Drinking water is essential to staying healthy and maintaining proper bodily functions. This includes your heart, brain, and muscle functions, fluids carrying nutrients to each of your cells, flushing bacteria from your bladder, and preventing constipation. As much as water has to offer, many people just simply don’t like the taste and look for alternative drinks to stay hydrated. It was become a quite popular trend to add lemon slices to water for flavor. There is no doubt lemons are delicious, but does adding them to water make you healthier? The answer is yes!
When is it best to drink lemon water?
We absorb water best when we first wake up and our stomachs are not full of food. If we drink lots of water during meal times, it dilutes the body’s natural juices that aid in digestion. Drinking a glass of lemon water after meals and first thing in the morning Lemon is best. In addition to adding flavor to your water (and helping up your intake as a result), lemon can boost your immune system and form collagen in your body (which promotes skin and joint health), thanks to its high levels of vitamin C.
Do I use warm or cold water?
As refreshing as a glass of cold ice lemon water may sound, by adding lemon slices to warm water, it helps extract vitamin C and polyphenols from both the lemon and its peel.
The Top 10 Benefits of Drinking Lemon Water
1. Improves Digestion
Lemon juice’s atomic structure is very similar to the digestive juices found in the stomach. It tricks the liver into producing bile, which helps keep food moving through your body and gastrointestinal tract smoothly. Lemon water also helps relieve digestion or ease an upset stomach.
Quick note* Bile is a fluid that is made and released by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. Bile helps with digestion. It breaks down fats into fatty acids, which can be taken into the body by the digestive tract.
2. Great Source of Vitamin C
Your body does not produce vitamin C on its own and it is very important to get enough of it from the foods and drinks you ingest to help maintain a healthy diet. Lemon’s contain a great source of vitamin C that will help your body stimulate white cell production which is vital for your immune system to function properly.
3. Boosts Mood & Energy
I know it may be difficult at times but try skipping your morning cup of coffee and drink a glass of lemon water instead. Lemon water can boost energy levels without the caffeine crash you get mid-day. When negative-charged ions like those found in lemons, enter your digestive tract, the result is an increase in energy levels.
4. Rejuvenates Skin and Body Healing
Lemon water contains antioxidants that fight damage caused by free radicals, keeping your skin looking fresh. It also helps your body produce collagen, essential in smoothing out lines and wrinkles in the face. It also can be applied to scars and age spots to reduce their appearance and because it’s detoxifying your blood, it will keep your skin blemish-free and maintain your skins radiance.
5. Aids in Weight Loss
That’s right! Regularly sipping on lemon water helps you shed those unwanted and most certainly unneeded pounds. Lemon water contains pectin, a type of fiber that is commonly found in fruits. Pectin helps you feel full longer.
6. Excellent Source of Potassium
Lemons are high in potassium which is good for your heart health, as well as brain and nerve function.
7. Freshens Breath
Not only does lemon water help freshen your breath, it also relieves toothaches and gingivitis! Keep your breath sweeter by drinking lemon water first thing in the morning and after meals. Lemon is thought to stimulate saliva and water helps prevent a dry mouth which can lead to bad breath caused by excess bacteria growth.
8. Reduces Inflammation
Drinking water on a regular day basis will decrease the acidity in your body, which is where disease states occur. It removes uric acid in your joints which is one of the main causes of inflammation.
9. Helps Fight Viral Infections
Warm lemon water is the most effective way to diminish viral infections and sore throats. With lemon juice also boosting your immune system, you’ll feel better in no time.
10.Natural Cleaning Agent
Take full advantage of lemon juice and use it to clean your counters, stove tops, scrub grills and grates and soak plastic food storage containers to remove odor and stains.
Lemon juice is high in citric acid and is known to be one of the best natural cleaners due to its low pH levels and antibacterial properties. Lemons also smell great and are not likely to cause damage to materials around what you are cleaning like fabric and wood. Put a dilute solution of lemon juice in a spay bottle to clean, rinse with warm soapy water and dry afterwards!
SOURCES: THE BENEFITS OF LEMON WATER BY DR. AXE – FOOD IS MEDICINE ;11 BENEFITS OF LEMON WATER YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT BY KRISSY BRADY – LIFE HACKS ;BENEFITS OF LEMON WATER – HEALTH LINE ;24 THINGS YOU CAN CLEAN WITH LEMON BY CRIS CARL – NETWORX; HTTPS://MSN.COM/EN-IN/HEALTH/NUTRITION/THE-RIGHT-WAY-TO-DRINK-LEMON-WATER