Benefits of Lemon Water

StreetSmartMom body, cleanse, detox, health, lemon water, lemons, water 0 Comment May 19, 2016

Shalom, Smart Moms!

Every morning I look forward to drinking my Matcha powder green tea with lemon. (I use a whole half lemon for my cup of tea, which may prove too lemony for some but wow! I love it!).

At some point I was told in my yoga classes, in conversation with my friends at our favorite coffee shops, on my health blogs I follow, somewhere…. I’ve been told that lemon water is excellent for you.

Well I already love the taste of lemon, so I just nodded my head between lemon sips and felt good knowing that the icy restaurant lemon water doing me a solid.

Recently a friend asked me how it was good for them when I mentioned how beneficial it was.

Now we’re all a little guilty of kind of just going with fads in health now and then, especially when they’re mostly harmless to do either way.

Did I know how lemon water was good for me exactly?

No.

Did I really care whether I knew or not?

Well, not at the time. And if I kind of just do my thing with it then maybe it doesn’t matter.

But if I repeat supposed health dogma I really should know what I’m talking about.

And hey, smart moms know. They don’t just follow the crowd.

So, I did some edjumacating and this is what I found.

While lemon water itself doesn’t help you lose weight, it does replace other drinks in your diet that otherwise add calories. (1) Lemon water is nearly calorie-less while even a glass of juice could run up around 150 calories. Apply that through the day along with milk and soft drinks and those numbers can add up!

So just replacing your usual drinks a couple times a day with lemon water could help you lose weight.

Helping hand:

Drinking water is what keeps your metabolism running nicely (whether you take it with lemon or cucumber or what have you). (6) Staying hydrated is the key. Your body loooooooves water. Most of our bodies are composed of water.

Drinking lots of water keeps you full, feeling good, and your metabolism chugging along. So whether you add lemon or not, definitely drink water and definitely start your day out with that. That really can aid weight loss.

Drinking a low-cal, tasty drink in the morning that is full of nutrients really sets the tone for your day. I usually start out with my drink in the morning, go work out (yoga, running, weights, whatever feels good that day), and then come back and have another one with breakfast.

Helping hand:

Giving your body and digestive system time to wake up fully in the morning is a good idea! Water gently wakes up your system which in turn leads to better digestion throughout the day. (5) I usually try to wait until after working out and doing my morning routine to eat food (usually a couple hours from waking up). During this time, I drink lemon water, tea, kefir, and a couple glasses of regular water.

That healthy take-off in the morning guides my decisions throughout the day. I make better decisions for my body because I feel better and I want to continue feeling good.

Also, I read that the pectin in lemon has a fiber like effect on hunger cravings so it can curb them more. (3,4)

I’m not sure how much of a difference the pectin really makes in a glass of water, however, lemon water does leave me feeling like I ate something and gives me the taste satisfaction I sometimes go looking for with food without loading on the calories.

So…in a manner of speaking, whether pectin helps or not, it has helped me reduce hunger cravings.

So what does lemon do? How does it make this glass of water full of nutrients?

There are quite a few claims.

The ones that made the most sense to me (and seemed the most valid) talked about the nutrients in the lemons themselves.

Lemons are actually good sources of Vitamin C and Potassium.

Now there are a TON of sites that talk about how it’s going to alkalize our bodies, prevent cancer, slow down aging, and balance out pH levels in our blood…

Without going really scientific on this, I would have to say I think we’re putting a bit too much pressure on lemon’s performance. (5,7)

While I think that the added calcium and potassium will help us out, I don’t think it’s going to do things like “flush toxins,” or increase our IQ. (5)

However, it’s only going to aid things like our digestive and immune system. This in turn is going to help us have clearer, healthier skin (also thanks to hydration and Vit. C) and help us maintain a healthier weight (as discussed before).

Vitamin C is essential in promoting healing and health. It is a great antioxidant we could always use more of and it’s part of a healthy diet.

Potassium helps with things like heart, brain, and nerve health. (8)

Heck, it even helps with things like bad breath. (4)

How do you make it? (Hint: it’s easy)

First off, you should always use fresh lemons (organic is good—at least if you’re using the peel because of the chemical storm sprayed on citrus).

Spring or purified water is always better than your typical tap water. But obviously it’s still awesome to do even if all you have is tap.

Room temperature water is also better to use because it takes more for your body to process really cold drinks. It can basically slow down your digestive process because your body has to heat it up first before it can digest properly. (2)

I wouldn’t go for store bought lemon water because it usually has preservatives in it!

Bottom line is this:

Lemons are good for you. Squeezing lemons into water makes it easy to drink its nutrients without enduring tingling noses and sour faces sucking it out.

Is it a miracle worker?

I don’t think so, no. There’s not enough proof of that.

So is it good for you? Does it have benefits?

Yes, absolutely.

Is it going to save your life?

Probably not.

And that’s ok because ideally it should be our diet as a whole, working together, that should be working those miracles for us.

Lemon water is a great way to go.

Resources:

(1) http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/lemon-water-weight-loss

(2) http://happyandraw.com/lemon-water-a-healthy-way-to-start-the-day/

(3) http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/weight-loss-myths-will-drinking-lemon-water-help-you-lose-weight.html