Lemon juice is something many of us use only in the summertime to make refreshing cold lemonades. However, if we were to use lemon juice all year round in our meals and other beverages like teas our immune system would stay healthy enough to help prevent colds and the flu from getting the best of us during the cold and flu season.
Appearance, Texture and Flavor of Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is very pale yellow in color with a strong tart tangy citrus flavor and scent. Sometimes lemon juice can even be pulpy in texture if the pulp is not removed from it with a strainer.
Where Does Lemon Juice Come From?
Lemon juice comes from freshly squeezed lemons that grow on lemon trees in tropical climates like Florida, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Greece and Australia. However, lemons are originally from China and Asia. People extract the juice from the lemons by squeezing them by hand or by using a lemon juicer. The juice from the lemons are used for flavoring Mediterranean and Italian dishes as well as hot and cold beverages such as herbal teas, water, smoothies and soda pops. Many people even use lemon juice to make medicinal syrups for treating and soothing coughs and sore throats right away naturally.
The Nutrients in Lemon Juice
Lemons contain several nutrients in them such as vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B5, calcium, potassium, antioxidants, copper, zinc, manganese, selenium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, natural sugars and fiber. Lemon juice even has medicinal properties in it such as antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic, ant- tumor, anti-cancerous and anti-inflammatory.
Health Benefits of Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is a juice we need to drink more of to help keep our whole bodies healthy. Lemon juice has the ability to detoxify our livers, kidneys and digestive tract naturally from toxins and waste build up. Drinking lemon juice often can even help prevent and relieve us from constipation quickly and effectively by stimulating our bowels. Many people drink lemon juice when they are sick and are vomiting to help hydrate the body again with electrolytes and relieve the nausea feelings they tend to get when being ill.
Those of you who suffer from inflammatory diseases should consider adding lemon juice to waters and herbal teas to help keep your inflammation down naturally. Adding lemon juice to beverages is also good for relieving muscles stiffness, joint pains and body aches too. I drink lemon juice daily to help keep my respiratory tract from inflammation so I have less asthma attacks.
Simply squeezing lemon juice over rice and fish dishes can help get vitamin C and potent antioxidants into your body to help fight off free radical cells that cause cancers and tumors. The antioxidants in lemon juice also have the ability to keep our hair, nails and skin looking and feeling youthful and vibrant naturally, because they are fighting off the free radical cells that cause aging.
When you are looking for a natural way to help brighten up the skin and treat your acne, it is best to squeeze a little lemon juice onto a cotton ball and rub it around on your face. It will sure up add some nutrients to the skin and relieve some of the inflammation you have caused by your acne. Heck, fresh lemon juice can even relieve and treat bee stings and mosquito bites naturally by blocking the histamine that causes itching and stinging.
If you become ill with the cold or flu, it is best to mix the juice of a fresh lemon with a tablespoon of honey and suck it down as medicinal syrup. It will help relieve coughing, sore throats, earaches, fevers, headaches, runny noses and body chills naturally. In addition, the vitamin C in the lemon juice will help boost the immune system so you are able to fight off your illness a bit faster.
Other reasons to drink lemon juice are it helps keep teeth and bones healthy and strong, protects our eyesight, helps treat allergies naturally, prevents cold sores and prevents fatigued feelings.
Precautions
Drinking to much lemon juice can cause loose stools and upset stomach. The acid in lemon juice can also eat away at the enamel of our teeth, which is why it is best to drink lemon juice up with a straw. In rare case, some people have been known to be allergic to lemons. Overall, lemon juice is safe and nourishing to drink to keep our bodies healthy and strong naturally.