Theresa Cheung - The Lemon Juice Diet: With a foreword by Dr Marilyn Glenville

Contents

ABOUT THE BOOK

ONE OF THE EASIEST WAYS TO DETOXIFY YOUR BODY AND LOSE WEIGHT

As it is low-GI, lemon juice provides a steady supply of energy, leaving you satisfied for longer and preventing the nagging hunger that often leads to snacking. With its natural detoxifying power and pure healing properties, lemon juice...

• is an excellent digestive agent, ensuring your liver eliminates toxins the key to lasting weight loss
• can boost immunity and brain function and fight cholesterol
• is packed with nutrients and vitamin C, keeping your metabolism healthy

With clear meal plans, delicious recipes and easy exercise tips, The Lemon Juice Diet is a safe, delicious way to lose weight quickly and effortlessly.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Theresa Cheung is a full-time writer specialising in nutrition and womens health and lifestyle issues. She holds a Masters Degree from Kings College Cambridge and, prior to writing and research, worked as a health and fitness consultant. Her previous books include The Menopause Diet, The PCOS Diet Book, You Can Beat PMS and Pregnancy Weight Management. Theresa also regularly contributes features to womens magazines, such as Red, She, Prima and You Are What You Eat.

When life gives you a lemon squeeze it, mix the juice with 300 ml of filtered water and drink twice daily.

If you suffer from heartburn, kidney or gall-bladder problems, or have a citrus allergy, you are strongly advised to consult your GP before going on this diet, and you may want to avoid eating lemons or lime peel. Although lemon juice can damage the enamel on your teeth, there are two things you can do to help avoid this: firstly, never brush your teeth straight after drinking lemon juice as this is when most damage can occur and, secondly, keep the lemon juice away from your teeth as much as possible by drinking it through a straw.

Rubbing lemon oil or juice into the skin and drinking lemon juice is not suitable for children under the age of four as their skin and digestive system are not strong enough to handle it; care should also be taken in respect of older children. If you are going to use lemon oil bear in mind that it is highly concentrated and should be used sparingly; a few drops are enough. It should never be applied to skin in undiluted forms. For applications that use lemon peel, always try to buy organic lemons to avoid the harmful chemicals with which commercial lemons are treated. Finally, dont forget that although lemons can prove very effective home remedies for a variety of illnesses by strengthening the immune system, in cases of serious illness you should always consult your doctor first to discuss your medical options.

Foreword

I have known Theresa for some time now and she has written extensively on many health topics. I am particularly pleased to write a foreword for this book because I know how important it is for people to learn how to lose weight sensibly and healthily.

Some diets make promises like lose a stone in a week, and it is all too easy to want those quick results by drastically reducing calories or going on a fad diet. But for healthy weight loss, you cant lose more than one to two pounds a week, and if you are losing more, it is muscle and water. This means that when you go back to your usual way of eating, you will put all that weight back on as fat, and the next diet has to be even stricter. In 2007, the worlds largest study of weight loss at the University of California showed that dieting is damaging because of the tendency to regain the weight, and that the yo-yo dieting effect increases the risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes. The study showed that more than two-thirds of people who go on a diet pile the weight straight back on.

When we talk about losing weight, what we really want is to lose fat. For that fat loss to be permanent you need to lose it slowly, and by following the recommendations in this book you will do so easily and healthily. And not only will you lose weight, you will improve your digestion too because you are not just what you eat, but also what you digest and absorb. The guidelines in this book will, in addition, help improve your general health and by getting your blood sugar in balance you may find that other symptoms will disappear such as mood swings, irritability, depression, fatigue, lack of sex drive, insomnia and PMS.

Dr Marilyn Glenville, PhD

Nutritionist and author of Fat Around the Middle

www.marilynglenville.com

Introduction: Lemon Twist

If youve picked up this book thinking its a lemon juice detox for drastic weight loss, youll be disappointed. A common myth is that you can lose a significant amount of weight by detoxing or starving yourself for days on end with juice and water as your only sustenance. Such detox diets are always based on fantasy instead of science. Most importantly, any eating plan that does not supply an average of 1,200 calories a day is not safe or supportive of optimal health or long-term weight loss. It can lead to intense and unpleasant side effects, including stomach pain, diarrhoea, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, fever, headaches, blurred vision and fatigue.

Scientists are also confirming what most nutritionists have known all along: severely restricting your food intake, or cutting out certain food groups, to lose weight simply doesnt work in the long term. Putting yourself on a fad diet, a juice fast or only sipping hot water with lemon for days on end will just slow down your metabolism (fat burning), decrease your blood sugar levels and make you feel moody, tired and sluggish.

In addition, fad diets simply arent sustainable because they are so restrictive. Any weight that you lose will mostly be water, and as soon as you eat normally again you will put all the weight back on. You will also be susceptible to saggy skin where youve lost muscle and to gaining a few extra pounds because your metabolism has slowed down with the dieting. And fad diets that cut out certain food groups dont give you the nutrients you need to keep your skin smooth, your belly firm and your breath fresh. Finally, if you cut down on essential nutrients you increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis and even cancer.

WHY THE LEMON JUICE DIET IS DIFFERENT

So, if dieting is a waste of time and energy, why is the Lemon Juice Diet any different? As we have seen, there is no science behind the claim that fasting and detox in the long term can help you lose weight safely and effectively. However, there is scientific evidence for the benefits of short-term nutritional detoxification, when supervised properly. A short fast for no more than one or two days can give your digestion, absorption and liver function a nutritional restart. In other words, it can boost your bodys natural detoxification process.

You may not realise it but your body is constantly detoxing itself naturally. Your digestive system is pretty efficient at cleansing itself and ridding your body of toxins. The liver is the major detoxification organ in the body, and the kidneys are the major filtration system. Fasting doesnt purify your body of toxins; these organs do. If your diet is poor or you arent giving your in-house detoxification system the nutrients it needs to function properly, this can lead to poor digestion and toxic build-up. In this case, a one-day semi-fast can help clear those toxins and replenish lost nutrients which your body needs to burn fat.