Every single morning, before I eat or drinking anything, I kickstart my day with a big glass of lemon water. In colder months I warm a 12 to 16 oz. mug of water and squeeze about half a lemon into it and sip. During warmer months, I fill that same size glass with cool or room temp water, squeeze in half a lemon and sip.
It's so simple, yet so good for your body!
And it's one of the simplest ways to kickstart a health day.
9 great benefits of drinking lemon water:
1. Naturally detox – lemon is a natural diuretic that encourages and increases urination, enabling the body to remove toxins that much more efficiently.
2. Stay balanced – lemons are a good source of alkaline, key to maintaining balanced pH levels. While they are naturally acidic, once metabolized inside the body they're alkaline properties go into action.
3. Improve healthy digestion – reduce symptoms of bloating, indigestion, heartburn, and even burping! The lemon and warm water combination helps to stimulate the gastrointestinal digestive tract, thereby enhancing the body’s ability to absorb nutrients and pass food through it’s system more efficiently.
4. Get an immunity boost – loaded with vitamin C lemon helps strengthen the immune system. Instrumental not only in keeping the germ bugs at bay, but also in empowering the body to stay strong and healthy during times of stress, illness or recovery.
5. Excellent source of potassium – and it's packed with potassium too! Potassium is essential to heart health, brain health and healthy nerve function, so drink up!
6. Reduce chronic inflammation – high levels of acid in the body translates to increased inflammation. Consuming water with lemon on a regular basis can actually help to decrease acidity levels (by regulating a healthy pH), thereby reducing painful symptoms of inflammation.
7. Optimize your day – it's scent is powerful! Just the scent of lemon alone has been shown to improve cognitive function, boost mood, and ease anxiety. Try rubbing some lemon juice or drop or two of essential oil on the inside of your wrists for a natural mid-day pick me up!
8. Freshen up – a natural antiseptic lemon has long been used to help promote healthy and vibrant skin. From sunburns to bee stings and acne to eczema it can be topically applied to help ease pain, remove blackheads, smooth wrinkles, and give your skin an overall healthy glow!
9. Give yourself a weight loss boost – lemons are naturally high in pectin fiber, an element that has been shown to be beneficial in weight loss by helping to reduce hunger cravings. And bonus - when you start the day off doing something good for yourself, it is that much easier to continue making healthier choices throughout the day!
Cheers to your health!
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