific support for the claims that are made on the official Australian website. How ever I did find an interesting quote on the Spiritual Cleansing section of their site.
“Fasting is a valid experience. It can benefit any otherwise healthy person whose calories now have the upper hand in his or her life.”—The New England Journal of Medicine
However that is as far as they go in terms of attributing the quote, no author, no year and no other reference. Let’s assume the quote is correct after all it is scientifically sound. According to the First Law of Thermodynamics if you consume less calories than you burn you are guaranteed to lose weight.
Ok so they made at least one scientifically solid statement, but are there any others? Well, no but what I did find was a religious quote.
Prayer takes us half way towards God, fasting takes us to the gates of Heaven” – Mohammed.
Who would have thought the starving yourself might bring you closer to god. Is that really a good quote to market your product?
Let’s move on, hopefully to something more sensible. How about the “Why we need to Cleanse” page.
Every once in a while, every machine needs an overhaul, every system needs a cleaning, every worker needs a break.
We service our vehicles every once in a while to free them from any blockages or complications and to get them back to their peak performance. If we leave our vehicles for too long without a service, they begin to slow down, losing their vitality and performance. Usually problem after problem will occur. With regular servicing, our vehicles become revitalised and more reliable, and able to function efficiently.
Here’s the problem. A blockage is a serious medical condition if anything is blocking your circulatory or digestive system you need medical attention fast so unless you are in the ER right now you do not have any blockages to get rid of, or at least not one that your body can’t clear by it’s self. Another problem is the idea that “toxins” build up in the body. Yes, you can put poisons and toxins such as alcohol and tobacco into your body but your body disposes of nearly all toxins through natural processes you do not need to do anything to clear toxins out of your body except in extreme cases. Such as an overdose where the body cannot handle the excessive amount of toxin introduced to the system. Again this is a serious medical condition where treatment often involves replacing large amounts of blood. It is not a condition that can nor should be treated with the Lemon Detox Diet. This is simply Woo-Woo designed to part the ignorant masses from their hard earned cash.
Conclusion
If you want to clean out your digestive system drink nothing but water for a day, generally there is nothing in your system that is over 24 hours old. So if you drink water an don’t eat for about 24 hours your digestive system will be as clean as it has ever been. As for the weight loss, consume less calories than you burn and the First Law of Thermodynamics guarantees your success. The Lemon Detox is nothing more than snake oil a common fraud designed to part people from their cash. Celebrity endorsement is something to be weary of as snake oil sales men love to use them in order to lend credibility to their fraudulent product. The method I suggested is endorsed by a Law of Physics and backed by countless irrefutable scientific evidence. Lemon Detox is endorsed by celebrities rather than scientific evidence and there is a good reason for that.
What about detox water, people are using for weight loss now a days