In our weight obsessed society, it's tough to pass a day without being bombarded with the newest weight loss advice, fad diets from Hollywood, or being showed before and after pictures of celebrities who miraculously dropped 20 pounds in 10 days. We've heard everything from magic diet pills that allow you to binge of french fries and chocolate cake while still losing weight, machines we simply stand on and they gyrate the fat right off of our hips, and the craziest diets on this side of the Milky Way.

Yes, we are a Nation, and a World intent on getting the perfect body as quickly as possible, and many times with the least amount of effort. So comes the idea of liquid fasts. We've heard Beyonce spreading the word that simply sipping her crazy blend of Cheyenne peppers helped her peel off pounds, Rachel McAdams and her maple syrup drinks, and gurus pushing the Master Cleanse further crediting their secrets to losing weight quickly to a fast, but do these liquid fasts really work and are they safe?

Let's be honest, most of what we hear about diet, weight loss, and even fitness tips isn't totally true and a lot of it is simply a lie or a bit of a stretch from the truth. The same goes with these fasts, and in fact days on end with nothing being consumed but liquids can not only leave you tired, cranky, but it is potentially dangerous. When you consume below a minimum amount of calories, your body will go into a starvation mode, your metabolism will slow down to almost nil, and after a while your body will actually begin to break down muscle mass and turn catabolic.

Beyonce and other followers of the Cheyenne pepper fast state that the hot flavoring will boost your metabolism and make you burn extra calories naturally. Well, while there may be a bit of a raise in your metabolism, this is almost negligible and in fact you burn calories eating anything as your body works to break it down. Further, you are much better off raising your metabolism by exercising and building your muscle mass to body fat ratio.

Further, these fasts will often leave you too tired to get in your workouts, and then when you do begin to eat again you are prone to over doing it simply because you are starving. The weight you lose when you go on a fast is initially simply water weight, and when you return to a normal diet you will gain that right back. Simple mathematics make it virtually impossible to lose 10 pounds of fat say in 10 days, because it takes a deficit of 3,500 calories to simply lose one pound. So in the end, you are much better off sticking to a healthy diet and exercising. Plus you will be much happier in the process; and fitness is fun and you want to have the energy to partake in your favorite activities.