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Health: The Lemonade Diet

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May 24, 2006 6:34 pm US/Eastern

Health: The Lemonade Diet

by Stephanie Stahl
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― Medical Reporter Stephanie Stahl reports there is a new diet that is sweeping the internet, with people losing up to two-pounds a day.

First there was the grape-fruit diet, now comes the lemonade diet just in time for summer.

It is a special recipe that's helping people lose weight, but some say it's a sour plan.

There is a new twist one of America's favorite drinks.

"You drink three to four 32-ounce bottles of lemonade a day," said Erin Andrino.

28-year-old Andrino is on something called the master cleanser lemonade diet to lose weight before her wedding.

"I lost seven-pounds in seven days," she said.

The lemonade recipe:
-Water
-Lemon juice
-Maple syrup
-Cayenne pepper

You drink the mixture then eat nothing.

"It's really more of a starvation diet," said Dr. Katherine Sherif.

Dr. Sherif, director of Drexel's Center for Women's Health said the ingredients in the lemonade diet do not do anything special.

"Neither lemonade, maple sugar syrup or cayenne pepper are appetite suppressants," she said.

The inventor of the diet said it speeds up weight loss by cleansing the body, getting rid of toxins

The diet lemonade acts like a laxative and diuretic.

Dr. Sherif said there are some risks when it is combined with starvation.

"There are some potential dangers. One, it would be easy to get dehydrated, particularly in hot weather. The second danger is that if you don't get some protein everyday you start to break down the protein in your body and you can get very weak."

Andrino said she's aware of the risks and does not plan to stay on the diet too long for health reasons.

With her wedding just weeks away, there's one more reason.

"I don't want my dress to be too big," she said.

Dr. Sherif also said much of the weight loss from the lemonade diet is simply water weight. By not eating any food, the minute you go back to eating normally, you put the pounds back on.

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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