7 Ways the Humble Lemon Can Improve Your Life

The lemon is one of the smallest citrus fruits; for example, it is dwarfed by the size of the grapefruit. In spite of this, its powers are immense, and its taste is refreshingly zesty. While making lemons a bigger part of your life will not help you make millions of dollars or secure a hot date, this fruit can still improve your health and boost your quality of life in a wide range of significant ways.

Here are seven of the most exciting benefits that you will enjoy if you make sure that lemons are a staple in your home.

1. Lemon juice can clear up your skin

As strange as it sounds, lemons can help to cure acne. Specifically, if you carefully apply just a few drops of lemon juice to your skin, this can help to make unwanted blemishes heal and disappear. It is suspected that this benefit comes from the lemon’s natural antibacterial properties

In addition, there is some evidence that lemon juice can help your skin in other ways.

For example, it may reduce skin discoloration caused by acne scars or injuries, lighten skin tone, reduce the appearance of fine lines or wrinkles, and even mix with sugar to create an exfoliating paste that improves the skin’s luminosity by removing dead skin cells.

Some skincare experts suggest applying the juice at a full strength and then leaving it to dry. However, if you know that you have sensitive or easily irritated skin then you are better off diluting the juice in water and applying it in the same way that you would apply a skin toner.

If you are using additional topical treatments to fight acne, make sure you discuss lemon juice with your doctor before adding it to your routine (as lemon juice has the potential to reduce the effectiveness of other skin treatments).

2. Lemons can help to treat the common cold

If you tend to spend the winter months fighting runny eyes, a red nose and a cough that won’t quit, lemons could be just the thing you need to combat feeling run-down and unwell. There a few different reasons for this.

Firstly, lemons are packed full of vitamin C. While it has not actually been proven that vitamin C can actively prevent you from developing a cold in the first place, there is good evidence that it can at least shorten your cold’s life and help to relieve your symptoms.

Further, since lemons are highly acidic in nature, they can be very useful when it comes to fighting infections, and drinking a little lemon juice may loosen some of the mucus in your upper respiratory tract. This latter benefit can lessen coughing and help you to feel less uncomfortably congested.

Finally, some people also find that hot lemon tea soothes the throat pain that often accompanies viral infections, and the liquid component of this remedy also helps to ensure that you stay properly hydrated while you are ill.

So, thanks to lemons, you can reduce your time spent sniffing and sneezing, allowing you to look forward to a more pleasant winter.

3. Lemon is a natural diuretic

If you are like most people, you are probably well acquainted with the problem of fluid retention. It sometimes causes swollen ankles, and at other times you will notice it when you find yourself having to hold your breath to squeeze into a pair of pants that usually fit just fine.

Women may be particularly plagued by fluid retention just before menstruation takes place, and it can be very detrimental to self-image. Regardless of where you are retaining water, the lemon can help you out.

Diuretic foods and drugs signal your body to release extra fluids, slimming puffy ankles and swollen abdomens. As it happens, adding lemon juice to water creates a highly effective, inexpensive diuretic that poses no substantial health risks.

Admittedly, drinking lemon juice might not be as effective as using over-the-counter diuretics, but lemon juice is completely natural. As such, it often appeals to those who are wary of adding new medications to their life. If you would prefer not to medicate yourself for every little thing, the lemon is your answer. However, if you notice prolonged or significant fluid retention, it is important to speak to your doctor so that the root cause can be diagnosed.

4. Lemon juice can control blood sugar spikes

When you eat, your blood sugar level rises sharply. This happens whether you choose to eat a creamy bar of chocolate or a meal rich in complex carbohydrates; no matter what you consume, your blood sugar will spike sooner or later.

Worryingly, persistently high blood sugar levels can trigger the onset of adult cases of diabetes.

In addition, if you are struggling to lose weight or are concerned about gaining unwanted weight, exercising some measure of control over your blood sugar response to foods can also help your body to control your insulin levels, allowing you to burn more fat for longer periods (and potentially reducing your desire to snack on sugary treats).

Interestingly, the fact that lemons are acidic makes them a useful ally when it comes to controlling blood sugar more effectively. The acid found in lemons acts to reduce the sharp increase in blood sugar after a meal.

To obtain this benefit, try adding a few drops of lemon juice to a salad dressing or mixing it with some olive oil. Alternatively, you could make a lemon tea after your meals and see whether its regular consumption appears to have any impact on your blood sugar levels.

5. Lemon is an appetite suppressant

When you want to cultivate a trim figure or maintain the physique you have worked so hard to create, one of the most common challenges comes in the form of defeating the urge to overeat.

Thankfully, lemons can act as a dietary aid by helping to suppress the appetite, reducing your desire to eat large portions or snack on unhealthy foods between meals.

On a related note, lemon juice is thought to stoke the metabolism. Of course, when your metabolic rate is higher, your body burns more calories at a faster rate, and this helps you to lose weight. It also makes it easier to keep weight off.

You can experiment with different ways of consuming lemon if you want to take advantage of its slimming properties. It doesn’t matter whether you eat lemon slices or wedges, or just squeeze some juice into your tea or cola; you’ll get the same benefits either way.

Some people also find that adding lemon to water helps to make the taste of water more appealing, reducing the desire for regular sodas. However, you will only see dramatic physical changes if you combine these new habits with a healthy diet and a sensible exercise regime.

6. Lemon tea reduces anxiety symptoms

According to an old piece of folk wisdom, drinking tea can help to calm you down, relieving anxiety and reducing feelings of nervousness. Perhaps surprisingly, recent studies performed by physiologist have produced evidence that supports this claim.

However, there are reasons to believe that the tea itself may not deserve all the credit for reducing anxiety, as lemon teas seem to be the most powerful of all.

Indeed, it seems that whether lemon is squeezed into tea or used as a major ingredient in creating lemon balm tea, it can help to soothe the mind and help you deal with stress. Teas that contain lemon are most strongly correlated with a reduction in anxiety, and some people who suffer from insomnia even find that these teas help with sleep problems.

In the case of sleeplessness, teas that combine lemon with valerian seem to be most effective. Meanwhile, lemon balm teas also appear to improve concentration levels without causing restlessness or irritability.

Lemon balm teas are easy to find in health food stores. They are inexpensive, easy to brew, delicious, and effective. You can choose to have them hot or cold, so they can also be extremely refreshing in the summer months.

7. Lemon detoxifies the body

Toxins build up in the body all day long, and we can do little to stop this as they come in with the food we eat and the air we breathe.

Toxins are also generated by some of our body’s natural processes, which is why many health experts recommend using a process called detoxification to cleanse the body of these built-up poisons.

Lemons happen to be a great resource for detoxifiers. All you need to do is squeeze a few drops of fresh lemon juice into a glass of water, immediately improving its taste.

These few drops of lemon juice also turn a plain glass of water into a detoxification agent that will help to clean your body from the inside out. As a testament to this, people who regularly drink lemon juice often feel less sluggish and also notice they are developing a clearer complexion.

As nutritionists conduct more investigations into the role that lemons can play in a healthy diet, evidence continues to grow in support of the claim that these fruits can work wonders for your body. For example, current research is exploring whether lemons might boost digestive health, reduce cancer risk, and protect the joints against arthritis.

Eric Barnett