Hi, all. So, I have been hearing a lot over time of people doing this particular ‘cleansing fast’ where for ten days they consume nothing but a mixture of pure grade B maple syrup, pure lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and water. The idea is that if the maple syrup is natural grade B syrup, and not a sugary substitute, and if the lemon juice is from real lemons and not concentrate, that the body is receiving all of the vitamins, minerals, calcium, magnesium, etc., that it requires to remain healthy, while at the same time cleansing it of all sorts of toxins and whatnot.
To me, this has always sounded like a pretty big stretch, frankly. But I know several people personally who say they have done it in the past year for the full ten days, and that not only didn’t they get sick, but they never felt better in their lives, lost weight but not muscle mass, and had plenty energy even during and throughout the fast to lead their lives, and even keep up with their excersise routines. I’m no nutritionalist, but I’m certainly curious to know if there’s anyone out there with any informed opinions as to the validity or falicy of this fast. It seems every ‘lay person’ like myself has an opinion as to whether it’s a ‘revolutionary’ health benefit, or if it’s a ‘new agey load of crap’. (-;
I will go out out on a not very big limb and say that it is a load of crap. However, I have developed a taste for cayenne pepper lately and put a ton of it on everything. It does seem to stimulate your digestive system and make you go #2 a lot. I feel clensed in a way from that.
There is no way that a the combination of maple juice and lemon juice could have any great effect except as a source of concentrated sugar and vitamin C.
The idea that humans just need vitamins, minerals, and water to survive is pure, grade-A, unadulterated bullshit. If you try to keep this up for long enough, your health will suffer from the lack of food.
That said, ten days probably wouldn’t cause severe damage to a healthy adult, but it’s hard to imagine that it’s good for anyone. One thing that anyone considering this should keep in mind is that once your metabolism is depressed from a low caloric intake, it takes a while to come back up after you start eating normally again. That means easy weight gain.
Also, be aware that muscle tissue is first to be cannibalized in times of starvation due to its high caloric requirements.
According to the cite above, if you drank enough maple syrup to provide the required caloric intake (it looks like about 0.5 litres or 30 table spoons worth), you’d also be getting about 1/2 the RDA of calcium, iron, and thiamin. But realistically, you could probably live off sugar water like a hummingbird for ten days without showing appreciable effects of vitamin deprivation.
Given the lack of salt in the diet, I would be more inclined to think that your electolyte balances would suffer considerably.
According to the print out my friend gave me, in addition to the syrup/lemon juice/cayenne pepper mixture, you are supposed to also drink a combination of natural sea salt and water in the mornings. My bad for not including that part in the initial post. So there’s actual no lack of salt in the diet.
I’ve never put much stock in this “flushing toxins” thing. I’ve never heard exactly what these toxins are, or how a particular regimen is supposed to clean them out. Between the liver and kidneys, a lot of substances are chemically altered and eliminated out of the system completely. There are a few environmental substances that can reside in the body in low doses, such as lead, mercury and dioxin. However, removing them takes a lot more than some odd-ball regimen. I think the effect from these flushing routines is mostly psychological/physiological.
Tell you what. My boss is Persian, and I usually do part of Ramadan fasting with him. Since I’m Christian, I modify it so that I don’t eat between sunrise and sunset. I eat normally in between. Do a week of Ramadan (starts October 15) fasting with me, and tell me you don’t feel cleansed or refreshed in some way.
This diet would also be completely lacking in both fat and protein, both of which are necessary. You’ll be getting some calories, so you wouldn’t starve to death, and it’s possible to survive for a week or two with no food at all. But I can’t see anyone thriving on this.
However, with a steady influx of sugar from the maple syrup, (and hence a fairly high blood sugar level) this probably won’t happen. What you’re describing is what happens when blood sugar levels remain below a critical level for an extended time. And even then, after a few days, the body stops metabolizing protein and starts metabolizing fat into ketone bodies (This is the whole point of the Atkins diet).
How does your boss fast? Every Muslim I’ve ever met who fasts Ramadan properly doesn’t eat between sunrise and sunset, but does eat normally at night.