The health benefits of lemon include treatment of indigestion, constipation, dental problems, throat infections, fever, internal bleeding, rheumatism, burns, obesity, respiratory disorders, cholera, and high blood pressure, while also benefiting your hair and skin. Known for its therapeutic property since generations, lemon helps strengthen your immune system, cleanse your stomach, and is considered 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. As a refreshing drink, lemonade helps you stay calm and cool.
Nutrition Facts Of Lemon
The health benefits of lemon are due to its many nourishing elements like vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin A, vitamin E, folate, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, copper, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, and protein. It is a fruit that contains flavonoids, which are composites that contain antioxidant and cancer-fighting properties. It helps prevent diabetes, constipation, high blood pressure, fever, indigestion, as well as improve the skin, hair, and teeth. Studies conducted at the American Urological Association highlight the fact that lemonade or lemon juice can eliminate the occurrence of kidney stones by forming urinary citrate, which prevents the formation of crystals.
People use it to make lemonade by mixing lemon juice and water. Many people also use it as a washing agent, because of its ability to remove stains. The scent of lemons can also repel mosquitoes, while drinking lemon juice with olive oil helps get rid of gallstones. It is well known for its medicinal power and is used in many different ways. As per the results reported in a study by the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, lemon provides protection against inflammatory polyarthritis and arthritis too.
Health Benefits Of Lemon
Various health benefits of lemon are explained in detail below:
Treats Indigestion
Lemon juice helps cure problems related to indigestion and constipation. Add a few drops of this citrus fruit juice to your dish (take care, it does not go well with milk), and it will aid in digestion. It acts as a blood purifier and a cleansing agent. The recipe is lemon juice, cold water, soda, salts (common salt or rock salt), and sugar/honey for sweetness. You can also add some mint leaves or crushed fennel seeds for added flavor. Drink this whenever you have a heavy lunch or dinner.
Treats Fever
Lemon juice can treat a person who is suffering from a cold, flu or fever. It helps break fevers by increasing perspiration.
Dental Care
It is also frequently used in dental care. If the fresh lemon juice is applied on the area of a toothache, it can assist in getting rid of the pain. Massaging the juice on the gums can stop gum bleeding while also eliminating the bad odors that can come from various gum diseases and other conditions.
Additionally, it can be used in cleaning your teeth. Keep your eye out for a toothpaste containing lemon as one of the ingredients, or add a drop of its juice onto your normal toothpaste. Some people also rub their teeth with the outer layer (the inner side touching your teeth) after removing its juice. But be careful, it can be highly acidic, so if your mouth starts burning, rinse your gums and mouth quickly with water.
Hair Care
Lemon juice has proven itself useful in the treatment of hair care on a wide scale. Its juice, when 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 to the hair, it can give your hair a natural shine.
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, and if you thoroughly search the cosmetic market, you will find some soaps containing this juice, but they aren’t too easy to find!
Cures Burns
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 while you have an irritating burn.
Internal Bleeding
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.
Weight Loss
If a person drinks lemon juice mixed with lukewarm water and honey, it can help reduce body weight.
Soothes Respiratory Disorders
Lemon juice assists in 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.
Treats Cholera
Diseases like cholera and malaria can be treated with lemon juice because it acts as a blood purifier.
Relaxes Feet
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.
Treats Rheumatism
It is also a diuretic and can treat rheumatism and arthritis. It helps to flush out bacteria and toxins from the body.
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.
Throat Infections
Lemon is an excellent fruit that fights problems related to throat infections, due to its well-known antibacterial properties.
Controls Blood Pressure
Drinking lemon juice is helpful for people suffering from heart problems because it contains potassium. It controls high blood pressure, dizziness, and nausea as it provides a calming sensation to both, the mind and body. It is commonly employed to reduce mental stress and depression.
Lemon has proved to be nature’s boon 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. It also aids in the treatment of malaria. A good practice is to eat anywhere from a quarter to a half of this little yet powerful citrus fruit per day to get maximum health benefits!
The Power of Frozen Lemons
Top 10 Lemon Essential Oil Uses
As you’d probably expect, there is a laundry list of lemon oil uses in addition to all of these medicinal effects. Here are some of my favorites:
Laundry – In case you leave your laundry sitting in the washer too long, just add a few drop of lemon EO and your clothes won’t get that nasty smell.
Teeth Whitener – Mix lemon essential oil, baking soda and coconut oil and rub on your teeth for 2 minutes and then rinse.
Clean Hands – Got greasy hands from working on your car or bike and regular soap isn’t doing the trick? No worries, just add a couple drops of lemon EO with your soap and get your clean hands back!
Natural Disinfectant – Want to steer away from alcohol and bleach to disinfect your countertops and clean your moldy shower? Add 40 drops lemon oil and 20 drops tea tree oil to a 16-oz spray bottle fill with pure water (and a little bit of white vinegar) for a traditional cleaning favorite.
Face-wash – Lemon essential oil uses for skin can improve your complexion and leave your skin soft and supple. Lemon oil benefits skin by deeply nourishing. You can make lemon oil with baking soda and honey for a natural acne free face wash.
Wood and Silver Polish – A lemon oil-soaked cloth will also help spruce up your tarnished silver and jewelry! Lemon oil for wood cleaning is also great.
Goo-Be-Gone – Un-stick the sticky goo your kids leave behind with stickers and gum with lemon oil.
Promotes Fat-Loss – Putting 2 drops of lemon oil in your water 3x daily can support metabolism and weight loss.
Improves Mood – Diffusing lemon essential oil in the air can lift mood and fight depression.
Immune Support – Lemon oil can support lymphatic drainage and help your overcome a cold fast, mix it with coconut oil and rub it on your neck.
Lemon Oil Research
At the time I wrote this article, there were 778 scientific studies referring to lemon essential oils. The secret to lemon’s success appears to be d-limonene, a powerful cancer fighting antioxidant.
Some reports even speculate that lemon oil contains up to 70% d-limonene! It’s no wonder that science is quickly catching up to 1,000 years of therapeutic use and is finally confirming many of the various Ayurvedic medical applications of lemon essential oil.
Another important thing to note, lemon essential oil comes from the cold-pressing the lemon peel and not the inner fruit. The peel is the most nutrient dense portion of the lemon in terms of fat soluble phytonutrients.
A study was published this past March that evaluated how lemon aromatherapy affects pregnant women during bouts of nausea and vomiting.
Astoundingly, of the 100 women that participated in the study, reports of symptoms dramatically decreased just after 2 days compared to the placebo group. After 4 days the essential oil group experienced an average of 33% decrease in nausea and vomiting!
Regarding lemon oil supplementation, researchers from the Central Food Technological Research Institute in India took a look at how geraniol (a powerful phytonutrient found in lemon) can help reverse diabetic neuropathy.
It was discovered that sciatic nerve damage were markedly reduced by lemon oil (geraniol) supplementation. Interesting, cellular function was also restored during the 8-week study, which suggests that regular lemon essential oil usage can help regulate our energy stores and play a role in preventing disease, cardiac dysfunction and premature aging.
If this weren’t enough, the researchers also observed that depleted dopamine levels were improved which helps people overcome addictions and improves mood to fight depression.
And let’s not forget about cleaning and food protection. In a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was discovered that by adding lemon essential oils to food it protected the food against human pathogens like E. coli and Salmonella. Which is another reason why lemon essential oil is an ideally household cleaner.
Finally, lemon oil for skin health is also research and popular today. Lemon essential oil benefits for skin can include reducing acne, nourishing damaged skin and hydrating skin. Use lemon oil on the skin with baking soda or with raw honey as a natural homemade face facewash cleanser.