Water is good for you. Lemon juice is good for you. Put them together, and you’ve got a beverage that will help you to lose weight and stay full — and it packs a nice punch of vitamin C, too. To get the health benefit, mix the pulp and juice of half a lemon with an 8-ounce glass of water. If it’s too bitter, add a teaspoon of honey to warm water before adding the lemon juice. Use only a fresh lemon, and consume the beverage as soon as you make it to get the most health benefits.
Diuretic
Lemon juice and water is a common home-remedy diuretic. Drinking water alone helps to flush toxins from the body, and lemon juice enhances the effect by stimulating the bladder and urination. An added benefit, according to the Mayo Clinic, is that the citric acid in the lemon juice may also keep your kidneys free of stones by reducing the amount of calcium in your urine.
Weight-Loss Aid
Lemon can make a pre-meal glass of water more palatable, and add to weight loss. Participants who drank a two glasses of water prior to each meal lost about 4.5 pounds more during a 12-week study than those who drank no water. The study, conducted by the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at Virginia Tech University, also found that the water-drinkers lost two points on the body mass index scale.
Laxative
Warm water mixed with lemon juice can act as a laxative, according to Julia F. Morton of Purdue University’s Horticulture Department. She warns, however, that daily use may erode the enamel from teeth, but if you drink the mixture quickly, then rinse your mouth with water or brush your teeth, damage is unlikely. The combination of the warm water and lemon juice stimulates the bowels into action.
Other Benefits
Although largely unstudied, lemon water has also been used to diminish the symptoms of the common cold, to quell heartburn, and to treat acne and other blemishes, irritable bowel syndrome, and urinary tract infections.
