Fad diets do one thing really well. They come up with insane justifications for why doing this crazy thing to your body will help you lose weight. Sometimes these arguments are quite compelling and other times they are just plain laughable. We all want to lose weight and become a fitter version of ourselves, but how we accomplish that has a great deal to do with whether or not the weight comes back.

[Beyonce famously used Master Cleanse Diet to shed weight for her role in DreamGirls...]

Read what we found out about the Master Cleanse Diet before you choose yet another diet offering false hope.

What IS Master Cleanse Diet?

The Master Cleanse Diet has claimed to be many things, but at its core it is a detox and weight loss program. Put simply this “liquid diet” is supposed to cleanse the body by removing toxins from food, drugs, alcohol, coffee, tea and other hot beverages. By cleansing these toxins from your body, the Master Cleanse diet claims this will also fight food cravings.

What’s IN The Master Cleanse Diet?

Probably one of the easiest fad diet concoctions to create is the Master Cleanse Diet cocktail, which consists of 10 ounces of water combined with fresh lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne peppers. Sounds easy enough right? But exactly how can this seemingly insignificant amount of “subsistence” help you cleanse toxins and shed weight?

[Look very closely...these are your weight loss tools if you choose the Master Cleanse Diet. Pampers? Yep, those are necessary too!]

The answer to that is even simpler. By eating nothing but the so-called Master Cleanse Diet elixir, you will create a huge calorie deficit which will inevitably lead to weight loss. However, what happens when you start eating again and those “cravings” are no longer being cleansed?

How Master Cleanse Works

On the Master Cleanse Diet, dieters may drink 6 to 8 glasses of the cocktail each day. If you get a craving of some sort the diet allows a Salt Water Flush that consists of 2 teaspoons of salt and a quart of water or herbal tea with laxatives. Although the Master Cleanse Diet lasts for up to 2 weeks at a time, you are not allowed any solid foods while cleansing.

After the 14 day Master Cleanse Diet is over, food intake can resume again. Master Cleanse proponents suggest easing back into eating with foods like soup and fresh fruits & vegetables. Serious stomach issues can occur for dieters who go back to solid foods that are already difficult to digest like beef.

What’s Good About Master Cleanse Diet?

If anything can said to be “good” about this diet it is that it is super simple to follow. You can’t eat anything and you can only drink a specific set of beverages so following the Master Cleanse Diet would be fairly easy for any adult of average intelligence.

The Master Cleanse Diet is cheap too, which in the age of over-priced diet products is a sigh of relief. Finally, what’s good about the Master Cleanse Diet is that it will create the necessary calorie deficit for weight loss.

What’s Bad About Master Cleanse Diet?

The list of Master Cleanse Diet negatives is slightly longer however. What’s bad about this diet is that by virtually starving yourself, chances are your weight loss will mostly be water weight and muscle…not the fat that you’ve been targeting for months. Losing fat requires a balanced diet and regular exercise, and simply drinking the weight loss Kool-Aid will shed pounds…just not how you wanted.

[Beyonce is still hot but the Master Cleanse Diet didn't help her keep it off, either!]

The most glaring problem with the Master Cleanse Diet is that our bodies already have this cool detoxifying machine, it’s called the liver. Between the hard work your liver does and regular bowel movements your body already rids itself of most harmful waste. Add in a few days of regular exercise and sweating will help remove toxins if your body truly needs it. The point is there are options like saunas and steam rooms for a quick detox.

Another weight loss problem associated with the Master Cleanse Diet is the hunger and fatigue you will certainly experience. Your body won’t get enough calories and nutrients on this diet to make it through the work day, much less a rigorous workout.

Master Cleanse Diet—Yay or Nay?

TFLA says ‘Nay’ to the Master Cleanse Diet because it requires a severe reduction in calories for a long period of time and requires no physical activity. These two factors are not necessary for successful weight loss.

The best thing you can do for your weight loss is to reduce calories where you can and get more exercise. If you really need help fighting food cravings eating lemon juice, syrup and cayenne pepper won’t help.

Getting a head start on weight loss can feel like an impossible task, but Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat has information that makes it seem a little less impossible. Read our Eat Stop Eat review and find out how to really break your addiction to food…in less than 2 weeks!