Healing Properties Of Lemons: There Is More To Lemons Than Vitamin C
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Post by Teresa Cheong, RightEatingHabits.com – I WAS doing some research on natural food remedies and found out that lemons were an amazing superfood.
Lemons have remarkable healing properties packed in one fruit. I love the natural goodness of lemons. Lemons are not only a natural appetiser and natural aid for digestion and weight loss, they are also a natural internal body cleanser. Drink a glass of warm lemon water in the morning to wake up the digestive system.
But lemons are more than just an internal cleanser. They possess remarkable health benefits.
Lemons rightly deserve to be called a Superfood as each lemon is packed with powerful antioxidant and anti-cancer healing properties.
Healing Properties of Lemons
Lemons have loads of Vitamin C
A large lemon contains about 45 mg of Vitamin C, a whopping 75% of the daily requirement! We need Vitamin C to fend off colds and heal cuts and wounds.
Vitamin C in lemons have the same remarkable healing properties found in many citrus fruits. Vitamin C helps to neutralize and reduce the effect of free radicals that contribute to cancer and heart disease. Our body generates free radicals whenever we burn calories as fuel for our cells. We are also bombarded with free radicals from air pollution, tobacco smoke, radiation and sunlight.
Vitamin C helps to build our body’s immune system against free radicals.
Lemon peels may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects
Lemons contain two compounds – limonin and limonene – which appear to inhibit some of the cell divisions that may cause cancer. Limonene is found in the lemon zest or outermost part of the rind of a lemon. This is the yellow part of the lemon which we often discard after extracting the lemon juice.
The limonene found in the lemon peel or lemon zest has the effect of increasing the level of enzymes in the liver that may remove cancer-causing chemicals. The limonene has also been shown to remove estradiol, a hormone linked to breast cancer.
Enjoy the remarkable healing properties of lemons by eating the lemon peels or adding them to one’s baking and cooking.
Choose Lemon Zest From Certified Organic Lemons
It may be a good idea to buy naturally grown or certified organic lemons if you plan to eat the lemon zest or use it for cooking or baking. The skin of most non-organically grown fruits are sprayed with pesticides. Make sure you wash the outside of the lemon thoroughly to remove any pesticide residues.
Buy lemons that are small, heavy, lemon yellow in color and with smooth, fine-grained skin. Coarse-grained lemons are way past their prime and lower in nutritional value. Both fresh or dried lemon peel have equally impressive healing properties.
After drying the lemon, remove the lemon zest using a zester, paring knife or vegetable peeler, taking care not to remove too much of the zest because the white pith beneath the lemon zest can be bitter.
Now that you know the extraordinary healing properties of lemons, make sure you don’t throw away the lemon zest! That’s the best part of the fruit!
Lemonade Weight Loss Diet
As in all weight loss programs, be sure to check with your GP first if you have existing health issues. And if you decide to go on the Lemonade Weight Loss Diet, try it for a few days first.
© Teresa Cheong RightEatingHabits.com
