By now we all know that drinking eight glasses of water a day can be highly beneficial to staying healthy and hydrated. The health benefits of proper hydration can’t be underestimated. But let’s face it, drinking water is boring.
At its best, water doesn’t taste like anything. At its worst, it’s just plain unpalatable. But there’s an easy way to make water more palatable that doesn’t cost much and has extra health benefits of its own.
All you have to do is add a little bit of lime or lemon juice to your water. Just that hint of citrus taste can make it much easier and more pleasant to guzzle those glasses of water. Here are some of the benefits you’ll get.
1. Helps You Drink More Water
There’s just something about that hint of citrus in a glass of water that makes it so much more palatable and pleasant to drink. Since tap water in many areas of the country is mildly basic (7.4-7.6 pH), maybe that touch of acid helps neutralize the water slightly. Whatever the reason, it’s a lot easier to drink something that tastes good. And it’s a lot healthier to drink lemon or lime water than sugary soda or juice cocktails.
2. Might Aid in Digestion
Lemon and lime juice contain compounds that can help stimulate and aid digestion in the stomach. Try a glass of lemon or lime water with a meal to help aid in digesting your food.
3. Boost Metabolism
Citric acid is a key component in metabolism. By consuming the citric acid in lemon or lime water you can help boost your metabolism, which could help you lose weight.
4. Better Skin
The vitamin C and antioxidants in lemons and limes can help protect your skin and keep it looking young and healthy. And because you’ll also be drinking more water, your skin won’t dry out as easily.
5. Strengthens Immune System
The vitamin C in lemons and limes is well known to strengthen the immune system and help ward off colds. A single lime contains about 20 mg of vitamin C and a lemon contains about 30 mg. The recommended daily intake of vitamin C is 75 mg for women and 90 mg for men.
6. Protects Against Heart Disease
The potassium in lemons and limes can help protect against heart disease. And there’s more and more research into the effects of citrus fruits on lowering cholesterol levels.
7. Can Help Lower Blood Sugar
There has been some research that indicates that vitamin C in large enough doses can have beneficial effects on lowering blood sugar levels, providing benefits to those suffering from type 2 diabetes.
Limes and lemons aren’t expensive, and you don’t need to juice an entire lime or lemon to get all the benefits you need. Wash a fresh lime or lemon and cut it up into eight pieces. Squeeze the juice from a single piece into a glass of water and then toss in the slice for a little extra kick. Those eight slices will last you the entire day. Or if you have a half gallon water pitcher you can juice all the slices and toss them in for your day’s water.
If you buy too many limes and can’t use them before they start to go bad, you can freeze the juice in ice cube trays for use later on. Limes can often be found on sale five for a dollar, and lemons three for a dollar. That’s pretty cheap for the number of health benefits you get. And if you’re really adventurous you can try growing your own lemon or lime trees, as they can grow well in containers. So if you’re looking for a way to get in those eight glasses of water every day, give lemon or lime juice a shot.
This article was originally posted on Red Tea News.
