by ROSS BRIDGEFORD
Almost as cunningly simple in its title as ‘green drink’ – lemon water is quite blindingly straightforward in its makeup: it is water with lemon squeezed in. Could it be any easier?
The beauty of lemon water is that it is tasty, refreshing and best of all, alkalising. The lemon juice raises the alkalising effect of the water so even with standard tap water you can make your drink nice and alkalising. But this is just a start of the lemon water benefits that I love so much.
For the full lemon water benefits: ionized water or filtered water with pH drops (or PuripHy ) and lemon creates the ultimate water to start or end the day! The trick however, is to have the water lukewarm. If the water is too hot or too cold then it will cause the body to expand energy in order to process it. Lukewarm water also has that comforting feeling to it…especially on a cold morning!
Alkaline Recipe BookI know a lot of you know about the main lemon water benefits already, through reading/learning about alkalising or through Gillian McKeith (who also recommends lemon water on rising), or many other nutritionists as the full extent of the huge lemon water benefits are now becoming quite mainstream – but it is always a good thing to reinforce the basics.
Lemons are Alkaline? Please Explain…
Water with lemon is most definitely alkalizing to the body. I know this might seem confusing at first but my short video with Dr Young trained, alkaline expert nutritionist Gareth Edwards will explain how lemons are indeed an alkaline food (click here for a full list of alkaline foods):
Note: I am not saying that lemons are alkaline, I am saying that lemons are alkalising!
See the distinction here? And by the way, this applies to all foods, not just lemons & limes. The most important thing to note is not what the pH of the food is in it’s natural state – rather the EFFECT THE FOOD HAS ON THE BODY.
Because of its very low sugar content and high alkaline mineral content, lemons actually have an alkalising effect on the body.
So What Are the Lemon Water Benefits?
Apart from being an amazing body alkalizer/alkaliser, here are my favourite lemon water benefits:
So if you do not do anything else – start every single day with a glass of lovely lemon water! Another awesome source of lemon water benefits is that it ignites the metabolism early in the morning, so if you are on a weight loss journey this could be the most important of the lemon water benefits.
PS – I have noticed that someone just found this page by googling: ‘do not leave lemon in lemon water’ and it reminded me of how true this is! Obviously if you are going to drink the water there and then by all means leave it in, but if you are making a batch up then the water can easily get too lemon-y if you leave the squeezed lemon chunks in.
Also, and more importantly, unless you have REALLY washed the lemons or have bought organic then the pesticides and chemicals could leach out of the rind and into your water if they are left soaking for too long, losing the lemon water benefits.
PPS – yes, it is fine to add some cayenne (cayene) pepper to your lemon water for a bit of a kick, but PLEASE DO NOT ADD MAPLE SYRUP – this will make it have an acidic effect on the body!
NOTE/UPDATE: given the amount of comments that have been left all saying “I thought lemons are acidic” (or something slightly more forceful than that), I thought I should give further explanation – watching my video above with Gareth Edwards will also answer this question – Gareth is an alkaline diet legend:
It is not the relative acidity/alkalinity of the food but rather the effect it has on the body that is important. Seemingly acidic foods such as lemons, limes and tomato are acidic in their basic state, but once metabolized by the body have an alkalising effect. The high alkaline mineral content of these foods means that once consumed and metabolized they increase the alkalinity of the cells of the body.
Here is a video with reknowned nutritionist and blood specialist Gareth Edwards where he explains that lemons are alkalising once consumed.
Extra Update: I’ve received a few emails and comments about tooth enamel and lemon water, and while I’ve been drinking water with lemon for years with no trouble on this front here are a few suggestions if you are concerned: