Lemon water. We absolutely love it. And for loads of reasons – it’s a vitamin powerhouse, packed with all the essential nutrients our bodies need. Lemon also contains amazingly high levels of antioxidants for such a little fruit – and these are vital for restoring health and boosting your immune system.
Drinking water infused with lemon is a wonderful, refreshing way to up your intake of all of these goodies, as well as eliminating toxins and bacteria. A glass or two daily will bring both beauty and health benefits, leaving you not only looking good but feeling it too.
We’ve listed a bunch of our fav benefits here, from blemish-erasing powers to magical fat-blasting properties. Then, because we’re feeling extra lovely, we’ve shared our favourite lemony formula – a perfect-ratio recipe that’s been tried and tested by the Bootea team.
Bring on the beauty benefits!
Skin
Reduce acne, spots and blemishes
Nobody likes spots. Lemon water acts as a great internal cleanser, with antibacterial properties that help fight spots from the inside.
Drinking a glass of lemon water daily can help blackheads, whiteheads and even bad acne, by blasting away any bacteria that causes skin infections, inflammation and redness. Lemon water also purges toxic materials from your blood and keeps the skin clear, glowing and radiant.
Fading scars and stretchmarks
Being a good source of vitamin C, this humble fruit can also repair damaged skin cells and rejuvenate healthy ones. The astringent properties of the mixture are also important for fading out light scars and stretch marks. For best results, drink your lemon water every day, first thing in the morning when you have an empty stomach, so it can work its magic.
Hair
Stronger, shinier hair
Lemon water is actually great for making hair stronger, shinier and more manageable. Drinking it will make roots stronger and encourage faster growth. What’s not to love?!
Oily scalp cure
An oily scalp sucks. No matter how many shampoos, you end up greasy after a few hours out the shower. Hair serum? No chance. But, if you suffer from excessively oily hair and scalp, lemon water will help.
Studies show that drinking lemon water daily helps to lessen the secretion of oil from the sebaceous glands, all over your body. This includes the head, so amen for lemons! These little yellow numbers will help prevent excess oil, giving you cleaner-for-longer hair and letting you leave the dry shampoo at home for another day.
Dry scalp cure
Believe it or not, lemon water is also great for those who suffer from the complete opposite - the dreaded dry scalp. If you can’t wear black tops because your shoulders start to resemble Mary Berry’s kitchen worktops, never fear, for lemon water is here! Stop the flakes and powder by drinking it daily, as the nutrients help to relieve dryness and eliminate dandruff. It also helps with an itchy scalp too. Yay!
Health
PH-balancing for inner-body beauty
Believe it or not, lemon is actually super alkaline once it’s inside our bodies. Even though lemon is obviously acidic, it does not create acidity in your body once it is metabolized – in fact, quite the opposite. Drinking it every day is a great way to reduce your body’s acidity, helping towards a more neutralised PH and balanced body overall. Suffer from a lot of heartburn or acid reflux? This one’s for you.
Supercharging weight loss
Drinking your magical lemon water first thing in the morning can help your body with dehydration (because you’ve been asleep for – hopefully - 8 hours) and helps to fight hunger pangs all day long.
Bye-bye to toxins
Keeping hydrated with lemon water will help your body to flush out the toxic material in your digestive system, which will also help with constipation and indigestion. It’ll also help you detox your body naturally (you should be peeing more if you’re drinking enough of it) helping to purify everything from the inside out. Don’t forget to check out our ‘How Hydrated Are You?’ post if you’re worried about how much you’re peeing.
So what should you be drinking?
Fantastically Fool-Proof Lemon Water Recipe
Unfortunately, your lemon water doesn’t count if the water is frozen, the lemon sliced and the glass topped up with vodka, lime and lemonade (although fresh lime shares lots of the same benefits as lemon!).
For the best results from your lemon water, use fresh lemon and purified water if you can. Tap is fine, but ten points if you can use a filter or filtered bottle.
To get the best benefits, use ½ large lemon per 350-500ml of water. That’s about the size of a regular glass or a small drinks bottle.
- Slice your lemon in half, then half again.
- Thinly slice half the required segments and add to pitcher of water or bottle.
- Add right amount of water.
- Squeeze other half of required segments in to water.
- Leave in fridge at least overnight, max two days.
- ENJOY YOUR BEAUTY JUICE
Top Tips
- If you’re concerned with the acidity of the lemon on your teeth, try drinking it from a straw.
- If you enjoy it, drink your lemon water warm. It’s said to make most of these benefits even more effective. If you're feeling run-down, you can also add a spoonful of Manuka honey for the perfect comfort drink.
- Drink first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
So what are you waiting for?
Get out there and get mixing your own magical beauty juice.
Don’t forget to share your photos on social @BooteaUK, on Facebook, Twitter and Insta. Let the skin, hair and health benefits roll… Enjoy!
