Learn why this citrus should never be a throwaway garnish.
Whether it’s the finishing touch on a beautifully designed dish at your favorite restaurant or sitting on the rim of your favorite celebratory sip, garnishes are often cast aside. If you’ve been filing lemons in this category, stop right there. This delightful citrus should actually be regarded as a staple. You’re about to appreciate lemons as much more than a finishing touch.
A Citrus Powerhouse
Lemons are high in vitamin C, supplying four times more than oranges. As the primary water-soluble antioxidant in the body, vitamin C travels through your system, preventing cellular damage and cholesterol buildup by zapping any free radicals it meets. Recently, researchers discovered a substance in lemons called limonene. This essential oil has been shown to shrink cancerous tumors, detoxify carcinogens in the body, and stimulate the healthy flow of lymph fluids.
Lemons assist in the digestive process by producing necessary enzymes, invigorating the gallbladder and liver, and promoting the absorption of protein and minerals from foods. Lemon juice also helps liquefy fat so that it can be flushed out of your system faster. And as if that weren’t enough, drinking lemon juice in hot water acts as a mild diuretic, ridding the body of retained water and toxins. It may also help to reduce cellulite by cleansing the lymphatic system and stimulating blood flow to the skin.
To top it off, lemons also provide small amounts of vitamin B6, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and folate. So run, don’t walk, to pick up this Fat Flush superfood today!
Easy Ways to Enjoy
I recommend enjoy the juice from one lemon daily. It’s fantastic for cooking (I adore it drizzled on asparagus) and, of course, a delightful (and easy) option is to squeeze lemon juice into one of your 8 glasses of water. But, do keep away from those sugar packets. Consuming lemons with sugar negates many of the health benefits. The sugar lowers immunity, interferes with digestion, and leeches vitamins and minerals from the body.
To enhance digestion, enjoy a cup of hot water with lemon immediately after your meal. I find that enjoying my hot lemon water also allows for a brief time of calm to reflect on my day so far.
During a hot summer afternoon when you’d like a crisp refresher between meals, try making lemon “juice cubes.” Simply fill an ice cube tray with lemon juice, freeze, and pop a cube or two into your glass of filtered water.
Looking for Lemons
When choosing and storing your lemons, keep the following in mind.
• Look for firm, fine-textured lemons that are heavy for their size—they will be the juiciest.
• Choose one with a bright-yellow color as the lemons with a green tinge are not fully ripe and more acidic.
• Lemons will stay fresh for a week at room temperature, so long as they are protected from the sunlight.
• If you’d like to keep them longer, store them in the crisper in your fridge.
• Since they produce more juice when warm, if you do refrigerate them, bring them to room temperate before using by placing them in a bowl of warm water for several minutes.
• Rolling a lemon on your palms also helps produce more juice.
• Use them up as quickly as possible after cutting.
Sprucing Up for Spring
Finally, for a zesty twist for internal spring cleaning, add a touch of mustard, turmeric and ginger to your lemon water.
For even more info on the foods and spices your body needs the most, preorder your copy of The NEW Fat Flush Foods.
