Celebrities swear by it, health professionals encourage it, and those who do it on a daily basis boast about the benefits. We are talking about lemon water! The simple combination of fresh squeezed lemon juice and water has been shown to provide an abundance of health advantages especially when drank first thing in the morning. This inexpensive and uncomplicated elixir offers plenty of nutritional value including vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, and vitamin E and minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, and zinc. Here are six benefits of consuming lemon water each morning.
- Helps you lose weight
Because lemons contain polyphenols, sipping on lemon water can help you lose weight by increasing energy and your metabolic rate while decreasing your appetite. If you include the zest of the lemon in your morning ritual, you will also get a good dose of pectin, the fiber that is found in fruit, resulting in feeling satiated throughout the day. Also, drinking a glass of water before a meal fills your stomach, so you are less hungry when the time comes to eat.
- Boosts your immune system
We all know that vitamin C plays a significant factor in boosting the immune system and keeping sickness at bay. But what you may not know is the acidity of the lemon paired with your stomach’s acidity helps prevent infection from foreign invaders. Also, phytonutrients found in lemons provide antioxidant properties that have proven to be very beneficial to human’s health and ward off pathogens.
- Aids in digestion and detoxification
The lemon’s acids and flavonoids help the stomach break down food easier due to it’s similarity to the digestive juices and atomic composition. It forces the liver to produce more bile, which keeps whatever you have consumed moving through your digestive system with ease. Because our stomach’s acid levels decrease with age, it is important to drink lemon water to encourage your stomach to produce more acid to keep the GI tract healthy. It’s also been shown to maintain blood sugar by keeping insulin levels steady, increase nutrient absorption, decrease bloating, boost enzyme function in the body, stimulate the liver, and flush out toxins. All of which helps detox the body and the skin and boosts the metabolism.
- Anti-Aging
Because vitamin C fights free radicals and boosts collagen production, sipping this lemon elixir every morning may make you look younger. Many studies show that ingesting an adequate amount of vitamin C can assist in the prevention and smoothing of wrinkles and keeps your skin looking hydrated and supple.
Try drinking a glass of warm lemon water first thing in the morning to boost your metabolism and wake your body up. You can drink lemon water throughout the day to keep your metabolism and appetite in check while increasing your vitamin C quotient. And don’t be afraid to add extra ingredients like mint, honey, apple cider vinegar, or stevia, or add the juice to your salads, smoothies, and other recipes!
