Lemon and/or Lime juice for health

My sister asked me a question last week about drinking lemon and/or lime water to help with clearer skin, increasing metabolism, lowering blood pressure and cleansing the blood.

I think she expected a short answer (well she does know me so maybe she hoped for a short answer) but you know I can’t do that. I have to research first. So Twyla, here you go!

First off, before I give my educated opinion, I have to tell you that there is a ton of information on this on the Internet but not a ton of actual legitimate information. Meaning, more then what people post on opinion boards, forums, etc. When I say legitimate source, I mean any web site that ends in edu or gov. I do not ever pass along information that I find on non edu and gov sites. Edu and gov sites actually post true and actual case studies, not moms, dads, or grandmas opinions. This is why no one ever gets ridiculous e-mail forwards from me either, because they are 99.9% a HOAX!

A common misconception that people are buying into is that citrus fruits in general, but especially from lemon and grapefruit, can boost your metabolism. There have not been actual studies that have shown any citrus fruit boosting your metabolism all on its own. However, this does not mean that they do not help boost metabolism, over all. What I mean is…if you eat a healthy diet and include fruits then your metabolism will love you and run at a higher rate. Note that I said “eating a healthy diet.” You can’t eat pizza and pasta, and fat all the time and then throw in some citrus and be rest assured that your metabolism is going to compensate, because it most likely won’t.

Acne: Lemon juice has been linked to help dry out very mild to moderate cases of acne. Drinking it has not shown as much success but there have been a handful of lemon based creams that have helped dry out the acne. Most of them to not recommend putting on your entire face and this can cause over drying of your skin and then in turn, because more acne, as your oil glands will try to over compensate for the excessive drying. This is why the cheap store bought cleansers do not work well either, they over dry and cause your skin to break out more.

On a personal note, I have found that I have about 50% less acne then I did before and the only way I wash my face is with a wash cloth and bar soap. I use Dove light exfoliating soap, and my acne has been much better. I used to use, every over the counter acne wash they have had too. I also still get acne in my late 30’s!

If you are allergic to gluten this can cause swelling and a side effect of swelling is acne. Most people do not even know that they are allergic to gluten, as it can be mild in some, and just eliminating gluten can help skin dramatically. Sorry beer drinkers, this is huge for you!

Drinking small amounts of real lemon/and or lime in you water will not hurt and MAY help you skin become clearer and be healthy for you, just not large amounts, and not in every glass. I say may because unless you are following all the other healthy recommendations in your life, you will most likely not see any effect of the lemon/lime water

Some considerations and precautions.

Citrus can eat away your tooth enamel and drinking too much can cause your teeth to become very sensitive and hurt. Brushing after you drink the water will help. You may also want to avoid drinking the lemon/lime water right before bed as some have noted they had added reflux at night due to the citrus and they have woke up with heart burn.

Other things that cause acne

Soda, yes even diet! Carbonated water does NOTHING for you period! Get rid of it! I could do a whole other post about soda.

Smoking: Smoking damages the skin, period. If you want to help your skin look healthier, tighter, and just better, then lose the smoking. It does not matter what creams, or food you eat as smoking will tend to override pretty much anything healthy you do for the skin.

My sister did mention that her cigarettes tasted horrible when she drank the lemon/lime water. I am not entirely sure why this is happening but maybe it is a good thing. My guess is that the body is loving the citrus and not loving the cigarettes. I can’t find any solid answer for this.

Blood cleanser: Citric acid likes to bind to calcium and this can help with the prevention of clotting.

Vitamin C has been shown to sometimes help with anemia but for the most part anemia can be treated with iron and B12.

As a blood cleanser citrus fruits definitely can help but again, if your diet is a high fat, high starch diet, so in other words, not healthy, the fruits may not help at all as the bad foods will over power your arteries and veins and the citrus won’t do much.

To COMMENT!

You MAY have to click on “links to this post” to leave a comment. I downloaded comment luv and for some reason there are times there is no “comment” to click on but if you click on “links to this post” it will take you to the place to comment!