A Lemon a Day...
If 8 year old me knew I was willingly drinking lemon water willingly…I think she’d have slid over the glass my mother poured for her and said “then drink this so I don’t have to...”
Yep. My mom made me drink warm lemon water in the mornings growing up-like in elementary school, you guys. To say I hated it…would be an understatement. She said it was to help make sure I always had nice skin, and that HER mother made HER drink it when she was growing up too.
Oh mothers! The things we do and pass on, aye?
And here I am over 25 years later and anytime I feel myself shifting away from how I want to feel or show up in my life-the FIRST thing I do is buy 7 lemons and drink one every day. It’s become an automatic response to help me feel better-squeeze 1/2 lemon in warm water every morning and recently I also started having the other half at night.
Nowadays, part of my morning routine and evening routine mirror one another: Arbonne Detox Tea and Nettle Leaf Tea, and a 1/2 a lemon in warm water.
So, did my grandma know what was up, or what?
Here’s why (even if you’re not trying to replenish postpartum or clean up for conception) we should all be having a warm glass of lemon water a day!
Lemons do SO much good for us! They are an excellent source of vitamin C and flavonoids(which are antioxidants) so they help remove free radicals that can damage cells from the body.
And turns out-my grandma making my mom drink it so she’d have good skin (which spoiler alert-both my mom and I happen to have fantastic skin) was spot on as the vitamin C found in drinking warm lemon water plays a major role in the formation of collagen-which is the support system of the skin.
(post soon about why collagen is so important when you’re growing a baby)
Not only that! But...oh here it is again GUT HEALTH Y’ALL!
A glass of warm lemon water in the morning aids in supporting your digestive system!!!
Notice I keep saying “warm” lemon water and “morning.” Well, there’s a reason for that my friends. Consuming the lemon in warm water actually flushes toxins more easily and the warmth helps to extract vitamin C and polyphemols more than room temperature or cold water.
The reason I say “morning” is because when we have warm lemon water on an empty stomach first thing in the morning it helps to stimulate our digestion more than if we have it later, it also gives our metabolism a little boost. That’s often why when looking into simple habits to do to loose weight-starting your morning with lemon water is at the top of the list. It also rehydrates your body after a long night of sleep…or a long night of being woken up a bunch to nurse like me! The bio availability of lemon water is the same no matter what time of day or temperature of water-there’s just a tad more benefit to drinking it warm in the morning than later on.
I like to also have a glass in the evening because it continues to aid in detoxing the body after a long day, and since I nurse often-I like to be sure I’m plenty hydrated before heading to bed. It only enhances all the magic of my detox tea that I have morning and night as well.