Drinking lemon water is thought to provide many health benefits from boosting your immune system and detoxifying your body to helping you lose weight and make your skin look great.

Sounds pretty impressive to me as I’m sure it does to the many people who undertake this daily ritual, but how powerful in reality is a slice of lemon in a glass of water.

In this article well uncover the truth about lemon water by looking at all the touted benefits to see if it really has these magical healing powers that we are led to believe.

Lemon Water Does Not Speed Up Your Metabolism

We all have a basal metabolic rate which is the amount of energy (calories) that our body needs to be able to function at rest.

Our metabolism is affected by many factors such as age, gender, weight, muscle mass, body surface area and the thyroid hormones.

Now that we understand the major factors that affect metabolism, do you really think that lemon water will have as much of an impact as we are led to believe?

It is possible though to move the needle very slightly and make a small increase to your metabolism for a short period of time.

It has been shown in studies that drinking 500ml of water can increase metabolic rate by 30% for up to 10-40 minutes.

If your feeling the positive effects of drinking lemon water then great.

But it is the process of hydrating yourself with water throughout the day that is very good for you, rather than the actual lemon in the water.

Lemon Water Does Not Boost Your Immune System

Lemons contain vitamin C which is one of the immune boosting vitamins that acts as an antioxidant, helping to protect the cells in our body from harmful free radicals.

On average a non smoking male needs 90 mg of daily vitamin C and a non smoking women 75mg.

A slice of lemon contains only 1mg which clearly will have no impact at all.

Lemons also contain flavonoids which again act as antioxidants but a glass of lemon water will only fulfill a paltry 1% of you daily needs.

If you’re looking to boost your immune system and up your vitamin C content then eat a diet rich in fruits such as strawberries and oranges and vegetables like bell peppers and broccoli to ensure you are hitting your recommended daily amount.

Lemon Water Does Not Alter Your Body’s PH Level

The theory is that our body needs to be more alkaline than acidic to be able to fight disease and cancers caused by our modern-day diet and environment.

Proponents of the Alkaline diet claim lemon water to be alkalizing which can lead to many positive health benefits.

According to this article ‘The Acid-Alkaline Myth’ You can affect the pH of your urine but you will not be affecting the PH of your Blood as claimed, because that is something tightly controlled and regulated by the body.

There is no evidence to back up the claims of any health benefits of following an alkaline diet so consider that next time you’re panicking because you forgot to take you daily dose of alkalizing lemon juice.

Lemon Water Does Not Flush Out Toxins

The theory is that drinking lemon water helps the liver flush out toxins.

The problem is that it’s all theory by unqualified internet nutritionists and not backed by science.

Dr Ian Musgrave, molecular pharmacologist and toxicologist at the University of Adelaide states in this article that, “There is no evidence that these drinks will do anything to toxins.”

Edzard Ernst emeritus professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University, gives his scathing opinion on the matter in this compelling article and is further unrelenting with his criticism of the idea that you can detox the body.

In his own words the idea of toxins is “ being hijacked by entrepreneurs, quacks and charlatans to sell a bogus treatment that allegedly detoxifies your body of toxins you’re supposed to have accumulated.”

“If toxins did build up in a way your body couldn’t excrete, he says, you’d likely be dead or in need of serious medical intervention. “The healthy body has kidneys, a liver, skin, even lungs that are detoxifying as we speak,” he says. “There is no known way – certainly not through detox treatments – to make something that works perfectly well in a healthy body work better.”

Strong words by professor Ernst but a real eye opener to the fact that any detoxing that is happening in the body is occurring from the finely tuned systems put in place over thousands of years of evolution rather than the purported healing powers of any these supposed miracle concoctions.

Lemon Water Can Be Bad for your teeth

Lemons are highly acidic and can erode the protective enamel of your teeth which will lead to discoloration and sensitive teeth.

The fact that you are mixing the lemon with boiling water will have an even more damaging effect as the higher the temperature of the water the higher the rate of chemical reaction and erosion.

Brushing your teeth after drinking lemon water in the morning or night will also compound the problem and speed up teeth erosion because of the acidic nature of lemon.

If you enjoy drinking lemon water but are also concerned about your teeth health then are a few things  that you can do to minimize the effect of the acid on your teeth.

#1 – Do not drink the lemon water with boiling water but rather lukewarm water to reduce the acidic effect on the enamel

#2 – Drinking lemon water through a straw will further minimize the acids contact with your teeth

#3 – Do not brush your teeth immediately after drinking lemon water but rather wait for at least an hour.

Another time to avoid slices of lemon in your drinks is when you are at a restaurant.

In Fact you should avoid them at all costs based on the findings of this study.

76 lemon wedges in water or soda were tested over 26 restaurants and found that 70% had dangerous microbial growth on them with some samples shockingly, found to contain fecal matter.

It seems that the food health and hygiene best practices do not stretch as far as the handling of the yellow wonder fruit restauranteurs like to pop in our drinks to make it seem for exotic.

Should You Stop Drinking Lemon Water?

The simple answer in no, you shouldn’t stop drinking lemon water.

If you enjoy it then great.

If the taste makes you drink more water and helps you stay hydrated, then even better.

Just be aware that all the amazing health benefits that are claimed are unproven, overrated and according to many experts, just not true.

The truth about lemon water is that it will not help detox the body and fix the harm your unhealthy lifestyle may have caused.

The best cure is prevention by leading a healthy lifestyle, eating a balanced diet and not relying on fad diets and remedies because the body’s finely tuned network of organs are more than capable to deal with these so-called toxins.