Health Benefits and 10 Brilliant Uses of LEMON
If you are looking to stock up on a wonder fruit in your kitchen, look no further than the common lemon!
Lemon is widely used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world, mainly for its juice, which has both culinary and cleaning uses. There are so many ways to harness the power of the small but wonderful lemon, from health applications to home applications…
Lemon juice is about 6% citric acid, with a pH level of approximately 2.2, according it a sour taste. It’s botanical name is Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck.
Health Benefits of Lemon
Lemons are a rich source of vitamin C which provides ~64% of the Daily Value in 100g. Lemons also contain numerous phytochemicals e.g. polyphenols, terpenes, and tannins. Similar to other citrus fruits, lemons have high level of citric acid, ~47 g/litre in juice.
Vitamin C, of course, is associated with increased immunity to infection, but also shows remarkable reduction in inflammation, even in conditions like asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis…
Lemons are known to treat indigestion, constipation, dental problems, throat infections, fever, internal bleeding, rheumatism, burns, obesity, respiratory disorders, cholera, and high blood pressure, while it also benefits your hair and skin. Recognized for its therapeutic property for generations, lemons aids in strengthening your immune system, cleansing your stomach, and are thought as a blood purifier.
Lemon juice, especially, has several health benefits associated with it. It is well known as a useful treatment for kidney stones, reducing strokes, and lowering body temperature. It’s anti-bacterial properties fight problems like throat infections. Researches conducted at the American Urological Association highlight the fact that lemon juice can eliminate the occurrence of kidney stones by forming urinary citrate, which prevents the formation of crystals.
As per the study by the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, lemon provides protection against inflammatory polyarthritis and arthritis.
Consuming lemon also helps to control high blood pressure, dizziness, and nausea because it provides a calming sensation to both the mind and body. It is commonly employed to reduce mental stress and depression.
Lemon is known to be a diuretic (an agent that increases the amount of water and salt expelled from the body as urine) and can treat rheumatism, arthritis and fevers. It aids to flush out bacteria and toxins from the body. There is also added advantage since increased urination helps to keep your urinary tract healthy.
Most fevers can be treated with lemon as it is a good detoxification agent. Fever is an attempt by the body to eliminate toxins, and lemon assists in faster elimination of toxins out of body. Just add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in a glass of warm water and drink it three times a day. Adding a tablespoon of honey will make it even better!
Lemon is also one of the best natural germicides and may kill such germs as induced by influenza. Lemon also contains antihistamines and may cure fevers due to some allergies.
Lemon has demonstrated to be nature’s gift to everyone who uses it. It provides many valuable solutions to health-related problems because it contains its own set of antiseptic and natural medications. A good practice is to eat at least a quarter to a half of this small yet powerful citrus fruit per day to get the maximum health benefits.
One of the simplest way to consume lemon is to drink a cup of warm water with half a lemon in the morning. The warm water serves to stimulate the gastrointestinal tract and peristalsis – the waves of muscle contractions within the intestinal walls that keep things moving. Lemons and limes are also high in minerals and vitamins and help loosen ama, or toxins, in the digestive tract.
10 Other Brilliant Uses of Lemon
1. Cleaning, Polish and Remove tarnish
- Remove the tarnish that keeps brass, copper and stainless steel from sparkling by making a paste of lemon juice and salt and applying it to the affected surface. Let it sit for five minutes, then rinse with warm water and pat dry.
- Clean Oily Pots & Pans – Lemon juice is extremely effective on grease. Squeeze it onto tough messes, including crusted, baked-on foods, and let it sit for a few minutes. Then, make a paste with some baking soda and a little more lemon juice and scrub away!
2. Deodorize your home and Repel Insect
- From the refrigerator to the cat litter box, lemons can eliminate bad smells of all kinds throughout the house. Soak a sponge in lemon juice and place it inside the fridge to absorb odors. Simmer lemon peel in a pot of water for a fresh whole-house scent. Toss leftover lemon down your garbage disposal to banish bad smells from accumulated food gunk. Just a few slices of cut lemon placed near a litter box will help neutralize unpleasant odors.
- Ants, fleas, moths, cockroaches and other insects are repelled by the strong scent of lemons. Hang a breathable cloth sachet of dried lemon peels in your closet instead of mothballs, and squeeze fresh lemon juice onto windowsills and doors where pests are likely to gain entrance to your home. You can also spray lemon juice into hard-to-reach areas, like the cracks between appliances and walls.
3. Hair Care
- Lemon juice has proven itself in the treatment of hair care on a wide scale. The juice applied to the scalp can treat problems like dandruff, hair loss and other problems related to the hair and scalp. If you apply this juice directly on the hair, it can give your hair a natural shine.
4. Skin Care
- Lemon juice, being a natural antiseptic medicine, can also cure problems related to the skin. The juice can be applied to reduce the pain of sunburns and it helps to ease the pain from bee stings as well. It is also good for acne and eczema.
- It acts as an anti-aging remedy and can remove wrinkles and blackheads. Drinking its juice mixed with water and honey brings a healthy glow to the skin.
5. Cure Burns and Scars
- Using lemon juice on the site of old burns can help fade the scars, and since it is a cooling agent, it reduces the burning sensation on the skin when you currently have an irritating burn.
6. Stop Nose Bleed
- It has antiseptic and coagulant properties, so it can stop internal bleeding. You can apply lemon juice to a small cotton ball and place it inside your nose to stop nosebleeds.
7. Weight Loss
- If a person drinks lemon juice mixed with lukewarm water and honey, it can help reduce body weight. Lemons are high in pectin fiber, which helps fight hunger cravings. Studies also show that people who maintain a more alkaline diet lose weight faster.
8. Sooth Respiratory Disorders
- Lemon is great for relieving respiratory problems and breathing problems, such as its ability to soothe a person suffering from an asthma attack. Being a rich source of vitamin C, it helps in dealing with more long-term respiratory disorders as well.
9. Relaxes Foot
- Lemon is an aromatic and antiseptic agent, and is useful for foot relaxation. Add some of its juice to warm water and dip your feet into the mixture for instant relief and muscle relaxation.
10. Reduces Corns
- Lemon juice can dissolve lumps on the skin, so it can be applied to the areas where the skin has hardened up, like the soles of feet and the palms of your hands. Drinking it with water can help patients reduce gallstones for the same reasons.
Is Lemon An Alkalizing Food?
Wellness fans will have heard that an alkaline body is the KEY to good health. Proponents believe that eating high amounts of acidifying foods can cause your body’s pH to become more acidic, increasing your vulnerability to illnesses and diseases including cancer. To function properly, your blood requires healthy acid versus alkaline, or pH, levels. Systems in your body carefully maintain normal blood pH levels, which fall between 7.35 and 7.45, regardless of your diet. Your body can become strained through unbalanced diets which are over rich in acid-inducing foods, repressed or unexpressed negative emotions, persistent negative subconscious thought patterns, and overall wear and tear in human body functions. For example, many believe that the body steals alkaline calcium from your bones to buffer the acidifying effects of the foods you eat.
There have been many articles that reports lemons to be incredibly alkaline food, believe it or not. The main distinction is that while lemon is acidic (pH 2-3), it has super low sugar content and high alkaline mineral content, such that it actually have an alkalising effect on the body that far exceeds it’s citric acid content. The most important thing to note is not what the pH of the food is in it’s natural state – rather the effect of the food on the body.
Why is lemon juice considered alkalining to the body by many? Because your body uses the vitamin C that lemon juice provides and leaves the alkaline minerals in lemon juice – calcium, magnesium and potassium. Some of these minerals end up being excreted in your urine, which raises its pH. For this reason, many people consider lemon water an alkaline beverage, even though it is acidic! Potential Renal Acid Load, known as PRAL to scientists, measures how much an acid “load” a food puts on your kidneys, and Lemon juice has a negative PRAL ‘score” because it reduces the acid load on your kidneys.
In general, those who follow the Alkaline Diet categorises foods into :
- Acidifying foods: Meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs and alcohol
- Neutral foods: Natural fats, starches and sugars
- Alkalizing foods: Fruits, nuts, legumes and vegetables
Summary
Lemon is a powerful fruit full of healthy and useful goodness. They are cheap and abundant, small and easy to store in your kitchen. Start enjoying the benefits of lemon and prepare for a radical change in your overall health and wellness !