You have probably heard of this theory before. Having a cup of warm water with lemon, aka lemon water works wonders to the body, but have you imagined what might be the reality behind this common notion which is slowly turning into a cliché as far as dietary habits are concerned.
Lemon water is without question a super food. Although the taste takes some getting used to, it isn’t undrinkable and most people quite enjoy lemon water. There is an endless list of reasons to promote lemon water, but here are 20 most important reasons why you should drink warm water and lemon.
- Warm water and lemon should be hailed as a vital diet source because:
- Lemon contains pectin fibers and it stimulates bowel movements
- It is rich source of vitamin C and decreases face wrinkles and works as anti-inflammatory agent
- Potassium in water and lemon stimulates brain and nervous system functioning, cures asthma and anaphylaxis
- The juice fulfills deficiency of hydrating electrolytes
- It is dense with minerals; calcium, phosphates, potassium and magnesium
- It regulates liver to flush out toxins from body
- Decreases anxiety and depression
- Provides prolonged fresh breath
- Prevents chances of viral infections
Let’s look at some actual reasons, and how science supports these claims.
20. Maintains Electrolytes Level in Body
Lemon with warm water will help you keep your body electrolyte levels to healthy levels. Specifically, lemon water will provide you with plenty of hydrating electrolytes. These include calcium and potassium magnesium. Furthermore, high contents of chlorides ions, phosphates and other minerals adds to the store of mineral content which makes it all the more important why you should drink warm water and lemon.
19. Lemon Improves Digestion
Lemon water improves digestion, and that is because it contains pectin fibers, which stimulate bowel movements and that helps you keep your digestive tract in good health. But that comes with a downside. The excessive citric acid in lemons might cause or in lesser quantities, contribute to stomach pains and cramps. That is because of the immediate upsetting of stomach pH caused by the citric acid.
18. Clears Skin
You should drink warm water and lemon because the high amount of vitamin C as well as antioxidant content of lemon water decrease face wrinkles that appear with age! Besides, it helps prevent skin blemishes and it combats free radical damage which occurs as a result to exposure to sunlight with ultraviolet radiations. The vitamin C also kills a lot of bacteria which are known to cause acne. While on one hand, it removes toxins from the blood, thus maintains skin health and beauty from the inside out and on the other hand, the alkaline nature kills bacteria on superficial applications. The beneficial properties are endless. Thus it helps rejuvenate skin and make you appear fresh.
17. Boosts Your Immune System
Here is another vital reason why you should drink warm water and lemon. First off, the vitamin C, of which, the lemons are renowned sources, helps in fighting off colds. The second important constituent is potassium. High potassium content not only stimulates brain and nervous functioning, but it also helps in maintaining blood pressure to normal and desirable levels. However, to gain the full benefits of this perk, it is important for you to minimize consumption of salt with lemon water because it limits potassium absorption. Furthermore, Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) is proven to have anti-inflammatory properties. These properties make it a vital constituent to battle disease like asthma and anaphylaxis. Better still, saponins in lemons have antimicrobial properties. These properties also help in keeping cold and flu at bay.
16. Helps in Weight Loss
And how is that? The simplest explanation is that the pectin fibers in lemon help you fight hunger because despite being indigestible, they have a high satiety value. Studies have discovered a direct relationship between a high alkaline constituent of diet and weight loss. If you are going to gym, or if you have adopted any other form of exercise for the sole purpose of losing weight and looking slimmer, here’s good news for you. A cup of warm lemon water to start off the day works well. Besides, you will find yourself in a better mood and making better choices with a healthy start.
15. Cleanses System
It helps you detox every day. Despite being acidic, it has impressive quantities of alkaline nutrients. These not only help in maintaining body pH, but they also act as diuretics, substances which aid the removal of toxic substances via urine. That is in part because lemon water increases the rate of urination in the body. That also helps you keep your urinary tract healthy. Another factor is the high citric acid, which on absorption stimulates and boosts hepatic cells activity, and thus the liver aids in detoxification as well. For active and healthy urinary system, thus speedy removal of toxins from the body, warm water with lemon is an elementary drink with which to start off the day.
14. Rejuvenates Lymph System
The lymph system is dependent on hydration. If your lymphoid tissue is not working properly, it leads to bizarre and painful cases of edema in various parts of the body. Not only does warm lemon water support immune system, but also constantly replaces fluids by your body. Without lemon water, a lack of water consumption gives you discomforting symptoms like tiredness, feeling sluggish along with constipation and a lack of energy. Not to mention upsets in blood pressures and an increased chances of chronic heart diseases. That contributes even more reason to why you should drink warm water and lemon.
13. Energizes you
This might appear to be verging on speculation but it’s not. The high content of negative ions in lemon is surprisingly higher than positive ions. That means it aids in enzymatic breakdown and digestion of our basic metabolic energy providing nutrients. Besides, the scent of lemon has been proved to be brightening for your mood. It helps you clear your mind, which is the reason why it is such an important constituent of certain perfumes. Besides, warn water with lemon can also help you tackle with and decrease anxiety and depression.
12. Promotes Healing
Not only wound healing, the vitamin C is essential in maintaining healthy bones. Besides, vitamin C prevents inflammation. With both these properties it is elementary in wound healing and speedy recovery. That is made possible because ascorbic acid is an important coenzyme involved in reaction which produces collagen in the body. This protein constitutes the connective tissues of the body, and thus it is present in all tissues from bones to ligaments to skin and many other places as well. All in all, to maintain good provides the prime reason to why you should drink warm water and lemon.
11. Freshens Breath
Fresh breath is because the citric acid decrease harmful bacterial activity in mouth and you get prolonged fresh breath by consuming warm water and lemon. Besides, there are a number of different types of tooth pain and sore and swollen gums which can be averted and prevented by consuming lemons or lemon water for example gingivitis. However, that problem can be easily solved by rinsing your mouth are having the warm lemon water.
10. Balances pH Levels
Many of the acidic constituents of lemon, in mediums such as blood plasma possess alkaline qualities. It is for this reason that citric acid in the body contributes to alkalinity rather than acidity. Lemons create a lot of different types of these acids such as citric acid and ascorbic acid. These acids are not only easily metabolized in the body but the contribute heaps to the normal pH levels of our blood. While hyper acidosis caused by excess acid in the body is made practically impossible by a regular consumption of warm water and lemon, it also prevents swollen and painful joints.
9. It Activates Gastrointestinal Activity
Not only does it maintain healthy digestive tract, one more thing that can be contributed to warm lemon water is that it stimulates gastrointestinal activity. That effect is especially significant in the morning before breakfast, when a cup of warm lemon water wakes up the digestive tract for the day. This effect is attributed to the pectin as well as fiber contents of citrus fruits and lemons. That helps food pass through easily by improving peristaltic bowel movements. On similar grounds, it also wakes up the liver to flush out toxins before the start of your day.
8. It Prevents Inflammation
Think about diseases like asthma, anaphylaxis, hay fever, tonsil inflammation and lots of other issues. You can now tackle with each and every one of them by increasing your intake of ascorbic acid, for example by consuming more lemon water. These anti inflammatory properties are the reason why a deficiency of lemon intake often leads to scurvy, causing swollen painful joints bleeding in gums and most important widespread inflammation of the body. That is another important reason why you should drink warm water and lemon to start your day.
7. Regulate Blood Pressure
Potassium is the main nutritive factor which brings about this beneficial property of lemons and warm lemon water mixture! High potassium intake minimizes sodium absorption, and it prevents hypertension. To prove this fact, research statistics dictate that you can reduce your blood pressure by over 10% by ingesting lemon on a daily basis. By drinking lemon water, you are working towards that goal, and that’s great news for you. The benefits of low blood pressure are endless. On one hand, it eliminates aggressive behavior to a great extent and on the other hand it prevents chronic heart failure and heart diseases. You can now benefit from increased output of your exercise routine as well.
6. Reduce Gout Pain
Gout pain is cause by a buildup of uric acid. It is a rather unfortunate condition, which is surprisingly common in urban scenarios. The best way to remedy that as well as prevent yourself from developing gout pain is by increasing intake of lemon, especially in the form of warm lemon water. The lemon water helps to dilute this acid, which boosts removal of the acid by the kidneys as well as it relieves pain to a great extent. Other conditions which can be associated with uric acid accumulation are cramps in muscles, and lemon water helps you battle that front just as well. That is another reason, why you should drink warm water and lemon and it should also be on your diet plan more frequently.
5. Cut Out Caffeine
Coffee is a mass addiction, and many would like to rid themselves of this habit, but it is difficult to face. However, try switching your morning up of long black with a cup of warm water and lemon, and you will be surprised by the extent to which it helps you curb your addictions. This can be attributed to the fact that lemon water makes you feel fresh, and active, and that curbs your cravings for caffeine. Try this and your nerve cells will be thanking you.
4. Fight Viral Infections
Diminish viral infections, and the best way to do that is by consuming vitamin rich lemon water. It prevents chances of viral infections, and it suppresses their subsequent effects such as sore throats. That is because the ascorbic acid is immunologically stimulating and it helps your body battle diseases as best as it can. Besides, with a regular consumption, you can fight off the infection completely. It is reasons like this which make lemon water a small but significant change in diet plan which is always for the good. Furthermore, lemon juice also prevents multiplication and growth of bacteria in the body which is a great contributing factor to succumb bacterial infections even before they begin to register symptoms.
3. Joint Healing
Lemon water relieves both joint and muscle pain, and this is another significant cause to why you should drink warm water and lemon. Nutritionists and physicians recommend lemon water to patients of different types of arthritis. The effect is on one hand by reducing swelling and diluting inflammation producing substances, and on the other hand, it is by decreasing levels of uric acid by promoting its excretion. Both of these reasons make it important for you to consume lemon water especially if you are indulging in heavy sports and exercises.
2. Ease Heartburn
Heartburn is caused by enzymatic dysfunction. Drinking warm water and lemon helps make heartburn less painful. Not only does the ascorbic acid and potassium help you maintain healthy liver, but by regulating and balancing out calcium and oxygen concentrations during heartburn, warm lemon water helps you ease out the pain and the pathological damage caused by heartburn. To justify that, it has been proved that taking a glass of lemon juice gives you relief in a very short time.
1. Nervous System Health
You keep your nervous system intact and up and running by consuming lemon water on a regular basis. The high potassium content is the reason behind this factor because the potassium which is so abundantly present in lemons is an important ion involved in membranous stimulation and in the movement of nerve impulses. High potassium intake maintains a balanced membrane potential, and on the long term, that means healthier nervous system and possible faster and better reflexes for you. Along with tons of other benefits of potassium, there are a million reasons why you should drink warm water and lemon.
The Downside!!!
Although all the above factors make warm lemon water a super food, but rest assured, that only counts as a bonus. Although it is a guaranteed healthy drink to have should avoid excessive use of it for certain reasons.
- Keep in mind that citric acid in high concentration or in high quantity erodes tooth enamel, which is an important reason to discourage over consumption of warm lemon water.
- Another point to note, you should not brush your teeth immediately after drinking lemon water that can be even more devastating to the enamel
For people under 150 pounds, half a lemon and for overays. A tip, freshly grated ginger, a little cayenne or a touch of mint not only make the flavor a lot better, but contribute to the health benefits of the already fortified lemon water.
