Lemon Water: The Ultimate Mind-Body Wellness Portion
Greetings 4am Fitness Crew.
I have an admission to make, my first drink for the morning is not coffee, but lemon water. I sincerely hope I do not lose my 4am Fitness Crew credentials over this confession. Some of you are absolutely freaking out right now. Deep breathe 😊. Why not begin the day with a drink that hydrates – lemon water- as opposed to a drink that dehydrates – coffee. You will assuredly need that hydrating energy (from your lemon water) when you set out for your morning exercise.
I have this emotional connection to coffee – it soothes me, it relaxes me, it uplifts me, it … you know, all those wonderful coffee emotions. And yes, coffee also has a myriad of undeniable health benefits – but in the 4am hour those coffee benefits can wait. Move aside coffee, lemon is king – well ... at least until 9 am.
Lemon water therefore is my beverage of choice when settling into my 4am sacred space – my Sanctuary of Serenity. It holistically alkalizes mind and body. Sipping on this refreshing beverage hydrates, soothes and relaxes a mind and body that very often comes into this 4am space in desperate need of hydration, soothing and relaxation. I can almost hear the patient drip-drop of this nutrient rich liquid hitting my bloodstream with rhythmic accuracy, efficiently detoxifying, energizing, and calming me. Seamlessly preparing my mind and body to work with metronomic synchrony for what awaits 4am and beyond.
Let us pause so you can make this simple drink to enjoy in your quiet space. Room temperature is my preference, but warm and cold are also workable options.
One lemon. Roll in circular motion with your palm so the lemon can be soft and easy to use.
Cut lemon and squeeze into two cups of water. Mix
Optional - add teaspoon of maple syrup or raw honey. Mix
Include pulp. Gotta have your fiber!
Stir well
Sip slowly on one glass during your quiet time
Have the other glass when you finish your morning workout. Before breakfast.
Use a straw as the natural acids in lemon can erode dental enamel.
Uncomplicated. Effortless. Relatively inexpensive. Soothing. Lemon water is a welcome complementary to this quiet and reassuring 4am wellness space.
Lemon water in hand? Ok, let us return to the wellness qualities of this amazing superfood.
I grew up hearing my parents and their parents extol the health benefits of lemon water. And since many of these wonderful souls lived happily into their 90s and even a couple past 100 – I never questioned the practice. “Happily” is central here. Longevity-Misery is not an option. Live long and Prosper!
As a fitness trainer and wellness coach I needed a little more credibility than “my mother said …” It turns out, the efficacy of lemons – and by extension lemon water is widely accepted in the scientific and wellness community. With a growing list of credible evidence-based research on the everyday health benefits of using lemon, along with its emerging importance to some of our more pressing medical challenges, we should be enthusiastically embracing this thick-skinned citrus wonder. There is even some interesting research out there in relation to lemons and longevity. Maybe grandma was on to something after all. (source: PMC: Effects of Lifelong intake of lemon polyphenols on aging and intestinal microbiome in the senescence-accelerated mouse prone). Let us take a closer look at this timeless wellness wonder that has flavored our foods, healed our bodies, calm our anxieties, and played a pivotal role (cured scurvy, a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin C - that affected sailors in the 16th and 17th centuries) in connecting Europe to the “New World.”
Here are some of the benefits this little yellow oval shaped nutrient packing giant liberally gifts to our health and well-being.
1. Supports Heart Health
Want to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke? We should! The data is concerning:
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States.
One person dies every 34 seconds in the United States from cardiovascular disease.
About 697,000 people in the United States died from heart disease in 2020—that’s 1 in every 5 deaths.
Heart disease cost the United States about $229 billion each year from 2017 to 2018.This includes the cost of health care services, medicines, and lost productivity due to death. Source: CDC: Heart Disease Facts
But we are neither hopeless nor defenseless when it comes to heart disease. We can fight back with exercise, work-life balance, emotional and physical rest, following your doctor’s advice and a balanced approach to nutrition – one that most surely will include lemon water.
Research has consistently demonstrated the efficacy of vitamin C in fruits and vegetables. And yes, lemon water packs a mean vitamin C and fiber punch, both critical to heart health. Lemon water is also rich in potassium which is essential for the regulation of your heartbeat.
One glass or two of lemon water a day might just keep your cardiologist away.
If you want to explore NerdLand:
- PubMed: The effect of fruit and vegetable intake on risk for coronary heart disease
2. Supports Immune System
Lemon is a vitamin C and antioxidant powerhouse that plays an efficient role in boosting the immune system and offering protection against germs that cause the common cold and flu. Also, after an intense workout, drinking a glass of lemon water can boost your immune system, hydrate, and stabilize your energy.
Because of their high antioxidant potency, lemons play a crucial role in keeping inflammation at bay and under control, which further promotes a healthy functioning immune system (Source: Vitamin C and Immune Function: PMC).
One glass or two of lemon water a day might just keep the flu or cold away.
3. Cancer Prevention
Several exciting studies have demonstrated that fruits and vegetables high in vitamin C and antioxidants “may lower the risk of cancer at several sites.” (source: Pubmed: Fruit and vegetables and cancer risk: a review of southern European studies). Another groundbreaking study shared that an extract from lemon “may have potential for the prevention of estrogen-responsive breast cancer.” (Source: Limonoids and their anti-proliferative and anti-aromatase properties in human breast cancer cells.)
One glass or two of lemon water a day might just keep cancer cells at bay.
4. Improves Iron Absorption
You have enthusiastically embraced “The Joy of Clean Eating.” Those massive vegetable salads look and taste delicious, but you feel irritable and lethargic; the culprit might just be iron deficiency anemia (Source: Pubmed: Relationship between iron status and dietary fruit and vegetables based on their vitamin C and fiber content). However, iron deficiency goes beyond the usual culprits – women, vegetarians, and vegans – affecting all races, ages, and gender.
Solution? You can improve non-heme iron absorption from plant sources and prevent anemia by squeezing lemon over your salad or have a glass of lemon water before each meal.
One glass or two of lemon water a day will improve your body’s absorption of iron and might just keep anemia away.
5. Supports Healthy Weight
Preserving and achieving a healthy weight is essential to our health and well-being, and here again lemons appear to be very beneficial. I am not qualified to debate whether it is “water-induced thermogenesis” (Source” Pubmed: Water-Induced thermogenesis”) or the abundance of pectin in lemon – a type of soluble fiber that expands the stomach creating a feeling of satiety – but lemon’s presence in the weight management debate is a positive.
One glass or two or even three of lemon water a day might just keep those extra pounds away.
6. Prevent Kidney Stones
Kidney stones are painful. Kidney stones are very painful. Studies have proven, drinking ½ cup of lemon water a day can offer enough citric acid to patients to prevent a recurrence of kidney stones (Source: Dietary manipulation with lemonade to treat hypocitraturic calcium nephrolithiasis).
The bottom line is, the alkalizing effect of lemon water balances the pH levels in our urine, making it a very hostile environment for the forming of kidney stones.
One glass or two of lemon water a day provides enough citric acid to keep kidney stones at bay.
7. Supports Improve Digestion
Tired of indigestion, cramping and bloating? Pectin, the soluble fiber found in the pulp of the lemon might be the answer you have been waiting for. Gut health is necessary to your overall health and wellbeing, and soluble fibers such as pectin can improve gut health by slowing the digestion of sugars and starches. (Sources: The health benefits of dietary fiber: Beyond the usual suspects of type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and colon cancer).
Eating the pulp of the lemon and drinking a glass or two of lemon water a day might start improving your digestive health today.
8. Improve Energy Levels
The high levels of vitamin C in lemon water improve your body’s absorption of iron and therefore boosts energy. Lemons also contain B vitamins that help the body convert food into fuel to produce energy.
One glass or two of lemon water a day provides an abundance of energy boosting vitamins to keep fatigue away at work and play.
9. Lowers Cholesterol
Are you battling concerning levels of bad cholesterol? Pectin is back to the rescue! Of course, you remember pectin, we discussed this incredible fiber found in the pulp of the lemon – under (7) “Improve Digestion.”
Pectin’s fiber proficiency in the gastrointestinal tract goes beyond improving digestion to another starring role – effectively fighting bad cholesterol. Consuming this super fiber (the pulp of the lemon) has been demonstrated to be effective in lowering the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood stream and reducing the risk of a cardiac event.
This hydrating beverage also contains limonene, potassium and antioxidants that may add another layer of protection against heart disease.
Eating the pulp of the lemon and drinking a glass or two of lemon water a day might provide powerful protection to keep a cerebrovascular accident (stroke) at bay.
If you want to explore NerdLand:
10. Boost Brain Health
“Wellness is as much about the mind as it is the body. They are intimately and dynamically connected. The gut is a superhighway to the brain – by way of the gastrointestinal (GI) system. Hope and depression, anxiety and confidence, energy and fatigue can all be triggered in the gut – by what we eat.” ~ The Joy of (Clean) Eating.
At 4am Fitness Crew we have a very healthy respect for the gut-brain connection and its fundamental role in wellness. (Source: NIH: 4 Fast Facts about the Gut-Brain Connection). On every blog we encourage foods and emotional wellness practices that promote health and wellbeing. Lemons are another intriguing addition to this space.
Vitamin C deficiency is a frightening problem with devastating maladies – both physically, mentally, and emotionally. We do not believe in magic bullets at 4am Fitness Crew, however we do believe in a balanced wellness approach – and lemons and other foods that contain an abundance of vitamin C must be part of this (wellness) journey.
Recent studies have moved the discussion of vitamin C deficiency and its impact on our cognitive and emotional wellbeing from the anecdotal to the empirical. An analysis of nine recent studies concluded:
“… there is evidence suggesting that vitamin C deficiency is related to adverse mood and cognitive effects. The vitamin C blood levels associated with depression and cognitive impairment are higher than those implicated in clinical manifestations of scurvy.” Source: PMC: The neuropsychiatric effects of vitamin C deficiency: a systematic review. Another Source: PMC: Oxidative stress and anxiety: relationship and cellular pathways.
The bottom line
Eating the pulp of the lemon and drinking a glass or two of lemon water a day might provide powerful protection against oxidative stress – keeping mental degeneration and emotional debilitation at bay.
Concluding Thoughts
Celebrate your sunrise today with a refreshing and calming glass of lemon water; be mindful of the powerful healing food you hold in your hand. And be intentional to not give up one inch of your health, hope, happiness – indeed your wellbeing.
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