Lemons almost form part of every miracle drink which is formulated to drink one cup a day. Mostly claims to lose weight or control blood sugar or diabetes. This detailed article will clear which benefits and real and why and which claims should be taken with a pinch of salt. So lets dive in and dig deep to unravel the science and body mechanism which works with lemons.
Note of consumption of lemons
Citric acid and Vitamin C are the two important ingredients in the lemon which directly cause the numerous health benefits. But these can only help if lemons are consumed raw without anything mixed especially sugar. You may dilute it with water and add a pinch of sea salt or rock salt for taste. Packed lemon juices are heated at high temperature during pasteurisation. This destroys all nutrients. Besides the added preservatives and sugars will all but ultimately end up damaging your body rather than benefitting it. Plus you will never know how much real lemon is there in the juice.
Four lemons a day, preferably taken after a meal along with organic apple cider vinegar will greatly aid digestion.
Controlling kidney stones
Kidney stones are basically made of calcium and oxalate. Citric acid in lemons binds with oxalate and flushes it out of the kidney. For best results consume lemons regularly. Oxalates enter our body through regular healthy foods like cruciferous vegetable, beans, nuts, palak and so on.
Aids digestion
Citric acid reduces the PH level of the stomach and induces release of Hydrochloric acid which aids in faster digestion of food.
Bile production
Bile secreted by gall bladder helps digestion of fats. Citric acid enhances the release of CCK which is peptide hormone secreted by the inner lining of small intestine. CCK forces the gall bladder to contract and release all the bile in the small intestine. This way bile is regularly released from the gall bladder and fresh bile is created every day.
There are certain situations when the gall bladder is unable to release bile in the intestine. This means that fat in the food passes out of the body without getting digested. This is evident when we have floating stools. In such a situation the stale bile can remain in the gall bladder sometimes even for many days. Due to lack of bile secretion the fat soluble vitamins are also not able to be absorbed by the body.
Lemon consumption directly helps with bile secretion and fat digestion.
Lowering of cholestrol
Cholesterol is used for creating bile. With CCK inducing gall bladder to release bile regularly, new bile in created too. This regular consumption of cholesterol helps to keep the overall cholesterol levels under check.
Liver detox
The word detox is so trending these days. Here is how lemons are directly responsible for liver detoxification.
Fat soluble toxins which are accumulated in the liver are converted into water soluble toxins and send to the gall bladder where it is stored along with the bile. Once food enters the small intestine, the gall bladder empties the bile into the small intestine. This also flushes out the water soluble toxins which were stored there by the liver. Once the gall bladder is empty, the liver is able to detoxify more and send it to the gall bladder for storage.
Citric acid, acidosis and uric acid
There can be many reasons for acidosis. Regular consumption of alcohol, too much of exercise and medication can be one set of causes. However even reasons like keto diet, intermittent fasting and low carb diet can induce acidosis. Citric acid when reaches the stomach converts to alkaline and reduces acidosis.
Citric acid also counters uric acid which causes inflammation in the joints.
Multiple benefits of CCK
We have already covered how CCK helps with bile production. But it does not stop there.
- CCK induces pancreas to release digestive enzymes.
- CCK activates the vagal nerves in the stomach which makes us feel full. This aids in appetite suppression. If you have ever felt stomach full, it is not the food but the CCK hormone at work.
- CCK holds food at various places till the digestive process is over. Later CCK activates the muscles of small intestine so that the food moves forward.
All these benefits can be classified as indirect benefits of consuming lemon.
Vitamin C
The most well known and visible benefit of lemon is Vitamin C. During the COVID pandemic many people were resorting consumption of Vitamin C tablets to boost immunity. Four lemons a day is more than sufficient to meet your daily goals of Vitamin C and that too the natural way.
Other benefits
- Lemon improves the absorption of non heme iron from plant sources. This is specially beneficial for people who are on a vegan diet.
- Citric acid slows down the digestion of carbs by suppressing the effect of salivary amylase. This helps in not spiking the blood sugars after carb consumption.
- Naturally grown lemons are known to have trace nutrients and minerals apart from Vitamin C.
Myths and wrong claims
- Lemons are not directly responsible for reducing the risk of cancer. Many claims and studies point out the benefits of phytonutrients, but these are just claims and studies.
- Even though sufficient amount of potassium and sodium is present in lemons, it is not directly possible to control anxiety and depression with it.
- Lemon juice is not rich in fibre which will aid in slow digestion and help reduce weight. There are other reasons involved here which you now already know about.
- Lemon is rich in Vitamin C but it does not reduce the risk of stroke.
Do you need a lifestyle change.
Lemon does help in reversing diabetes and insulin resistance. If included in your diet, it will definitely help in weight loss. But the most important induced benefit is if you are able to replace your soft drinks and packed juices with fresh lemon water. No matter who tells you and what is claimed on the advertising labels, packed fruit juices are not healthy for the body. So a regime change where you drink lemon water instead of these drinks will go a long way to improve your health.
If you are able to change your social drinking behaviour and replace alcohol with lemon water, that would be an ultimate trigger for good health. Ethanol in alcohol causes great damage to the body. Read this article to understand how drinking can ruin your physical and mental health. If someone has advised you to quit drinking for health reasons, that is a right call. Social drinking is one of the main reasons where you are encouraged to drink even when you don’t want to by friends or even family members. If you are determined to achieve your goal of weight loss and healthy lifestyle, replacing alcoholic drinks with lemon water is the best way this seemingly innocuous gift of Gods will truly bless you.
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