One of the health trends of recent times has been the rise of the lowly lemon as a cure all for digestion, poor skin and struggling immune systems. Spend a little time on reading up about the celebrities and health gurus who expound on the virtues of daily lemon water and you will find plenty to recommend the practice. For the cost of a lemon, perhaps as little as 40p a day, you can dramatically improve lots of aspects of your physical health and lift yourself mentally as well. There is nothing quite as good for you as knowing you are taking a simple daily step towards improving your body and boosting physical well-being.
First of all, it is important to separate the practice of drinking daily lemon water from the Lemon Detox, a method of removing food temporarily from the diet and replacing it with a lemon and maple syrup drink. This is a fast acting weight loss regime much vaunted by celebrities that uses a commercially available syrup and has a similar effect to other ’juicing’ types of detoxes. By contrast, drinking lemon water really does just require half a lemon and some warm water and it’s the perfect pick up to start the day.
Here are just a few of the benefits of drinking a morning glass of warm water with fresh lemon:-
- Improved Digestion – lemon helps to clean the digestive tract, relieves indigestion and supports a healthy colon. The pectin fibre in lemon is a perfect way to keep your insides working well and processing your food, flushing out unwanted waste as it passes through.
- Boosts Vitamin C Intake – it can be hard to remember to eat your 5 a day of fresh fruit and veg but this is an easy way to partake of an essential vitamin. We need Vitamin C to fight illness and to help us function under stress; a drink of lemon water provides a boost, plus the scent of lemon is calming and invigorating, another great stress buster.
- Supports Healthy Skin – feeling spotty? The detoxifying antioxidants in lemon water will cleanse and flush the skin, giving you a healthy glow, helping skin repair and reducing wrinkles.
- Soothes Aches and Pains – as well as being full of potassium, calcium and magnesium, lemon water may help reduce uric acid in joints, reducing pain and inflammation.
- A Natural Diuretic – if you are feeling bloated or have water retention, lemon water can help flush excess water from your system, something that builds up from poor food and drink choices or imperfect lifestyles.
There are some important considerations when adding a lemon water lift to your daily regime. Since it will encourage you to excrete more water, it is important to replace this with plenty of additional plain water drinks through the day. Lemon can cause damage to tooth enamel, so drink it suitably diluted and be sure wash your mouth out with water after consumption; avoid brushing teeth for at least 15 minutes afterwards. Otherwise, get squeezing your lemons and look forward to reaping the benefits.