The incredible benefits of drinking lemon water in the mornings is a topic that I accidentally stumbled upon. Yet one of the most amazing discoveries I have made throughout my entire health journey. The application is easy, the advantages are immense and the results are fast. To top it off, there are almost no downsides. You simply can’t go wrong by drinking a little watered-down, freshly squeezed lemon juice first thing in the morning. And you won’t believe what a difference that small act will make to the rest of your day.
Why Lemon Water?
As with most of my writing, this article stems from personal experience. It started with my sleeping problems. I was waking up at 2 am, practically on the dot, every morning and not managing to fall asleep again until after 4 am. As most of us do these days, I decided to do a bit of googling. And because my time frames were so consistently set in stone, I managed to quickly narrow down any possible causes.
Finally, I concluded that my liver was struggling due to high toxicity levels in my body. Now, it is important to remember that our liver processes pretty much everything that goes into our bodies. Whether digested, inhaled or absorbed by other means such as through the skin. So this problem is not limited to alcohol consumption. For instance, you could be absorbing toxins from municipal tap water, from clothes washing detergent, or even from an air freshener or diffuser that you are regularly exposed to.
The first thing I did was look at anything in my lifestyle that could be increasing the toxin levels in my body. And then minimise or remove them entirely. The second thing I did was research ways to help my liver recover and deal with any toxins that I may still be ingesting going forward. One of these was drinking a glass of warm water with freshly squeezed lemon juice every morning. I already knew about the amazing benefits of lemon water and had heard and read of many people that recommend it. However, it wasn’t until I actually did it, that I could feel how truly magnificent it was.
How it Affected Me
By the fourth morning, I was waking up from a great night’s rest and looking forward to my lemon water drink. It made me feel hydrated and revitalized. Plus, I found I felt greatly satisfied by the time I had drunk my lemon water and eaten a wholesome breakfast. A satisfaction not easily obtained by someone who thinks about food in every waking moment. As a result, without even thinking about it, I would only have my first coffee after 10 am. All my usual cravings would be gone for at least the first half of the day.
This, in turn, made me more focused and my productivity shot up while my stress levels dropped. Things that were much harder before, became easy and natural. Only after experiencing all these subconscious benefits did I decide to research the reasons. And, of course, investigate any possible downsides.
The Researched Benefits
First off, to fully reap the benefits, your lemon water should be consumed first thing in the morning and on an empty stomach. Secondly, warm water is preferred although I started off with room temperature water and still felt immense benefits. Just avoid boiling water, which could destroy some of the nutrients. And very cold water, which could shock the digestive system.
Liver Health
Some studies have shown that, in the presence of lemon, the liver produces more enzymes, compared to other foods. These enzymes stimulate and accelerate various functions within the body. Therefore increasing overall productivity.
To add to this, lemon is a wonderful detox agent and assists the body in flushing out any toxins. As well as greatly aiding in the purification of the blood.
pH Balancing and Kidney Health
Balance is one of, if not my number one favourite word. I believe any balancing within the body is bound to produce great results.
Once in the body, lemon juice helps balance and maintain healthy pH levels, which results in many benefits, such as healthy skin and hair. To top it off, lemon juice also aids in keeping the kidneys healthy. Organs which play a major role in keeping the blood’s pH constant by getting rid of excess acid or alkali through the urine.
Furthermore, citrate, a component of citric acid found in lemons, tends to make urine less acidic and is thought to help break up small kidney stones. Never mind that just the extra water intake from your daily lemon water dose will help flush out the kidneys and any possibly developing stones.
Vitamin C Boost
Lemon is simply loaded with Vitamin C. The juice of one lemon provides about 18.6 milligrams of this micronutrient. Boosting the immune system, and improving the body’s ability to absorb iron. Plus, Vitamin C is thought to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, as well as lower blood pressure.
Antibacterial Properties
Lemon is known to possess strong antibacterial properties. So drinking your daily glass of lemon water has the added benefit of keeping your body free from infections and helping fight of any existing ones.
Weight Loss
The pectin fibres found in lemon offer a few benefits for the body. One of which is keeping cholesterol levels under control. But it is also known to curb feelings of hunger, which help prevent us from overeating or snacking.
Then we have the wonderful bonus that lemon water actually enhances the function of our mitochondria. Which are organelle that work to aid the body in generating energy from food. To add to this, lemon water induces thermogenesis, making calories burn faster to produce heat. These two benefits then work together to boost our overall metabolism.
Lastly, but certainly not least, drinking lemon water, with all its essential nutrients, on a daily basis will help keep your body hydrated. Which, amongst a great many other health benefits, will also reduce water retention in the body.
Remedy Bad Breath
Bad breath can be caused by a number of things. And yes, you would still need to practice dental care by flossing and brushing every day. However, lemon is thought to stimulate saliva production. And water also helps prevent a dry mouth and the bacterial growth that comes with it. So drinking lemon water after a pungent meal, such as fish, may minimise the odor left in the mouth.
Plus, the condition of our gut and digestive health also plays a major role in the smell of our breath. And the citric acid present in lemon interacts with enzymes in our tummies to help keep digestive problems at bay.
Possible Downsides
To be honest, I spent a lot of time researching potential problems around drinking lemon water every day. And I didn’t find much. But here is what I did learn.
Theoretically, the citric acid in lemons can harm the enamel on our teeth. However, in this case, we are diluting the lemon a fair amount. So just don’t go sucking on raw lemon all the time. If you are worried about this factor in any way, then you can drink your lemon water with a straw. Or simply rinse your mouth by drinking a glass of plain water afterward. I highly recommend the latter, as you will be hydrating yourself even more!
The only other possible downside that I found is that in some cases, the citric acid in lemon water could result in heartburn. But, in other cases, people have instead experienced relief from heartburn. Possibly due to lemon water metabolizing into an alkaline and reducing acidity in digestion. In the past, when I was not yet on a strict diet, I often struggled with heartburn. Yet I found that the lemon water did not cause any heartburn for me whatsoever. But the only way you will know is to test it out on yourself.