Lemons are great for your health, thanks to its Vitamin C content. Which is great for a lot of things like controlling body weight, improving digestion, and reducing cancer!
Not to mention strengthening the immune system and adding some citrusy deliciousness to your favorite foods and drinks. The other plant compounds in lemons are also jam packed with nutritional benefits.
Needless to say, lemons are pretty amazing! Here are 7 Ways Lemons Can Improve Your Health.
1. Manages Hypertension
Lemon juice might help to manage your blood pressure with prolonged use. Thanks to this
study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, daily lemon intake and walking (normal body movement) were effective in reducing high blood pressure.
What's great is that in 2014 this research article supported this data and noted how effective lemon juice was at lowering the blood pressure of those with hypertension, versus people with normal blood pressure.
Gotta love a good fact check!
2. Supports Heart Health
As many of us know, lemons are a good source of vitamin C. But did you know that one lemon provides about 23mg of vitamin C, which is 31% of the reference daily intake (RDI) according to World's Healthiest Foods. Research also shows that eating fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C reduces your risk of heart disease and stroke.
This study shows that fiber and other plant compounds in lemons can also significantly lower some risk factors for heart disease.
3. Helps Control Body Weight
You may have heard that drinking warm water with lemon juice after rising can help with weight loss. And you heard right! During a 2017 study of short-term juice-based diets, all of which had lemon juice as the primary ingredient, researchers assessed the effects this diet had on body weight and found the dieters lost significant weight in as little as three days and managed to keep it off after the follow-up period.
Fruits are pretty awesome.
4. Prevents Kidney Stones
Kidney stones are little lumps that form when waste products crystallize and build up in the kidneys. They're pretty common, and people who get them often get them repeatedly. According to the
University of Wisconsin Health, citric acid deters stone formation and also breaks up small stones that are forming. The more citric acid in your urine, the more protected you are from forming new kidney stones.
So if you are concerned with kidney stones, this is a good first line of defense, as 1/2 a cup (4 ounces or 125 ml) of lemon juice per day may be enough citric acid to help prevent stones from forming in people who have already had them.
This isn't the most conclusive information, however, and it looks like more well-conducted studies need to
5. Improves the Digestive System
According to University Health News, the carbohydrates in lemons are mostly made of soluble fiber in the form of pectin.
This study also shows that soluble fiber can improve gut health as well as slow the digestion of sugars and starches. These effects may also result in reduced blood sugar levels.
It's important to note that lemon juice doesn't have any soluble fiber in it, so make sure you are consuming lemon pulp if you're looking for this particular benefit.
6. Protects Against Anemia
Iron deficiency is a leading cause of anemia. An article shows that pairing foods that are high in vitamin C with iron-rich foods maximizes the body’s ability to absorb iron.
Lemons are great here since a whole raw lemon has 139 percent of the recommended daily vitamin C.
(Thanks, World's Healthiest Foods!)
7. Reduces Cancer Risk
Not only does lemon help the digestive system, since the soluble fiber in lemon is known to slow digestion, which keeps your blood sugar stable, it can also inhibit colon cancer tumor growth.
Lemons also contain a flavonoid called naringenin, which, according to a recent study, has strong cancer-preventing properties.
A 2011 study published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention found that lemon extract applied to breast cancer cells induced cell death. How crazy is that?!
A healthy diet in fruits and vegetables is always helpful if you're looking to reduce your cancer risk. A huge
study was done on this, too.
Healthy Ways to Eat Lemons
As I'm sure you can agree, lemons are pretty amazing! In addition to being just delicious, every part of it - the peel, pulp, and the juice - contains nutrients that are beneficial to the body. Here are some ideas to get the health benefits out of those lemons:
Add lemon to hot tea (add a dollop of agave if you like your tea sweet)
Add lemon juice/zest to homemade salad dressing
Squeeze some lemon juice onto your food (try it on everything and determine what you like)
Squeeze some juice on fresh fruit to both keep it from browning and add some extra flavor
Add lemon (being sure to remove the seeds) to smoothies and homemade juice
Combine the juice and zest of a lemon with some olive or sesame oil and your favorite herbs (fresh or dried) and toss with hot pasta
What's your favorite way to have lemon?
Jeff likes squeezing lemon on most everything, try it if you haven't, makes everything delicious! And you can never go wrong with a tall glass of lemonade
Rena is a fan of citrusy things and adores, adores, Piccata. Tofu, cauliflower, and mushroom piccata are the absolute best!
What's your favorite way to have lemon?? Let us know in the comment section below.
We love talking about food!
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