Lemon juice boosts health and prevents disease

Most of us know that lemons are good for us, but there are a surprising number of health benefits offered by lemons; some of which you may not be aware of.

This flavoursome citrus fruit has so many uses aside from the obvious culinary ones.

The lemon is a common component in detox plans thanks to its alkaline-inducing effects and its high number of immune-boosting, anti-ageing antioxidants.

Because lemons are high in vitamin C, they are often squeezed into hot drinks when people are struggling with colds and flu.

If this is the only time you use lemons, you’re not taking full advantage of this power-packed citrus fruit.

MediMush is a true advocate of lemon as medicine – here’s why:

Lemons can help to prevent strokes, asthma attacks, depression and stress; they can also treat inflammation and bacterial infection, and they’re frequently used in kidney and liver cleanse.

Lemons are even said to be able to prevent cancer. The list doesn’t end there though.

• Arthritis
• Metabolism
• Skin and eye health
• Colon health
• Bile production
• Brain cell regeneration
• DMSO (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)

Lemon peel has many health benefits too

A lot of the time when we use lemons, it’s the juicy segments we utilise but there is actually a lot of nutrition available to us in the lemon’s skin. In fact, the peel has up to ten times more vitamins in it than the juice! The peel (and the pith) also contain a higher number of antioxidants.

This bright yellow peel can do wonders for your health; it contains compounds that bring levels of cholesterol into balance, unlike the juice within it, it boosts immunity and prevents cancer.

The anti-microbial properties in it effectively tackle bacteria and fungus, so intestinal parasites don’t stand a chance of survival.

Lemon peel is adept at removing toxic waste from the body, so it is often used as an effective treatment in natural cancer recovery plans. Scientific studies have been able to confirm that lemon juice is anti-carcinogenic; in other words, it has the ability to destroy cancerous cells.

When frozen, lemon peel is said to have a more powerful impact on cancer cells than chemotherapy, having effectively treated over ten different kinds of cancer (as proven by lab tests).

Lemons alkalise your body

Despite being acidic in their natural state (pH 7 or less), once consumed and processed by your body, lemons have an alkalising effect on your body, balancing your acidity levels. Once metabolised, the minerals are dissociated within the bloodstream, raising your pH to above 7.

Note that this is dependent upon other aspects of your diet; if you’re pouring in a lot of acids causing substances, the lemon won’t have a great chance of working. In combination with a healthy, balanced diet lemons is a great alkalising tool.

Lemons can be consumed in several ways

Juice them

This is a common one, but some people struggle with the bitter taste. They tend to prefer squeezing them into the water, and perhaps even sweetening the juice. However, this isn’t the best use of your lemon as the juice doesn’t contain the highest number of healthy compounds.

If you don’t like the bitter taste, it’s still possible to prepare them in a number of other ways so that you can offset the bitterness with other flavours.

Freeze and grate them

It may be surprising to know that freezing lemons is by far the best way to consume them.

First, you’ll need to clean them thoroughly to remove any dirt or pesticides from the skin. Next, leave them in the freezer for the night, and once frozen, grate the whole lemons into a container and put them back in the freezer ready for use.

Grated lemon can as a nice flavour for meals of all kinds and also goes well with many drinks. If you can think of it, you can try it.

Make a smoothie

Making a lemon smoothie is a much better idea than juicing one; this is because the peel contains the highest concentration of vitamins, antioxidants etc.

This way you get the full benefits from your lemon, and you can tone down the flavour by mixing it with sweeter fruits, superfoods and nut milk. You can throw grated lemon into your smoothie too.

So now you know about the myriad health benefits you can get from lemons, we are sure you are looking forward to incorporating them into your diet more regularly.

MediMush recommends always keeping on top of your acidity levels through a healthy, balanced diet; try our pH testing strips if you’re not sure what’s happening in your body.