Almost all health enthusiasts start the day with a glass of honey lemon water. Why? Because the benefits of honey lemon water are many and diverse, including improved digestion, clearer skin, stronger immune system, and enhanced metabolism.
Lemon is a powerhouse of vital nutrients and antioxidants that are essential for restoring health and rejuvenating your body. Its benefits multiply when it is consumed with lukewarm water and honey. Note that you can brush before you drink this, but it is recommended that you drink it without brushing or gargling.
Health Benefits Of Honey Lemon Water
1. Clears Acne And Other Infections
- Lemon is known to cleanse and purify blood, thus acting as a potent cleansing agent.
- Honey lemon water boosts the antibacterials and collagen of your skin.
- Vitamin C and other components in lemon and honey decrease wrinkles and blemishes and help combat free radical damage. [pullquote]Lemon and honey can be applied directly to scars or age spots to help reduce their appearance.[/pullquote]Vitamin C is vital for healthy glowing skin while its alkaline nature kills the bacteria that cause acne. A study has shown that the peel of lemon is also an astringent. This is an important finding as certain skin flora like Pseudomonas and Micrococcus can grow in presence of Sebum, especially when it is secreted in excess (in certain people), and cause purulent skin infections.
- Lemon water purges toxins from your blood, thus clearing skin blemishes from inside out.
- Sometimes it can serve as a predisposing factor for other types of skin infections like acne. Simple use of lemon juice can prevent such types of infections and help in maintaining a good and healthy skin.
2. Aids In Weight Loss
Lemons are high in pectin fiber and low in calories which helps fight hunger cravings. Honey lemon water creates a more alkaline atmosphere in the stomach. This helps lose weight faster.
Studies have shown that people who maintain a more alkaline diet in fact lose weight faster.
3. Enhances Metabolism
[pullquote]Lemon helps in enhancing the metabolism by providing the citric acid in abundant quantity.[/pullquote]
Lemons are a rich source of citric acid and the citrates are an important intermediate in the citric acid cycle (Krebs cycle or TCA cycle). This cycle is a series of chemical reactions central to nearly all metabolic reactions and is the source of two-thirds of the food-derived energy in higher organisms. In addition, the cycle provides precursors of certain amino acids as well as the reducing agent NADH that is used in numerous other biochemical reactions.
4. Aids In Digestion
Lemon, honey, and warm water together can give your digestion an instant boost. Its atomic composition is similar to saliva and thereby helps in digestion. It encourages the liver to produce bile, an acid required in digestion.
The digestive qualities of lemon juice help to relieve symptoms of indigestion, such as heartburn, belching, and bloating.
Read More: Amazing Health Benefits Of Barley Water
5. Helps In Cleansing The Intestines
[pullquote]It helps your body absorb nutrients, get rid of toxins, and stay hydrated.[/pullquote]
Honey lemon water increases the peristalsis of the gastrointestinal tract and helps in cleansing the gut. It also helps in the expulsion of accumulated fecal material and stops the build-up of ama in the gut.
6. Boosts The Immune System
- Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) found in lemons demonstrate anti-inflammatory effects, and is used as complementary support for asthma and other respiratory symptoms.
- The vitamin C in lemons is great for fighting colds.
- Lemons also contain saponins, which show antimicrobial properties that may help keep cold and flu at bay.
- It also enhances iron absorption in the body; iron plays an important role in the immune function.
- Lemons are also high in potassium, which stimulates brain and nerve function and controls blood pressure.
- Lemons are also rich in flavonoids, which act as direct antioxidants and a free radical scavenger.
7. Acts As A Diuretic
[pullquote]The citric acid in lemons helps maximize enzyme function, which stimulates the liver and aids in detoxification.[/pullquote]
Honey lemon water helps flush out unwanted materials by increasing the rate of urination in the body. Therefore, toxins are released at a faster rate, which helps keep your urinary tract healthy. For women who suffer from frequent UTI (urinary tract infection), this juice is a boon and is known to keep recurrent infections at bay.
8. Balances pH Levels
Lemons are one of the most alkalizing foods for the body. They are acidic on their own, but alkaline inside our bodies (the citric acid does not create acidity in the body once metabolized). Lemons contain both citric and ascorbic acid, weak acids easily metabolized from the body, allowing the mineral content of lemons to help alkalize the blood. Disease states only occur when the body pH is acidic.
Drinking lemon water regularly can help to remove overall acidity in the body, including uric acid in the joints, which is one of the primary causes of pain and inflammation in the cases of gout.
9. Promotes Healing
[pullquote]Combined, vitamin C is an essential nutrient for maintaining good health and recovery from stress or injury.[/pullquote]
The ascorbic acid found in abundance in lemons promotes wound healing and is an essential nutrient in the maintenance of healthy bones, connective tissue, and cartilage.
10. Freshens Breath
Besides fresher breath, lemons have been known to help relieve tooth pain and gingivitis. However, be aware that citric acid can erode tooth enamel. Do not brush your teeth just after drinking your lemon water. Additionally, you can rinse your mouth with purified water after you finish your lemon water. It is best to brush your teeth and then drink your lemon water or wait a significant amount of time to brush your teeth later.
11. Hydrates Your Lymph System
[pullquote]Honey lemon water supports the immune system by hydrating and replacing fluids lost by your body.[/pullquote]
When your body is deprived of water, you can definitely feel the side effects such as feeling tired, sluggish, decreased immune function, constipation, lack of energy, low/high blood pressure, lack of sleep, lack of mental clarity, and feeling stressed among others.
Chemical Composition Of Lemon
- Lemons are a rich source of sugars, polysaccharides, organic acids such as citric acid, lipids, carotenoid (pigment), vitamins, minerals, flavonoids, bitter limonoids, and volatile components.
- A lemon is a good source of potassium (145 mg per 100 g fruit), bioflavonoids, and vitamin C (40 to 50 mg per 100 g, twice as much as oranges).
- After isolating vitamin C, lemon juice contains calcium (61 mg) along with vitamins A, B1, B2, and B3. The fruit is also low in calories, containing 27 Kcal per 100 g.
- Other constituents of lemon include volatile oil (2.5% of the peel), limonene, alpha-terpinene, alpha-pinene, citral, coumarins, mucilage, pectins, and bioflavonoids (mostly from the pith and peel).
- The flavonoids in lemons have the capacity to modulate enzymatic activities and inhibit cell proliferation (Duthie and Crozier, 2000).
Chemical Composition Of Honey
- Honey is a rich source of carbohydrates (82%), proteins, and 17 free amino acids, of which the most abundant is proline.
- It contains trace amounts of the B vitamins riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, pantothenic acid, and vitamin B6.
- It also contains ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and the minerals calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, selenium, chromium, and manganese.
- The main group of antioxidants in honey are the flavonoids, of which pinocembrin is unique to honey and bee propolis. Ascorbic acid, catalase, and selenium are also antioxidants. Generally speaking, the darker the honey, the greater its antioxidizing properties.
- It also contains organic acids such as acetic, butanoic, formic, citric, succinic, lactic, malic, pyroglutamic, and gluconic acids and a number of aromatic acids. The main acid present is gluconic acid, formed in the breakdown of glucose by glucose oxidase.
How To Make Honey Lemon Water?
Take a tall glass of warm (not hot) water, add the juice of half a lemon and one tsp honey to it. Mix well and drink it quickly. Remember not to drink coffee or tea for at least one hour after drinking this mixture, and rinse your mouth later to reduce the acidic effects on teeth enamel or sip with a straw to avoid contact with the teeth.
Some of you may feel a vomiting sensation on empty stomach. If so, drink this after eating something light.
NOTE: Do not waste the peel of lemon as it can be stored and used as pickle. You can also dry and powder it to be applied as a paste on your skin. Studies have shown that this paste helps reduce acne.
I personally find myself making better choices throughout the day if I start my day right. So make a health conscious choice to drink warm lemon water first thing every morning.