7 Ways Your Body Benefits from Lemon Water, Benefits of drinking lemon water.
Many sources claim that lemon water has powerful health and weight loss benefits, but what does the research say?
Lemon water is a popular home remedy, with online sources claiming that it can help improve digestion, detox the body, or promote weight loss.
This article uses scientific evidence to explore the benefits of and myths surrounding lemon water.
What is lemon water?
Lemon water is simply the juice of lemons mixed with water.
The amount of lemon juice in lemon water depends on the person’s preference. People may drink it cold or hot.
Some people also choose to add lemon rind, mint leaf, honey, turmeric, or other ingredients.
Lemon water has become a popular morning beverage, with people using it as a refreshing pick-me-up due to claims that it can boost energy levels and metabolism.
Nutrition
Lemons are a rich source of vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant. In fact, one squeezed lemon provides around 21% of a person’s daily value (DV).
Like other citrus fruits — including oranges, grapefruit, and limes — lemons are rich in flavonoids. These are compounds that help boost health and fight disease.
Aside from that, lemons contain few nutrients. Lemon water contains very little protein, fat, carbohydrate, or sugar, and it contains only trace amounts of other vitamins and minerals, including potassium, folate, and some B vitamins.
According to the United States Department for Agriculture database, the nutrient breakdown for lemon water containing one 48 gram (g) squeezed lemon is as follows:
10.6 calories
18.6 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C, or 21% DV
9.6 micrograms (mcg) of folate, or 2% DV
49.4 mg of potassium, or 1% DV
0.01 mg of vitamin B-1, or 1% DV
0.01 mg of vitamin B-2, or 1% DV
0.06 mg of vitamin B-5, or 1% DV
Although a single glass does not seem to provide a lot of nutrients, lemon water is a healthful, low calorie, and low sugar beverage that can boost a person’s vitamin C intake.
For comparison, replacing the lemon with the juice of half an orange (weighing 43 g) would provide almost twice as many calories, about three times as much sugar, and 24% DV of vitamin C.
The nutritional value of each glass of lemon water depends on how much lemon juice it contains, as well as any other ingredients.
