There are so many great benefits of drinking lemon water. Firstly, if you struggle with drinking water on its own, it gives it a slight flavour to help get those much needed litres into your body.
I start everyday with a warm glass of lemon water. It doesn't have to be warm if you can't stomach it, go with normal tap temperature or cooled from the fridge if you wish. I drink warm because the body absorbs it quicker if its closer to your body temperature.
Seriously, there is no better way to start our day than refreshing your body with the fuel it loves the most...water.
However there are a lot of unsubstantiated claims out there as well, lets take a look at these first:
Lemon can detoxify the body - unfortunately there is no scientific evidence to back this up in humans. Our lungs, skin, liver and kidneys break down and eliminate these nasties for us.
It'll speed up your metabolism- sorry no luck on this one either. But we will talk more about ways to speed up your metabolism in other blog posts.
So what are the proven benefits? By proven, this means there has been multiple studies completed on humans which have been repeated.
Improves digestion - This is because lemon is acidic which is similar to the acids that our stomachs produce to digest food, so by adding some lemon you may aid you digestive system to work faster and more efficiently, this has been found to help limit bloating and indigestion.
Lemons are incredibly high in vitamin C, actually similar levels to oranges, who knew? Both providing 53mg per 100g servicing. Anyways we know that vitamin C is great for fighting cold and flu, but can also help reduce risk of cancers and cardiovascular disease due to their strong antioxidant properties.
Vitamin C also aids the absorption of iron in your diet, so it can also help reduce risk of anemia (if you are eating foods containing iron of course). For those who are taking iron supplements, double check you are using one that includes Vitamin C. Particularly those soon to be mums.
Reduces appetite, due to the high fibre content, helping you feel fuller for longer.
Lemons are also great for Potassium, one the bodies most important electrolytes and plays a role in carbohydrate metabolism.
Yellow is pretty!!! Doesn't the bright sunshine yellow colour just make you want to smile? Add a splash to brighten up your morning and your fruit bowl.