Cayenne Pepper Diet
What's The Cayenne Pepper Diet All About?
Your initial thought about a cayenne pepper diet might be, "here comes another weight reducing fad". While you will lose some weight while on this diet, maybe a significant amount, you might gain it right back when you're done. So what's the purpose?
The cayenne pepper diet is primarily a cleansing diet. Its purpose is to detoxify and cleanse the body. Since it is a fasting diet as well, you can be expected to lose weight at the same time. The secret to keeping the weight off after you are done fasting, is to follow a regimen of healthy eating and exercise, a regimen that will help you maintain your new weight. As a first step, don't go into this diet expecting miracles in weight reduction, or you may be disillusioned. Think of the diet as something designed to improve your health and make you feel better. That it will do.
A cayenne pepper diet can be made several different ways, the most common being a concoction of lemon juice, maple syrup, water, and cayenne pepper. Another recipe calls for honey, together with lemon juice, pepper and water. What you have is a lemonade, and you drink between six and twelve 12 ounce servings a day. Ten ounces of each serving is water, to which is added 2 tablespoons each of honey and lemon juice. Then add 1/10 a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. That may not sound like much pepper, but if you've ever had cayenne pepper, you know that it's plenty. Be careful when you're handling the pepper. If you get any on your fingers, and then touch your mouth or near your eyes, you're in for a bout of discomfort. It's strong stuff.
The drink, whether made with honey or maple syrup, can be served cold, or as a hot tea. One school of thought is that you don't want to eat any food during the 10 days of the diet. Another school of thought is that food is OK, but heavy foods must be avoided. There are real benefits to total fasting, but 10 days of it could put real stress on your system, and more than 10 days could put you in the hospital. If you fast for 24 hours you'll notice some positive differences. After that time, you need to make some decisions as to how much, if any, food you should be eating during the remaining days.
When you end the cayenne pepper diet, ending fasting to be exact, don't just start bolting down food. Start with light foods, and not too much, increasing your food intake slowly over a few days. Otherwise, too much solid food may plug up your digestive system. Bear in mind that this is an extreme diet, and if you decide to try it, you need to monitor how your body feels, and not hesitate to go off it if things don't feel right. No matter whether you complete the 10 days or not (don't go longer), consider adding cayenne pepper to your regular diet as a seasoning. It has many health benefits, both proven and yet to be proven. Capsicum, the active ingredient in cayenne pepper supposedly helps to regulate blood pressure, and thus reduce the incidence of strokes, assists in digestion, and generally benefits blood circulation. Finally, if you are not in the best of health, have certain food allergies, or are on medications, it would be best to consult with your doctor before going on this diet to avoid unpleasant side effects.