What A Girl Eats

I get a lot of questions about diets.  So, here is my take on dieting:  They are like rules...made to be broken.  If you have a diet, you have a high chance of failing at it.  Just the fact.  So, instead of dieting... listen to your body.  It is really easy when you actually decide to do it.  You have to just do it.  Don't get discouraged, don't let others say you can't do it, don't look in the mirror and think you aren't seeing changes.  People only fail at "diets" because they label it as a diet.  Don't go on a diet.  Just change your mentality about food and yourself.  I know, it sounds preachy or something - but I knew I had to change and I knew I couldn't follow a diet plan.  I had to do what I felt was right.  Everyone knows how to eat healthy and be healthy - but no one wants to do it.  The reason why, is dieticians have turned food into this amazingly ornate and confusing form of energy vs fat confusing the rest of us because we never know if what we are eating is healthy anymore! If you actually listen to your body, it will tell you what you need.  If you crave something, don't cave.  If you crave salt, instead of eating potato chips - have some tomatoes with salt and pepper on it. Or a pickle..that fixes those salt cravings fast.  If you want something sweet, grab some raspberries or strawberries.  It is so easy, but you have to think before you eat.  After I made the decision that I was fed up with being obese, I changed that exact moment.  I lost 10 lbs that first week and I hadn't even started working out yet.  So, it is possible.  But don't say "I have to only eat this or this because of my diet".  You will not only feel dissatisfied, but you are likely not satisfying your basic body needs.  The other reason I don't like diets is because every person is different and reacts to a diet different.  Take for example - a person with O positive blood type shouldn't be a vegetarian.  Their body needs more protein.  How many diets do you know that recommend you check your blood type?

To elaborate on the blood type diets, I looked one up. Here is a breakdown of a "blood type diet" (taken from acu.cell.com)

Type A:  should basically stick to fruits and vegetables (high carbs/low fat).  They have thicker blood than other blood types, a sensitive immune system, and should not consume dairy products, animal fats, and meats.  They are at a heightened risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

Type B:  should consume a balanced diet (fruits, vegetables, grains, fish, dairy, meat, but avoid chicken).  They have the best chance of bypassing or overcoming everyday types of diseases, including heart disease and cancer.

Type AB: should consume mostly vegetarian diet, and only on rare occasions some fish, meat (no chicken), and dairy.

Type O:  should basically stick to a high protein diet (including red meat), low carbs, and enriched with fruits and vegetables.  They should limit their intake of wheat germ, whole wheat products, corn, and avoid dairy products and most nuts.  Type O are commonly affected with hypothyroidism, high stomach acid (leading to ulcers), and thinner blood with greater resistance to blood clotting.

But, of course - as I have been saying - doesn't meant it's for everyone. Chemical changes with age...for example:
Chemical changes may result in elevated blood sugar, water retention, or high blood pressure, and despite being Type O, may require a reduced intake of meat and other phosphate sources, and a higher intake of dietary or supplemental potassium and zinc.  One could consider another Type O individual who has been enjoying and tolerating a high protein (red meat) diet all his life, and who eats E. Coli-contaminated hamburger, ending up with kidney damage.  Obviously his blood type is still Type O, but unless he changes more to a "Type A Diet" now (more fruits, oxalate-free veggies, low purine diet), he will either soon encounter his first gout attack, or worse, he'll be soon on dialysis.

So back to the original statement:  Diets are too specific to be completely globally effective.

The Master Cleanser - It was designed to cleanse and heal the body of toxins, disease, illness, and various inflicitions in our bodies. However, as I looked through all the benefits, the one that stuck out to me the most was the obvious weight loss it promoted between the lines of its meaning for detoxifying the body.  Of course, it does mention in the book that overweight people will generally lose up to 2 lb per day...but it wasn't pushing this huge weight loss diet.  It was promoting health.  So, as I read through the book, it helped me see a new way to help me fast.  Water fasts are tough. Especially because of my heart problem I have had since I was young.  This addresses the issue I have of needing sodium to keep my blood from running too thin.  Anyway.  From here on out, I will be quoting straight from the book.  Anything of my own words will be in black italics.

This information is from a book called "The Master Cleanser" by Stanley Burroughs.

THE FOLLOWING DIET IS GIVEN SOLELY AS A SUGGESTION; ANYONE WHO FOLLOWS IT DOES SO VOLUNTARILY. SINCE EACH PERSON, NATURALLY, REACTS DIFFERENTLY, EACH INDIVIDUAL MUST USE HIS OWN JUDGMENT AS TO ITS USE.

Is the Lemonade Diet Also a Reducing Diet?

As a reducing diet it is superior in every way to any other system because it dissolves and eliminates all types of fatty tissue.  Fat melts away at the rate of about two pounds a day for most persons - and without any harmful side effects.
All mucus diseases such as colds, flu, asthma, hay fever, sinus and bronchial troubles are rapidly dissolved and eliminated from the body, leaving the use free from the varied allergies which cause difficult breathing and clogging of the sinus cavities.  Allergies exist as a result of an accumulation of these toxins and they vanish as we cleanse our body.  People who are over-weight often experience these difficulties, and the more they continue to eat the toxic fat-producing foods which cause their obesity, the more their other ailments multiply.
Mucus disorders are brought about by the eating or drinking of mucus-forming foods.  In other words, if you have diseases, YOU ATE THEM! As we stop feeding our family mucus-forming foods, we can eliminate their mucus and allergy diseases for the rest of their lives.
The types of disease which are a result of calcium deposits in the joints, muscles, cells and glands are readily dissolved and removed from the body.  Cholesterol deposits in the arteries and veins also respond to the magic cleansing power of the lemonade diet.
All skin disorders also disappear as the rest of the body is cleanse.  Boils, abscesses, carbuncles, and pimples all come under this category.  These conditions are, again, Nature's effort to eliminate poisons quickly from the body.
All types of infections are the result of these vast accumulations of poisons being dissolved and burned or oxidized to porduce further cleansing of the body.  Therefore, rapid elimination of the toxins relieves the need for infectious fevers of all kinds.  Infections are not "caught," they are created by Nature to assist in buning our surplus wastes.
Yes, the lemonde diet is a reducing diet, BUT MUCH MORE.  Just as many other disorders also cleared up at the same time when it was used to heal ulcers, when it is used as a reducing diet other ailments are also corrected in the process.
People build strong, healthy bodies from the correct foods or they build diseased bodies from incorrect foods.  When disease does become necessary, the lemonade diet will prove its superior cleansing and building ability.

Purpose

To dissolve and eliminate toxins and congestion that have formed in any part of the body.
To cleanse the kidneys and the digestive system.
To purify the glands and cells throughout the entire body.
To eliminate all unusable waste and hardened material in the joints and muscles.
To relieve pressure and irritation in the nerves, arteries, and blood vessels.
To build a healthy blood stream.
To keep youth and elasticity regardless of our years.

When to Use It

When sickeness has developed - for all acute and chronic conditions.
When the digestive system needs a rest and a cleansing.
When overweight has become a problem.
When better assimilation and building of body tissue is needed.

And How Often?

Follow the diet for a minimum of 10 days or more - up to 40 days and beyond may be safely followed for exxtremely serious cases.  The diet has all the nutrition needed during this time.  Three to four times a year will do wonders for keeping the body in a normal healthy condition.  The diet may be understaken more frequently for serious conditions.

How to Make It

2 Tbsp lemon or lime juice (approx 1/2 lemon)
2 Tbsp genuine maple syrup (not maple flavored sugar syrup)
1/10 Tsp cayenne pepper (red pepper) or to taste
10 oz water, medium hot (spring or purified water)

Combine the juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper in a 10 oz. glass and fill with medium hot water (Cold water may be used if preferred.)
Use fresh lemons or limes only, never canned lemon or lime juice nor frozen lemonade or frozen juice.  Use organic lemons when possible.
The maple syrup is a balanced form of positive and negative sugars and must be used, not some "Substitute".  There are four U.S.D.A. approved grades of maple syrup.  The early sap runs generally produce the lighter grades - Grade A Light Amber and Grade A Medium Amber.  These lighter grades are mild in taste, sweet and with less mineral content than the darker grades.  The mid-season runs generally yield mostly Grade A Dark Amber.  Dark Amber has more mineral content and more "maple" taste.  The end of the season brings mostly Grade B, with even more minerals and the strongest maple flavor.  All grades can be used in the diet but the darker grades are the most desirable.  The grading system is based purely on the relative deepness of the amber coloring and has nothing to do with the quality of the syrup, which is generally about the same for all organically produced maple syrup.

An ideal formula invloves freshly extraced juice from the sugar cane (readily available in India, but not generally in the United States at the present time):
10 oz fresh sugar cane juice (medium hot or cold)
2 Tbsp fresh lime or lemon juice
1/10 tsp cayenne (red pepper) or to taste
Another possible but lesser replacement could be pure sorghum.  It does not produce equal or close to the benefits of maple syrup.

How Much Does One Drink?

Take from six to twelve glasses of the lemonade daily during the waking eriod.  As you get hungry just have another glass of lemonade.  NO OTHER FOOD SHOULD BE TAKEN DURING THE FULL PERIOD OF THE DIET.  As this is a complete balance of minerals and vitamins, one does not suffer the pangs of hunger.  Do not use vitamin pills.
All solid food is turned into a liquid state before it can be carried by the blood to the cells of the body.  The lemonade is already a food in liquid form.
For those who are overweight, less maple syrup may be taken.  For those underweight, more maple syrup may be taken.  (right, like any of us will do that. haha)
Never vary the amount of lemon juice per glass.  About six glasses of lemonade a day is enough for those wishing to reduce.  Extra water may be taken as desired.

Helping the Cleansing Along

As this is a cleansing diet, the more you can assist Nature to eliminate poisons, the better.  If your system feels upset, it is because you are not having sufficient elimination.  Avoid this possibility by following the directions completely.  Above all, be sure you have two, three, or more movements a day.  This may seem unnecessary not eating solid food, but it is Nature's way of eliminating the waste it has loosened from the various cells and organs in the body.  They must leave the body some way.  IT would be just the same as sweeping the floor around and around and never removing the dirt from the house if the wastes were not passed out.  The better the elimination, the more rapid will be the results.
A LAXATIVE HERB TEA is found to be the best helper for most persons.  It is a good practice to take a good laxative herb tea right from the beginning - the last thing at night and the first thing in the morning.  There are several good laxative teas. T hey are best taken in a liquid form.  Buy them in your health food store.  (I found them at the grocery store in the tea/coffee isle just fine.)

Do not take supplments or vitamins!

All the necessary vitamins and minerals are in the lemonade, and therefore we do not need an additional supply in most cases.
The lemon is a loosening and cleansing agent with many important building factors.  The ability of the elements in the lemon and the maple syrup working together creates these desired results.
Its 49% potassium strengthens and energizes the heart, stimulates and builds the kidneys and adrenal glands.
Its oxygen builds vitality.
Its carbon acts as a motor stimulant.
Its hydrogen activates the sensory nervous system.
Its calcium strengthens and builds the lungs.
Its phosphorus knits the bones, stimulates and builds the brain for clearer thinking.
Its sodium encourages tissue bilding.
Its magnesium acts as a blood alkalizer.
Its iron builds the red corpuscles to rapidly corret the most common forms of anemia.
Its chlorine cleanses the blood plasma.
Its silicon aids the thyroid for deeper breathing.
The natural iron, copper, calcium, carbon and hydrogen found in the sweetening supplies more building and cleansing material.  It truly is a perfect combination for cleansing, eliminating, healing, and building.  Hence supplements are not needed during the diet and may actually interfere with its cleansing action.

Will It Make Me Feel Bad or Weak?

In the cleansing process, some people experience a tremendous stirring up and may even feel worse for several days.  It is not the lemonade that causes the trouble, but what the lemonade stirs up in the system that causes our dizziness and other disturbances.  Vomiting may occur under certain conditions; increased pain may be felt in the various joints of the body; dizziness may develop on certain days.  If weakness develops at any time, it is the result of poisons circulating through the blood stream rather than a lack of food or vitamins.  This diet gives a person all the vitamins, food, and energy necessary for the full ten days or longer in a liquid form.  Rest and take it a little easier if you have to - although most people can go on about their regular business without difficulty.  Keep right on withthe diet; don't give up or "cheat" by eating a little food or you may destroy the benefits.
Even though the lemon is an acid fruit, it becomes alkaline as it is digested and assimilated.  It is, in fact, our best aid toward proper alkaline balance.  There is no danger of "too much acid."
Alcoholics, smokers, and other drug addicts will receive untold benefits from this diet.  The chemical changes and cleansing have a away of removing the craving and the many probable deficiencies.  Thus the desire for the unnatural types of stimulants and depressants diesappears.  The usual cravings experienced and suffered in breaking away from drugs, alcohol, and tobacco no longer present themselves during and after this diet.

How to Break the Lemonade Diet

Coming off the lemonade diet properly is highly important - please follow the directions very carefully.  After living in a semi-tropical and tropical climate for many years, I find that people have increasingly turned to a raw fruit, nut and vegetable diet.  Following is the schedule for people who normally follow such a natrual vegetarian diet:
FIRST and SECOND DAY AFTER DIET:
Several 8 oz glasses of fresh orange juice as desired during the da.  The orange juice prepares the digestive system to properly digest and assimilate regular food.  Drink it slowly.  If there has been any digestive difficulty prior to or during the change over, extra water may be taken with the orange juice.
THIRD DAY:
Orange juice in the morning.  Raw fruit for lunch.  Fruit or raw vegetable salad at night.  You are now ready to eat normally. 

For those you have characteristically lived the unnatural way of meat, milk, refined and devitalized food, it may be best to change over as follows, gradually adopting the raw fruit, nut, and vegetable diet:
FIRST DAY:
Several 8 oz glasses of fresh orange juice as desired during the day. Drink it slowly.
SECOND DAY:
Drink several 8 ox glasses of orange juice during the day - with extra water, if needed.  Some time during the afternoon prepare a vegetable soup (no canned soup) as follows:

Recipe for Vegetable Soup

Use several kinds of vegetables, perhaps one or two kinds of legumes, potatoes, celery, carrots, green vegetable tops, onion, etc..  Dehydrated vegetables or vegetable soup powders may be added for extra flavor.  Okra or okra powder, chili, curry, cayenne pepper, tomatoes, green peppers, and zucchini squash may be included to good advantage.  Brown rice may be used, but no meat or meat stock.  Other spices may be added (Delicately) for flavor.  Use salt delicately as a limited amount of salt is necessary.  Learn to enjoy the natural flavor of the begetables.  The less cooking the better.

Have this soup for the evening meal using the broth mostly, although some of the vegetables may be eaten.  Rye wafers may be eaten sparingly with the soup, but no bread or crakers.

THIRD DAY:
Drink orange juice in the morning.  At noon have some more soup; enough may be made the night before and put in the refrigerator.  For the evening meal eat whatever is desired in the form of vegetables, salads, or fruit.  No meat, fish or eggs; no bread, pastries, tea, coffee, or milk.  Milk is highly mucus-forming and tends to develop toxins throughout the body.
FOURTH DAY:
Normal eating may be resumed, but best health will be retained if the morning meal consists of our type of lemonade or fruit juice; and of course, if a strictly fruit, vegetable, seed and berry diet is followed. 

Myth - Fasting Weakens the Body

Danger signals in fasting are caused by extreme negativity and fear towards "possible weakening effects" on the body. Fasting by itself does not weaken the body. This fear and anxiety, however, causes mental and nervous depression which is bound to react disastrously on the system. Therefore, fasting must be approached with a positive attitude - that it is an act which helps in the elimination of toxins. Fear of Fasting Unfounded It is now fully proved by the thousands who have fasted for long periods ranging from forty to ninety days that death in such cases is not due to actual starvation. The real cause must be fear and apprehension- proving again that the things we fear, we materialize.

Kinds of Fasts

The Regular Fast : No food, but sufficient water to quench the thirst to dilute the pathogenic materials and thereby facilitate elimination through the skin and kidneys. The Dry Fast : This means total abstinence from food and drink. It is a powerful method for promoting elimination of morbid matter and disease taints. The Seven Day Fast : Cannot produce any harmful or weakening results. The Long Fast : Extends from one to seven or more weeks, according to individual indications and the vitality of the patient.

In nature cure, one of the very important tools for health and disease cure is fasting. Many people are learning the trick of curing their colds, headaches, nervous spells and other acute troubles by missing a few meals or taking a short fast. It is the simplest and the most efficient way of relieving the overloaded and "food-poisoned" system. You would be surprised to know how little food is actually required to keep the individual healthy. One of the commonest complaints of the sick is that they have "lost their appetite". In fact, the greatest blessing to them would be to lose their appetite long enough to find their hunger. Loss of appetite is an indication that the system is overcharged with toxins and nature is trying to correct this by giving a chance to the waste accumulation in the organs to escape from the system. Fasting as a remedy is fully in harmony with the "nature-cure" philosophy of the cause of disease. If the disease is created by an abnormal accumulation of toxins in the system, it stands to reason that fasting will help in their elimination from the system. The membranous linings of the stomach and intestine which act as a "sponge" to absorb food materials are now "squeezed" to throw out the waste matter from the system.

Exercises While Fasting

The idea prevails that during a prolonged fast one should have complete rest. This however, is a serious mistake. There is no reason why one should not take the usual amount of or accomplish the accustomed daily tasks, provided, these do not strain the physical and mental energy to the point of exhaustion. Breaking the Fast The great benefit may all be lost, and followed by harmful after effects, if the fast is not broken in the right way. In fact, the best effects of a fast depend upon the dietetic management after it is broken. The longer the fast, the more care must be taken in breaking it. The greatest danger lies in eating too frequently and too much at a time. After a long fast the digestive organs are in a condition of complete inactivity, and to overload them suddenly with a large amount of food may provoke acute attacks of indigestion and produce many other kinds of serious disturbances. The organs must be trained to return to normal activity gradually, beginning with very small quantities of light food.   Sequence 1st Minute : Break the fast with a few tablespoonfuls of freshly toasted popcorn, unsalted and unbuttered. 1st Day : The popcorn may be followed, within an hour by some mild fruit juice, preferably lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit juice. Not more than the juice of half a grapefruit or of one orange should be taken at a time. Thereafter : The quantity of undiluted fruit juice may be gradually increased to three or four half-full tumblers. On the 3rd day, the meat of acidic or sub acidic  fruits may be taken instead of the juice alone. Next : The fruit diet may be supplemented with raw vegetables and salads. The raw food diet may be followed by the regular vegetarian diet.