Starting your day with lemon water is a fantastic habit for your daily self care routine.
By starting your day with lemon water, you can boost your metabolism, activate your digestive system and spark your cells with much-needed hydration and protective vitamin C.
This basic, yet profound little ritual, is as simple as squeezing the juice of one whole lemon into a glass when you rise, filling it with chilled water, stirring in a good pinch of Sea Salt and then putting it down the hatch!
Just this one morning habit can have a positive impact on your health in more ways than one.
Keep reading to find out five key reasons you should start your day with lemon water. If you're not already doing this, now's a good time to start!
1. Boosts Digestion
Lemons are one of mother nature's most powerful cleansing foods.
The particular acids in lemons are great for breaking down food and speeding up the digestive process.
Don't be fooled into thinking that because lemons are naturally 'acidic' that they are harmful to the body - it's actually quite the opposite.
In its natural state, lemon juice has a pH level of approximately 2 (relatively acidic), though once metabolised, it actually becomes alkaline with a pH of at least 7 (which is very healthy for your body).
For this reason, lemon water can help stimulate the elimination of waste stored in your digestive tract faster, which of course, helps to flush out unwanted toxins from the body.
Additionally, lemon water encourages the liver to produce more bile, which is even better at breaking down foods. This can improve the symptoms of many digestive issues, like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohns, and Colitis, while also giving you relief from everyday bloating, gas, and heartburn to make your meals much easier on you.
Stomach acids actually decline as we age, which means that lemon water can be even more helpful for improving your digestion as you get older.
2. Prevent Kidney Stones
If you’ve never experienced kidney stones, you’ll want to do everything in your power to avoid them and one of the secrets is as simple as starting your day with lemon water.
Kidney stones can occur when your urine has a build of too many crystal-forming substances, but lemon water provides the citric acid (or urinary citrate) to help flush them out.
Another cause of kidney stones is dehydration, so by drinking plenty of lemon water you can rehydrate when your body needs it most (first thing in the morning) and help nullify the environment in which kidney stones tend to occur.
3. Encourages Hydration
We all know we should be drinking more water, ideally 2-4 litres per day, but often times it’s easier said than done.
So when there’s a healthy, refreshing way to help us kick start our daily water intake, it’s a a lot easier to meet the daily quota.
Starting your day with lemon water can be a great way to 'pay forward' your essential daily intake of water.
As you make this a morning ritual, you'll soon find that you'll be able to easily consume 500ml - 1 litre of water at the start of your day, before your morning walk or exercise routine and before you eat any kind of food.
Remember, dehydration can affect everything you do from essential bodily functions, to your mood and your ability to concentrate.
In addition to hydrating in the morning, it's important to also hydrate throughout the day.
Take a glass or ceramic water bottle with you wherever you go and sip water throughout the day.
Handy Tip: If you're short on fresh lemons, you can substitute with 1-2 drops of pure lemon essential oil in your water for similar benefits. Lemon essential oil is also super handy to take with you when you travel, to the office, or to have with you at home in the kitchen as a back up when there are no fresh lemons in the fridge!
One final point when it comes to hydration. Fruits are nature's hydrating foods that are also designed to help flush out waste from the body. Be sure to include plenty of fresh seasonal fruit into your diet on a regular basis, particularly on an empty stomach during the earlier part of the day.
4. Promotes Healthy Weight Loss & Energy
Ensuring you’re at a healthy weight can do wonders for your overall wellbeing, helping to boost energy and reduce inflammatory aches and pains.
Starting your day with lemon water can help boost weight loss because it kick starts your metabolism and encourages you to avoid breakfast foods that can spike blood sugar, cause insulin resistance and weigh you down.
Lemon water can also be the invigorating spark to get you energised and moving your body first thing in the morning. And when you exercise on an empty stomach, your body becomes much more efficient at tapping into your fat stores for fuel.
Also, we recommend preparing your lemon water with pure "chilled" water, as it has been proven to not only boost metabolic rate, but also heart beat and reduces food cravings that encourage you to overeat.
The scent of lemon can even help fight depression and anxiety, so lemon water can help get your day started in the right mindset too.
5. Provides Electrolytes & Antioxidant Boost
Lemons are a powerhouse when it comes to vitamins and minerals. Lemons are rich in Vitamin C which are incredibly beneficial for immune support and protection from free-radical damage.
Also, Lemon juice contains potassium, which your body needs enough of everyday for cellular function, supporting muscle-nerve communication, as well as transporting both nutrients and waste through the body.
Also, when you add natural Sea Salt or Himalayan Salt to your lemon water, you're supplying vital electrolytes and replenishment to the cells.
The Main Takeaway
Start your day with lemon water for an incredibly beneficial boost to your health, wellness and energy. From supporting your digestion and resistance to sickness, lemon water can also provide several benefits that aid a healthy, active lifestyle.
As a singular morning habit, preparing and consuming your own lemon water elixir each day is one of the smartest self care practices you can embrace for a long term healthy lifestyle.
If you're not already, we encourage you to start today and you'll soon see the benefits for yourself!
Tolman Self Care.
