#708: Peter Glickman

I take Brent Girouex’s lame excuses for his crimes to be a matter of desperation rather than theological commitments, so we’ll skip him.

Peter Glickman is the main proponent of the Lemonade Diet. The diet was originally developed in the 40s by ultrawoomeister Stanley Burroughs, but Glickman’s 2005 book Lose Weight, Have More Energy & Be Happier in 10 days rekindled interest – Glickman’s book at least turned out to be an enormous success. The diet consists, essentially, of fasting and drinking lemonade and salt water for 10 days, and the rationale is some absolute gibberish about detoxification.

The main hypothesis is that all diseases are caused by mucous buildup in the body leading to the accumulation of fungi and toxins (Glickman seems to be a little more careful about the universal claim than Burroughs was, but still). Lemon juice and cayenne pepper will then cut through the mucous and loosen it up and the laxative tea and salt water flush it out of the body. A 10 day regime will completely “detoxify” the body, flush out the lymphatic system, and rid it of warts, arthritis, asthma, stomach troubles, and body fat. The lemonade and cayenne pepper will according to Glickman but not reality also provide you with all nutrients you need. Following the diet will of course make you lose weight, given that the energy intake will be approximately 1/10 of daily recommended values, but everything else is absolutely first-class woo. Another takedown is reported here (though the general point of this article is somewhat questionable).

Diagnosis: It is not entirely clear whether Glickman actually believes this bullshit. But he seems to try his best to come off as one, and I am happy to buy the image of himself he wishes to paint and grant him his own entry. Congratulations.