Almost as cunningly simple in its title as ‘green drink’ - lemon water is quite blindingly straightforward in its makeup: it is water with lemon squeezed in. Could it be any easier?
The beauty of lemon water is that it is tasty, refreshing and best of all, alkalising. The lemon juice raises the alkalising effect of the water so even with standard tap water you can make your drink nice and alkalising.
However, for the full lemon water effect: distilled/ionised water with Alkalive’s pH booster (or Prime pH or another pH drop) and lemon creates the ultimate alkaline water. The trick however, is to have the water lukewarm. If the water is too hot or too cold then it will cause the body to expand energy in order to process it. Lukewarm water also has that comforting feeling to it…
I know a lot of you know about lemon water already, through reading/learning about alkalising or through Gillian McKeith (who also recommends lemon water on rising) - but it is always a good thing to reinforce the basics.
So What Are the Benefits of Drinking Lemon Water?
Apart from being an amazing body alkalizer/alkaliser, lemon water also gives the following health benefits:
- Lemons are antiseptic
- Lemon water has excellent digestive properties and can ease heartburn, bloating and other digestion problems
- Lemon water cleanses and stimulates the liver and kidneys
- Lemon juice contains calcium, magnesium and potassium
- Lemon juice has been known to relieve asthma
- Lemon water (hot) offers relief from cold and flu symptoms while providing some much needed Vitamin C
- Lemon juice is a great skin cleanser
So if you do not do anything else - start every single day with a glass of lovely lemon water!
PS - I have noticed that someone just found this page by googling: ‘do not leave lemon in lemon water’ and it reminded me of how true this is! Obviously if you are going to drink the water there and then by all means leave it in, but if you are making a batch up then the water can easily get too lemon-y if you leave the squeezed lemon chunks in.
Also, and more importantly, unless you have REALLY washed the lemons or have bought organic then the pesticides and chemicals could leach out of the rind and into your water if they are left soaking for too long.
PPS - yes, it is fine to add some cayenne (cayene) pepper to your lemon water for a bit of a kick, but PLEASE DO NOT ADD MAPLE SYRUP - this will make it have an acidic effect on the body!
Further resources:
- Our Energise Alkaline Diet Resources
- Middle Path’s Benefits of Lemon Juice - lists ailments helped by lemon water!
- About.com’s lemon water article
- Mommylife gives some other lemon juice benefits here (about 2/3 of the way down!)
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Is it good to have Lemon water(Lukewarm) mixed up with a teaspoon of honey.
Hi
This website is good regarding Lemom uses, I’m fan of Lemon. I use to drink daily lemon water, I’m 4.11height and 48kgs weight, some times I use to feel my belly became fat by eating daily rice. so someone said to reduce fat that to drink half Lemon with tea spoon honey in glass of luke warm water daily morning before breakfast and don’t eat upto one hour. Is it the right procedure, after using this type of method I feel so hungry, If i do this way will i get acidity problem please let me know. Instead of morning can i drink lemon night after dinner. Kindly let me know when to drink lemon what is time delay to eat.
hi ross..first question would this lemon water be suitable for someone who has hyperacidity problems/stomach ulcers? second question are there any known side effects? thanks
Pam needs to shut up.
Mike needs to come back.
Hey! I had a kidney transplant 2 years ago. Will drinking lemon water harm my body or kidneys?
Ross,
I stumbled across this site while looking for ways to increase alkaline levels in my body. I recently had a physical which indicated that my urine’s Ph level is 5. Needless to say, after reading this blog, I plan to get started with lemon water right away. While researching on the internet, however, I also found that unrefined sea salt is helpful as well. Which leads me to my question for you: is it OK to put a bit of sea salt in my lemon water? Will this make the drink even more beneficial. Thank you for creating this informative site, and I look forward to your answer.
great post. I have just started drinking water with lime and feel more energized. Do lemon and limes have the same effect?
Hi there. I have been reading all these replies and are very informative, thank you. Can I just ask, I love the benefits of drinking lemons in boiling water but need to sweeten the taste (I REALLY dont like it without something sweet added, normally honey). Any suggestions? Would sweetners be a healthier replacement to honey?
Thanks in advance.
Hi! Just wanted to ask if i can have lemon with green tea, or will it decrease the potency of lemon as compared to having it with just water?
Please advice and thanks.
Hi im wondering if anyone can help. my daughter is starting radio and chemotherapy for a brain tumour and i have been finding out more about alkalising the body.
I think it will be extremely beneficial for her but i am getting stuck as to how i can fill her up, she is also on steroids which makes her more hungry.
So does anyone have any filling and satisfying recipes?
especially for breakfast..
thanks
Hi Mumtaz
Unfortunately I cannot comment about anything specific once a diagnosed illness is mentioned, but I can point you in the direction of some filling recipes!
Try here to start - http://www.energiseforlife.com/wordpress/category/alkaline-recipes
And I also suggest you have a look at our alkaline diet course:
http://www.energiseforlife.com/AlkalineLifestylePay/alkaline_diet_course.php
Which includes meal plans for every day for 12 weeks and an alkaline recipe book to support it.
One of the main elements of the course was to make sure that people eat alkaline but still feel full and satisfied (and don’t go hungry) as this is one of the main pieces of feedback we hear every day - so it might be able to help you too.
I hope this is useful for you - please feel free to email me or post in our forum (http://www.energiseforlife.com/alkaline-diet-forum) if you have any other questions
Have a great day
Ross
Really interesting site - informative.
As regards Pam - what was that all about???? lol!
online bitching - love it……………
Had great fun ploughing through this - entertaining. Probably not the intention of the site though.
I am drinking lemon water - you are rightin every bit of advice you have given so far - keep it up. Jane x
Hi Ross,
You said you have a blogged of lemon water to death? Sorry , do you mean lemon water is bad? thanks in advance for your support.
Sherwin
Hi Sherwin
Heh - no, sorry, what I mean is that I have blogged about it a lot.
It is good for you!
Hope this clears it up for you
Ross
Hi Ross,
I tried drinking a cold glass of water with a lemon in it on an empty stomach, 2 minutes later I experienced this horrible pain right under my chest bone. The whole day I have been feeling like this, I even had to miss work. If a glass of water with lemon is so good for you, why is it that i felt this way?
Amy
Hi Amy
How cold was the water?!
You should ideally drink it with slightly warm water. Either way to suggest your body reacted so badly to something as simple as water with a few drops of lemon in it is a bit of a worry. If your body was this sensitive then you have a serious allergy to either water or lemon.
I would suggest that this is coincidental, OR you should go and see your doctor and have him check it all out.
Without knowing anything about your diet, medical history or even what you ate that morning or the night before it is impossible for me to comment really.
Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Ross
Hi Ross,
I have to wake up quite early every morning so will not have enough time to prepare the lemon water in the morning. Hence, may i check with you whether i can squeeze in the lemon/lime juice into water at night time, leave it over night and then drink it at the next morning? Thanks in advance!
With Best Regards,
Charis
Hi Ross,
What are the effects of agave with the lemon?
Thank you,
Cheryl
I tested water before and after lemon drops added and a separate water before/after ph drops. The lemon water did not change the ph indicator on the ph test strips…and only slightly with the ph drops. The PH drops I used were the AlkaMAX.
Can you explain this?
Most grateful,
Glenda
I use himalayan pink salt too…which I was told alkalizes the water. Is that true?
Hi Glenda
It is not so much the pH of the food or drink before you consume it, more the effect it has on the pH of the body. Lemon, being high in alkaline minerals and low in salt has a very alkalising effect on the body once consumed.
Himalayan pink salt is certainly a million times better than using refined salts, and certainly has a lot going for it. Just don’t add it to all of your water, maybe once or twice per day.
Cheers
Ross
Hi Ross, Lemon water has improved my health and i can feel the difference when i am not drinking it. Many issues are cleared up by the miracle of Lemon in water. Thanks & keep going forward!
Hope
I have started to drink lemon water in the morning along with probiotics and taking digestive enzymes with meals.
What order (if any) should I be taking them?
The reason I ask is, I have been told to take the probiotic on an empty stomach 1hr before food. I have also been told to drink lemon water first thing in the morning.
Will the lemon water kill the probiotics if I take them together?
This is quite interesting, A friend introduce me to the lime water and I find it very good but I use to mix the lime with sugar.
I will have to stop mixing it with sugar and take just as recommended by Ross.
You guys are doing a good work please keep it up.
I have a question, I never had an issue with UTI’S before in my life until I had my first born, then never again until this freaking year! I had one, a doozer. I have came to the conclusion that I can’t drink chlorinated water, I believe this irritates my bladder. I also believe I got it from eating to many oranges, Florida honey oranges, I think I am sensitive to them. However, the question is this,- I finished my percription of antiobiotics and I still had a slight notciable irritation in my UT. Which I was told this could be just tender because of the recent infection, however, I went to the store and bought some San Pellegrino lemonade, I drank it and it is all natural, some sugar, however the next day I was better……I got to thinking, could it be the lemonade. Then I also came to the conclusion that I use to drink pure lipton ice tea with pure lemon juice,… every day where I use to work…..which lead me to think possibly the lemon had something to do with my feeling better. I also then thought I never have had this issue ever in the summer, only in the winter, why I say this is because I drink tons of lemonade in the summer, it is my favorite drink. So could it be possible that the lemon juice is playing a factor here, could I have came up with something, but then on the other hand, why would oranges, and orange juices bother me so much? Is there a difference lemon verses oranges? Thanks, sorry for the long story, to get to my point!
Hi
I’ve got to be REALLY quick as I’m on my way to a meeting - but, yep the difference is with lemons and oranges. Oranges are highly acidifying to the body because they are so high in sugar, whereas lemons are alkalising because they are low sugar and contain alkaline minerals.
You may also have had trouble after the antibiotics because antibiotics strip your body of healthy bacteria and also cause the rapid creation of yeast in the body.
Hope this helps - sorry to be so brief!
Ross
Lemon water is AWESOME!
No questions about it…
Ross,
I do not quite understand the chemistry of taking a lemon which is an acid and putting it into water which makes the water more alkaline. Shouldn’t adding an acid make water more acidic? Please point me where I could read about this or answer it if you know. Thanks!
Hi Daren
It is to do with the effect it has on the body - rather than whether it is alkaline or acid in its natural state. Once consumed, lemons have an alkalising effect on the body.
Does that make sense?
Ross
Can i use lemon juice instead of fresh lemons to make lemon water, and if so how much juice per 8 ozs of water/ thank you.
I have the same question as Daniel and I didn’t see an answer to his question. Both Probiotics and Lemon water are suggested for immediate consumption upon rising. As I understand it, lemon is anti-bacterial and while probiotics are good bacteria, they are still bacteria. It seems to follow that consuming both at the same time or within minutes of one another would be a bad idea. Is that the case, or is there something else I am missing?
This is a wrong statement. lemon Juice contains concentrated Acid!!!
I performed a PH test with water as my control. The water showed a PH of 7.0 Neutral. Then I performed a PH test with the same water with some lemon juice in it. It immediately read acidic.
Dont believe me? Reproduce the same test and see the results for yourself. This is why you really shouldn’t take the advise of everyone on the internet.
While I agree with the concept of drinking alkaline water, I don;t agree with the method of using lemon/lime to do so, as these types of fruit are HIGHLY Acidic. Look it up. Google is your friend.
Depending on the area where you live, the water will either be Hard or soft. Hard water usually is pretty alkaline, soft water is usually acidic. If you have a hard water problem (Calcium build up on your shower stalls) then you should have perfectly alkaline water.
To all the readers of this article, I advise you to do a little research on how to make water more alkaline/acidic. and you will find some amazing information out there.
To the author of this article, I advise you to revise this concept.
Hi, Ross. Thanks for all of the information as well as keeping up with your readers by answering the comments/questions that they leave.
My questions are these - How much lemon juice do I put in the water?
Also, I believe, from what I’ve read here, that the juice should be fresh, from the lemon as opposed to the kind in the little plastic lemons we have here in the US and that the water should be distilled as well as lukewarm. Are all of these thoughts correct?
You mentioned that distilled water has a PH of 7.0, which is closer to where our bodies are meant to be but what is the average PH of tap water?
And let me say again, thank you so much for all of this information. I can’t afford an alkaline water ionizer and need to look towards other options, and thankfully, you provide those options here.
Sincerely,
Christine
I’m not sure how many more times I need to keep repeating this, but here goes again:
Lemons have an alkalising effect on the body. Yes they are acidic in their natural state (being citric acid), but when processed by the body they have an alkaline effect. This is due to the minerals in the lemon and the low sugar content.
I would advise you to follow your own advice and do a little research before mouthing off about my article.
Thanks
Ross
Hi Christine
- just squeeze half or a quarter into your glass
- definitely make the juice fresh, filter as best you can and yep, lukewarm is best!
- tap water varies, but is almost always acidic. Try to filter the best you can…
Thanks for the thanks too - it actually means a lot to get positive feedback! I put in a huge amount of work on this blog so it is nice to be thanked!
Have a lovely day
Ross
let say now…i have a glass with 300ml water…i squeeze the lemon juice into the water and i put the lemon inside the water….then i just drink the water….is it can? i mean letting the lemon inside the water..will cause any problem?
I drank lemon water all day yesterday and woke up with a sire throat. little did i know i stripped my throat with all the acid in the lemon. heck did you know that you can clean a toilet with lemon juice, how do you think it can burn fat so well. I am almost unsure if i did it wrong or just used to much. Maybe one glass was all I needed
Hi,
I stumbled upon this site months ago when I was googling about whether it was beneficial to drink warm lemon water.
I also see questions on what is the ratio of lemon juice to warm water.
So I tot I would share my experience.
I use a 1:4 ratio.
Juice of 1 lemon (I can usually squeeze out 60ml / 2oz) to 240ml / 4oz of warm water. As I use a measuring cup (which is in 50ml increases), I round up my warm water to 250ml, to make it easier for myself.
As for the warm water, it should be higher than room temperature.
I pour half room temp water and half hot water into my measuring cup (to make 250ml) and then mix in the 2oz lemon juice.
As for the freshness of the lemon juice, I buy fresh lemons and squeeze them. I don’t use package lemon juice that you can find in the supermarkets.
As I am lazy to squeeze in the mornings before I go to work, I usually squeeze the night before and store in a plastic container. Since Im going to consume the lemon juice in less than 12 hours, I personally feel that the Vit C loss is not significant.
Another way I googled on how to preserve the freshness of the squeezed lemon juice is to squeeze all the lemon juice you want and then pour the juice into an ice-cube tray. If you use this method, you can squeeze up to a week’s worth of lemon juice.
If you use a measuring spoon to spoon the lemon juice into the ice-cube tray (for eg. 30 ml makes up 1 ice cube), then in the morning when you drink, just take 2 ice cubes (60ml/2oz) and mix with 250ml slightly hot water. The ice-cubes will melt pretty fast and there you have your hot lemon water.
I drink warm lemon water twice a day. Once in the morning, half an hour before breakfast and once in the evening. Usually I try to drink it before 9pm, but I’m not sure wat effect there will be if you drink it later in the night (eg. 10, 11 pm). I read somewhere that one’s body organs start to detox by themselves from 10pm to 3am. So my thinking is I don’t want to interfere with my body’s workings by drinking warm lemon juice at 11pm at night.
My personal experience is that drinking warm lemon water is really beneficial at the start. When I first started drinking, I lost 4 pounds in 2 weeks. I think it’s because the hot water and lemon juice combination has more of a detoxing effect more than anything else, especially when taken first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. It helps to flush all the toxins from my body. Since I suffer from fluid retention (coz I’m a heavy water drinker), it helped ease my bloatiness and my abdomen actually shrank a little.
And I like that the warm lemon water helps to clear the phleghm in my throat in the morning and makes my throat more comfortable.
Hope this helps!
are limes as alkanising and can it be substituted for lemon. In Brasil they only have limes for juicing.
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