Lemon peel-infused water or lemon tea is more than just a heart-warming drink. While the tangy zest of lemon gives you a very welcome energy boost, it also serves your body well in more ways than one.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of lemon peel tea.
Benefits Of Lemon Peel Tea
1. Strengthens Immunity And Suppresses Inflammation
Free radicals, highly-reactive molecules, are involved in a number of conditions like arthritis, inflammation, and cancer. Lemon peels contain polyphenols, a group of strong antioxidant compounds that can fight off damaging free radicals.1 Because of this, lemon peel tea can help boost your immunity and protect you against diseases.
Lemon peel tea’s wide disease-preventing spectrum encompasses the common cold and flu as well. Not to forget, the warmth of the tea will give your throat much-needed soothing.
2. Works Wonders For The Skin
This is an offshoot of lemon peel’s rich antioxidant reserves. Drinking lemon peel tea regularly, about 2 cups a day, can help reduce inflammation (reddening and swelling) of acne. It also slows down the aging process and makes the skin less greasy.
3. Lowers Blood Pressure
Most of lemon’s flavonoids (a class of plant pigments) are localized in its peels.2 Flavonoids can help reduce blood pressure, making lemon peel tea a great natural solution for those suffering from hypertension.
4. Lowers Cholesterol
Pectin, a naturally-occurring carbohydrate in lemon peels, along with other compounds has been seen to have a cholesterol-lowering effect.3 This can have significant implications in keeping your heart safe from heart disease.
5. Supports Liver Health
Because of lemon peel’s lipid lowering effects, lemon peel tea can benefit your liver as well. It does so by inhibiting high cholesterol-related liver damage.4 Your liver will be thankful for a couple of sips a day.
6. Prevents Dental Caries
Certain compounds isolated from lemon peels have been found to show antibacterial effects on cavity-causing bacteria in the mouth.5 Swish the tea around like a mouthwash to discourage dental decay. Very importantly, make sure you don’t add sugar to the infusion.
7. Promotes Weight Loss
Being a rich source of polyphenols, lemon peel tea may prevent or improve obesity.6 Those on high-fat diets can benefit from this tangy concoction in supplementation to regular exercise.
8. Removes Toxins Through Increased Urination
Lemon peel tea is believed to function well as a diuretic, which means it forces you to urinate more frequently. The upside of this is elimination of toxins from your body. A clean system is a healthier system.
9. Treats Venous Insufficiency
Venous insufficiency is a condition where blood gets stuck in the veins of the leg and is unable to flow back to the heart.7 Hesperidin, a type of flavonoid found in lemon peels, can help treat venous insufficiency. So, lemon peel tea can be used to provide some relief to people suffering from this condition.
How To Make Lemon Peel Tea
Ingredients
- 2 fresh lemons (preferably organic)
- A liter of water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
- 4 tablespoons honey (optional)
- Mint leaves (for garnish)
Directions
- Bring the water to a boil.
- Peel the lemons, and add the peels to the boiling water. Leave it on a low flame for about 20 minutes.
- Add lemon juice and honey for flavor.
- You may garnish with fresh mint leaves.
It is generally advised to have no more than 2 cups of lemon peel tea a day. Over a span of 2 days, your consumption should not exceed a liter of tea. For those who like their tea sweet, add a teaspoon of honey as a healthy sugar substitute. A couple of drops of lemon juice will further enhance the taste of this natural remedy.
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