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up vote 5 down vote favorite

I am italian and I never saw drinking water in this way before I went to a multicultural university. I am curious to know.

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Why would you suspect its not healthy? The goal of this site isn't to debunk every nutritional related claim. So please see come up with some reasoning as to why it might not be healthy. – Ivo Flipse♦ Jun 26 '11 at 19:20
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Sorry if you thought I wanted to debunk a nutritional related claim. I only wanted to know what is known about lemon+water with some scientific references, because I never saw before this drink in Italy. – Francesco Jun 27 '11 at 15:46
ciao @francesco, an interesting question. Just FYI i've noticed this is quite common a bit of a fad in the USA currently, not so much in the UK or Australia, say. I have not really seen it in europe. Perhaps it is popular in Asia ... I don't know. Any asian dwellers here?? – Joe Blow Jul 11 '11 at 8:26
Nutrition questions are off topic since the FAQ changed. – Informaficker Oct 10 '12 at 16:57

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Drinking lemon juice in your water is great way to help reduce bloating and if consumed prior to eating will help control blood glucose levels and therefore in turn reduce insulin response. So, to answer your question, yes it is healthy. In fact, I've even read that putting lemon in your water with a few pinches of table salt is a great alternative to typical sports drinks because of the high amount of electrolytes and lack of sugar that plagues the latter.

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do you have any sources to back up your claims about bloating and the control of blood glucose levels? – Ivo Flipse♦ Jun 27 '11 at 9:19
Not sure about bloating, by the claim about blood glucose moderation could be from the 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss who ran into this after having a blood sugar meter implanted. – Waquo Jun 27 '11 at 12:42
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@Ivo, of course... I usually add references to my answers, not sure why I left them out this time. From Charles Poliquin, charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/119/…. And from David Mendosa, mendosa.com/acidic_foods.htm, which includes references to scientific studies. – jonyamo Jun 27 '11 at 12:57
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The reduction of bloating was just a quick reference from Mark Sisson, marksdailyapple.com/feel-healthier-now, and from personal experience. – jonyamo Jun 27 '11 at 12:59
up vote 5 down vote

I suggest removing the lemon skin first. 'Modern' lemons contain many toxic chemicals and most of them accumulate in the lemon skin.

In addition, if you go to a restaurant and they put lemons in your water then once you drink it, you are trusting them that they properly washed the lemon.

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Care to substantiate that claim about toxic chemicals with some sources? – Ivo Flipse♦ Jun 27 '11 at 9:18
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Here are a couple of sources: suite101.com/content/… and environment.about.com/b/2005/12/18/… also, try eating lemon peel, your taste buds should instantly identify if there is a high chemical content – Mihai Oprea Jun 27 '11 at 10:55
Thanks for your response :) I would give you a vote up if I had 15 of reputation – Francesco Jun 27 '11 at 15:38
I assume the "toxic chemicals" you're referring to are pesticides. I would suggest buying organic lemons. – Chris Pietschmann Jun 29 '11 at 7:32
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@Ivo I think it is common sense that there are many toxic on the skin of fruits.......don't be over-reactive about every claim from others... – lamwaiman1988 Jun 30 '11 at 7:05

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