The Benefits of Drinking Lemon Infused Water

I have always despised drinking plain water. During my pathway, I realized very quickly that drinking water wasn't optional with this surgery and shouldn't be optional in everyday life anyway. My family and I were hving dinner with good friends from our church the other night and she had put some water in a pitcher and cut up some lemon, lime, and orange and added it to the pitcher. It was amazing!! I actually liked drinking the water lol. (Thanks Sabrena!)

So over the past few days, I have been researching all the health benefits of drinking water this way and I have to say, I'm quite impressed and shocked that lemon water has this many good benefits! I will share 7 benefits I discivered with you below:

1. It promotes healthy hydration

2. It's a good source of vitamin C and antioxidants which helps maintain your body's energy while on a diet plan and/or working out

3. It supports weight loss (who knew) and gives your body natural electrolytes

4. It improves your skin quality by rejuvenating it from within and can also act as an anti-aging remedy

5. It aids digestion

6. It freshens your breath and helps prevent dry mouth, and

7. It helps prevent kidney stones!

A good way to tell which lemon is best at the store is to see which ones are heaviest. The heaviest ones have the most vitamins and antioxidants in them!

In order to reap any health benefits of drinking lemon water, you need to drink it consistently, and you'll need more than just a single wedge of lemon in your mug. When making lemon water, always use fresh lemons rather than artificial lemon from a bottle. Squeeze half a lemon into 8 ounces or warm or cold water, or squeeze the juice of 1 lemon and slice 2 lemons into a 1/2 gallon pitcher of water. You can keep the same lemon slices in your refrigerated water pitcher for up to 3 days, then make a fresh batch! You can add limes and oranges too! A few other flavors you could add while adding a health boost are:

a few springs of fresh mint (digestion, headaches, sinuses, energy, menstrual cramps, bacterial infection, etc)

a teaspoon of raw honey (antibacterial, heal wounds, sore throat, digestion, etc)

a slice of fresh ginger (nausea, muscle pain and soreness, osteoarthritis, lower blood sugar, indigestion, etc)

a sprinkle of turmeric (increases antioxidant capacity, lowers risk of brain disease, prevent/treat cancer, prevents/treats depression, etc)

a dash of cinnamon (antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, lowers risk of heart disease, improve sensitivity to insulin, protect against cancer, etc)

More popular combinations for infusing water are:

Cucumber and mint

Lemon and ginger

Blackberry and orange

Lemon and cayenne pepper

Watermelon and mint

Grapefruit and rosemary

Orange and lemon

Lemon and lime

Strawberry and basil

Apple and cinnamon

Studies have shown that drinking 17oz of water can increase your metabolic rate by 30% for about an hour!