One of the best and easiest ways to start your day off healthy is with a cup of warm lemon juice.
HOW:
heat a cup (6-8oz) of water (no need to boil)
add the juice of 1/2 to a whole FRESH lemon
(beginners start with less till your palate gets comfortable with the sourness)
sip within the first 1/2 hour of rising before you eat anything
Benefit 1: Boost your immunity.
As a citrus fruit lemons have a good dose of natural vitamin C. Did you know that vitamin C evaporates within 20 minutes after an orange is juiced? Any vitamin C present in your orange juice from the grocery store has been artificially created and added to it. (You might as well take a vitamin and save yourself all the sugar that the 3-6 oranges that it takes to make a glass of juice provide.)
Benefit 2: Clear Mucus.
Known technically as an astringent, lemon juice moves through your tissues cutting through and breaking up mucus. This not only improves breathing through your nose but cuts down on that morning cough too! It also improves digestion because we often have mucus lining our digestive track preventing full assimilation of nutrients and causing (forgive me) slimy BMs. This is great for a joint pain & stiffness too by removing accumulations in the joints.
Benefit 3: Help balance your pH.
You may not know what pH is or how is got out of whack but suffice it to say that it can make or break you in terms of how you feel. If you are too acidic you can feel crappy, have indigestion, headaches, food cravings, produce mucus (see benefit #2!), and on and on. Ironic that an acidic fruit and reduce your body’s acidity, isn’t it? You don’t have to understand all the science; just know that the lemon juice is doing its job to make you feel better.
Benefit 4: Reduce Water Retention
Lemon moves through your tissues and works like a natural and gentle diuretic, allowing you to release water related to swelling, edema, menstrual and digestive bloating. You should notice that your trip to the restroom soon after having your warm cup of lemon juice far out weighs the amount of water you took in.
Benefit 5: Weight Loss
Some experts say that due to the pH and reducing food craving that starting your day with warm lemon juice can support weight loss. Much like apple cider vinegar. This benefit seems to depend on the individual but it couldn’t hurt, could it?
Give yourself a week to get used to drinking this slightly sour but soothing beverage every morning to start to reap the benefits. Cheers!
