Food & recipes

Jo Wood: Why Life is Better with Lemons

Our green rock chick explains why she doesn’t go a day without lemons

You’ve heard of an apple a day, but a lemon a day can transform your health. Whether you drink lemon water warm or cold, why not make it part of your daily routine?

Lemon juice added to water is an excellent source of plant compounds known as flavonoids, many of which have antioxidant properties.

Drinking this wonderful drink each morning can help protect your cells from damage and support your blood circulation and insulin sensitivity. Lemons can also aid the immune system.They’re rich in vitamins and minerals, including vitamins C and B complex, riboflavin, iron, calcium, magnesium, copper, folate and potassium.

Lemon water can benefit immune function, alleviate allergies and fight free radical damage. With very high levels of vitamin C (a raw, unpeeled lemon provides 88 percent of your RDA), it’s also a fantastic infection fighter. Drinking a glass of lemon water every day can help you recover from colds, coughs and sore throats. Lemons can even reduce inflammation. The reason we want to keep inflammation low is due to the havoc it can cause in our body. Inflammation is associated with many diseases, including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and arthritis.

Lemon water is also the perfect drink for detoxing. It’s a wonderful tonic and can help to cleanse the entire body by helping the liver, supporting bile production and flow for better removal of neutralised toxins and waste. This should improve many things in the body, including giving you glowing skin. A more intense detox would involve a lemon water fast. This means giving up solid food for a few days and only consuming lemon water. Lemons may be acidic in taste, but lemon juice becomes alkaline inside the body, and some experts say an alkaline body is important for good health. By fuelling your body with pH-balanced food, you give it the nutrients it needs to thrive. In return, it will make you feel fantastic. Of course, it also has ascorbic acid (vitamin C), which can boost the immune system. The citric acid in lemons encourages the salivary glands to produce more saliva, which is the mouth’s natural defence against bacteria and bad breath. This also means it supports better digestion. The fruit is also known to help and alleviate indigestion, constipation and flatulence. It’s easy to make lemon water. The amount you put in is up to you. You may wish to add some mint, cucumber or honey for a bit of extra flavour. You can use cold water or warm water, it doesn’t matter. I like to use the juice of one lemon in a little room-temperature water on an empty stomach.

So, if you don’t already take lemon water in the morning, swap your morning coffee for this cleansing drink and see how you feel. It works for me!

Article by

Jo Wood

Healthy and Organic Living Guru

is a healthy and organic living guru and creator of her own natural beauty range

Discover more

Article by

Jo Wood

Healthy and Organic Living Guru

is a healthy and organic living guru and creator of her own natural beauty range

Discover more