Benefits of Drinking Lemon Water
On its own, water presents a multitude of health benefits. We all know the importance of staying hydrated every day, which is why scientists and nutritionists all recommend a high intake of water. But, there are plenty of things people have started adding to water as a way of giving it an extra boost of flavor and nutrients.
Consequently, many people have begun drinking lemon water as something of a substitute for a standard glass of water. By adding some lemon to your drink, it’s thought you would see some additional health benefits. Plus, it improves the taste, which can encourage you to drink more of it.
Naturally, the obvious question is this; are there any real benefits to drinking lemon water, or is it all just a fad? In this post, we’ll highlight a few reasons why people add lemon to their water, and if it’s something you should consider.
Lemon Water Has High Vitamin C Content
A lot of people choose to add lemon to their water as it helps boost the vitamin content of each glass they drink. It’s found that one glass of water will contain 25% of your recommended daily intake of Vitamin C—when the juice of half a lemon is added. In theory, four of these glasses mean you already get your RDI from drinking lemon water alone.
Vitamin C is one of the most important vitamins your body needs. It is primarily used to help protect the body and ward off diseases. As such, many doctors and medical experts suggest that taking Vitamin C supplements can help stop you from catching a common cold or falling ill regularly. But, it also helps keep your skin healthy, along with being highly beneficial for wound healing.
Furthermore, there are fewer calories and sugars in lemon water compared to other fruit waters–like orange or strawberry water. So, while you could get even more Vitamin C from them, you will consume more calories and sugars.
Drinking Lemon Water for Antioxidants
One of the main reasons to drink lemon water is because of the antioxidants present. Citrus fruits like lemon are packed full of things called flavonoids. These are plant compounds, and it’s found that many of them can be considered antioxidants as they help fight off cell damage.
Not only that, but they can also battle against things like oxidative stress, and are shown to help improve circulation too. The only contentious point about these claims is that they’re all made based on non-human studies. So, all the findings primarily come from experiments with rats, which means lemon water may not have the exact same effect on the human body.
Lemon Water Is High In Citrate
Citrate is something that most people don’t really know anything about. Essentially, it’s a compound that plays an integral role in the function of your kidneys and urine. Our bodies need a high amount of citrate to help prevent kidney stones. These usually occur when calcium oxalate builds up in your urine and merges with other substances to form these stones.
Lemon water is said to have a large amount of citrate per glass. In fact, it’s often recommended as a natural treatment for anyone suffering from kidney stones. By ingesting the citrate, it essentially dissolves the calcium oxalate that forms the stones. This has been backed up by human studies, so it’s proven to be genuinely effective.
There are lots of different types of citrate out there, and the main one in lemon juice is citric acid. Therefore, lemon juice tends to be used alongside other supplements or medications to help stop a build-up of calcium oxalate stones in the body.
Hydration from Drinking Lemon Water
Of course, you also get the benefit of hydration through drinking lemon water. We know that a large percentage of our body is made up of water and that we lose lots of fluids throughout the day. Even when we sleep, we lose water by sweating, and this needs to be replaced somehow.
Consequently, drinking lemon water is seen as a great way to hydrate yourself and replenish the fluids you lose throughout the day. It’s arguably better than just drinking glasses of water as you get the added vitamin C, antioxidants, and citrate. People find it easier to drink glasses of lemon water because it tastes nice as well. It’s almost like you’re drinking non-fizzy lemonade, so you’re encouraged to drink more and more!
Should You Be Drinking Lemon Water?
Drinking lemon water will provide you with some health benefits. A few of these are proven—the Vitamin C content and citrate–while others are yet to really be tested on humans. But, what we can’t deny is that adding lemon juice to a glass of water will make it more nutritious and encourage you to hydrate regularly. So, a glass or two per day could be beneficial.
However, you will see a lot of similar benefits by adding Hydrant to your water as opposed to lemon juice. Hydrant contains citric acid, which is the main citrate found in lemon juice. Alongside this, it also has potassium citrate as a main ingredient. Therefore, the two work together to form an even better defense mechanism against kidney stones. This is because research shows that potassium citrate is particularly good at preventing a build-up of calcium oxalate.
What’s more, Hydrant provides you with an optimal hydration mix. A common misconception is that you just need water to be hydrated. Additionally, you need a combination of other things like magnesium, zinc, sodium, and potassium. These are essentially the main electrolytes your body needs for all cells and organs to function correctly. The problem with only drinking lemon water is that you don’t replace any of these—you only replace lost fluid. With Hydrant, you’ve got an electrolyte mix that helps to refuel everything you’ve lost, leading to maximum hydration every day.
Plus, there’s a little bit of natural sugar in Hydrate that helps your body absorb all the water and electrolytes when it enters your system. So, you get more out of every glass.
Additionally, the benefits of electrolytes have been proven in human research. There’s no real argument against the fact that you need to replace the electrolytes you use, whereas you can dispute some of the claims in favor of lemon water. As a result, Hydrant is not only more effective, but it’s also backed by more concrete evidence.
Also, it’s a lot less time consuming to just stir in a powdered substance whenever you want a glass of water, compared to juicing a lemon. This makes Hydrate the more convenient choice for people in a rush or on the go.
Summary: The Benefits to Drinking Lemon Water
To conclude, drinking lemon water does present some health benefits that you will enjoy. If you enjoy the taste of lemon juice, then it’s also a delicious drink. But, it won’t contain everything your body needs for optimum hydration. Yes, you get a good dose of Vitamin C, and there are flavonoids packed into it as well. However, one of the main benefits of drinking lemon water is that it contains citric acid to fight off kidney stones. As we’ve already discussed, Hydrate also contains this along with potassium citrate, making it far better at doing this job.
The bottom line is that you can and maybe should drink lemon water from time to time. Nothing bad will come from doing this, but it shouldn’t be your go-to drink. If you want to stay properly hydrated, then you have to replace essential electrolytes in your cells. As a consequence, you’re better off drinking Hydrant for more well-rounded health benefits.
