Most people know that it’s really important to keep themselves hydrated. But most don’t realise they can take that further for better health and wellness simply by drinking lemon water or lime water first thing in the morning.
Tomorrow, March 22, is World Water Day and while it is about water co-operation practices, what better day is there to begin to improve our own personal hydration practices?
HOW POOR HYDRATION AFFECTS YOUR BODY
The way you begin each day is really important as it sets you up to either increase or reduce your resistance to disease. Starting out each day being properly hydrated has many other health benefits in addition to avoiding dehydration. These include kick-starting daily digestion and toxin elimination and helping prevent burnout, sometimes called adrenal fatigue. Cortisol imbalance is common in times of high stress.
Adequate water intake is essential for the proper elimination of toxins from your body. When you’re dehydrated it becomes really difficult for your body to eliminate waste products which leads to a toxic buildup. You start to feel stressed, get constipated, develop arthritis, get outbreaks on your skin and many more problems.
In addition your body stores more fat when you’re dehydrated due to added stress on the kidneys and liver so they do not perform at their best.
A SIMPLE WAY TO BOOST YOUR HEALTH
One very simple and surprisingly helpful practice to boost your intake of water comes from Yogic or Ayurvedic practice. It was used to stimulate the digestion and eliminate the toxic slime, called ama, that builds up in the gastro-intestinal tract.
It is the simple practice of drinking a mug of warm water with lemon or lime juice squeezed into it first thing in the morning. This helps to activate your body’s detoxifying process and also its natural cleansing processes.
7 REASONS TO DRINK LEMON WATER
1. Helps your liver eliminate toxins
Your liver loves warm lemon water and lime water because it purifies and stimulates your digestion and toxin elimination by liquefying bile and inhibiting excess bile flow. The liver is able to produce more enzymes from lemon/lime water than from any other food to promote better digestion.
Your liver works very hard and is crucial to the function of many other body processes – a little lemon or lime support and nurture leads to a healthy and happy liver.
2. Helps digestion
Warm lemon water or lime water increases the acidity of your digestive system as it’s very similar to saliva and the digestive juices in the stomach which break down food. It improves your body’s ability to absorb nutrients. An extra benefit of this process is to help with reducing hunger, great for weight loss.
3. Helps elimination of toxic wastes
Warm lemon or lime water helps your bowels to eliminate naturally and easily, reducing constipation. It also helps dilute accumulated uric acid which causes arthritis or gout when it builds up in the body.
By supporting the liver in its detoxifying role it helps prevent acne.
It gently flushes your kidneys and cleanses your lymphatic system, another channel for the elimination of toxic waste products.
4. Balances pH
Lemon water or lime water has an alkylizing effect in the body. Yes, even though they taste acidic they have an incredibly alkaline effect inside your body once they are metabolized! Drinking lemon water just before any meal helps your body maintain a higher pH than if you didn’t drink it.
When your body has a higher internal pH, that is, it’s more alkaline, it’s far more resistant to most major (and minor) diseases which thrive in an acidic environment. Cancer cells for example breed better in an acidic environment.
5. Protects your cardiovascular and nervous systems
Lemons and limes are high in potassium which is a mineral that works alongside sodium and is vital for keeping the nervous system and brain working smoothly. Low potassium levels can lead to depression, anxiety, forgetfulness and brain fog as well as muscle cramps and heart arrhythmias. Potassium is crucial for heart health and can help prevent stroke.
6. Boosts your immune system
Lemons and limes contain plentiful quantities of calcium and magnesium in good ratios. These minerals work together to prevent many health problems. One lemon has 30.7mg of the antioxidant Vitamin C which is great for fighting off colds and chest infections. Lemons and limes have very high levels of the antioxidant hesperidin which is anti-inflammatory and believed to have anti-cancer activity.
7. Help weight loss
Lemons are high in pectin fibre which helps fight hunger cravings. By cleaning out toxins and internal waste they may help speed up weight loss, and in addition promote quick bursts of energy. Because the effect works proportionally, the more you drink the more your weight loss should speed up. If you replace your other drinks with lemon water, you also have the advantage of a zero-kilojoule drink.
HOW TO TAKE LEMON WATER
Take lemon water first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, before eating or drinking anything else. Squeeze half a lemon or lime into half a glass of warm water, stir it and drink. The water will turn cloudy when you add the lemon or lime. It’s good to then wait between half to one hour before you eat to get the best results.
- Don’t use bottled lemon or lime juice – use fresh fruit.
- Make sure the water you use is pure – filtered or spring water.
- Make sure the water is warm – don’t use cold water as it is very hard on the digestion, slowing it down. Don’t use hot water either as it will kill the enzymes in freshly squeezed juice.
- Don’t add sugar or other sweeteners.
If you want even more from your lemon/lime water, you can really spice up your metabolism by simply adding a pinch of ground cinnamon and a pinch of ground ginger. The cinnamon is a great addition if you have any issues with blood sugars.
This is such an easy habit to adopt, it’s cheap, easy and certain to build your health. Try it out for a month and see how it can radically change how you start your day.
Which of the benefits that warm lemon/lime water offers would be the one to get you started on drinking it daily? Tell me in the comments below. Or is you already know and love lemon water what benefits have you noticed?
Disclaimer.
All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying any of the treatment suggested on this site.
© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content
Source articles:
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4769/Why-You-Should-Drink-Warm-Water-Lemon.html
http://nutritionistheprescription.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/start-your-day-with-lemon-or-lime-water/
http://www.naturalnews.com/033383_lemon_juice_digestion.html#ixzz2IZ0L8XRo
Happy Holistic Health 