38 Reasons to Eat Lemons or Limes

How-to and a note on Oral Health

Lemon and lime water are so easy to make! It is an easy way to start the day and makes me feel so refreshed. You can also use lemons and limes in other recipes.

Continue reading to find out the Lemon and Lime water recipe, other uses for lemons and limes in recipes and 38 reasons why we should use Lemons and Limes.

Lemons and Limes from Cleanse to Heal

Lemon or Lime Water  Recipes

For 16 ounces or water use the juice of ½ a lemon or 1 lime.

For 32 ounces double the recipe.

Lemons and limes will vary depending on the size and juiciness of the lemons or limes. It’s a good idea to have lemon or lime water when you wake up, during lunch and before you go to bed! Try to drink it throughout the day!

Other ways to eat lemons and limes apart from lemon and lime water.

1. Lemon and Lime is a great alternative to vinegar in making dressings and sauces.
2. Squeeze lemon, lime, or oranges on nori rolls to help them close when you are finished.
3. You can make a lemon sorbet (Life Changing Foods Recipe).
4. You can squeeze lemon or lime on a salad with some fresh herbs to give it an incredible taste without an official dressing. The lemon and lime juice help meld all the flavors together in the salad to enhance the taste.

MM has many recipes involving lemons that I haven’t included above. I think recently he came out with a lemon loaf cake recipe on his blog! Check it out! (Link below)

Worried about Oral Health?

Lemons have had a bad rap in dental health in recent years. Dentists blame decaying teeth on lemon and citric acid rather than blaming the true culprit which is mineral deficiencies, nutrient deficiencies, purifying proteins and rancid fats caked along the gut.

These nasty proteins and fats block pathogens from our immune system and the ammonia gasses they produce from eating come up to the teeth. Other things like vinegar and EBV in the jaw and nerves cause problems with the teeth as well but not lemon water. (pgs. 222&223.)

21 Reasons to eat Lemons and Limes from Life Changing Foods (pgs 94-96)

1. They are a top source of mineral salts and trace mineral salts which make them ultrahydrating.
2. They bioavailable sodium (mineral and trace mineral salts) which make them produce electrolytes. Electrolytes help regulate chemical processes in the body. The article linked below from Cleveland Clinic tells details about what these electrolytes do for the body and what makes them up.
3. They have highly absorbable vitamin C which can help fight off all pathogens and illnesses.
4. They have bioactive calcium. The Nutrition Source at Harvard School of Public Health tells us that calcium helps our bones, blood, muscle, and other tissues.
5. They have phytochemicals called limonoids that help Vitamin C and Calcium bond together and ride along in the body to make them more bioavailable.
6. The phytochemicals also help produce alkalinity in the body which helps with overall health and wellbeing including preventing the growth of most cancers.
7. They have antioxidant flavonoids which help extinguish free radicals in the body. Free radicals take electrons from surrounding atoms and as a result can create oxidative stress that creates chronic illness and damages cells. Free radicals can change a strand of DNA, they can create LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), and they can change cell membranes which messes up their flow and functions. Antioxidants information was taken from Harvard School of Public Health (linked below).
8. They help expel mucus when you are sick. Ever put lemon in your tea when you are sick? Our ancestors knew this!
9. They cleanse the liver, kidneys, spleen, thyroid, and gallbladder by purging toxic substances we pick up in our daily lives.
10. They help take the trash out of our body.
11. They turn regular filtered water into living water by adding cofactor and hydrobioactive water from the lemon that make it living water to help the lemon do all the things above!
12. They can give you emotional support by soothing you after you hear difficult things that may cause sadness, distress and worry. Lemons and limes help lift your spirits, lighten your heart and reverse sadness during troubling times. (p95)
13. They can give spiritual support by reminding us to take care when dealing with other people. Lemon and Lime trees have thorns up to 6 inches long for older trees. (plantharware.com) These thorns prevent us from taking too much fruit at once and also make sure we take care in taking the fruit. This can help remind us to take care when dealing with other people. We don’t know what guards they have up from their previous experiences. This self-protectiveness can seem like a thorn, but we can have mutual respect to help these relationships. (p95)
14. They can help with so many conditions including but not limited to ear infections, low reproductive system battery, strep throat, head colds, acne, cancer, obesity, diabetes, adrenal fatigue and much more.
15. They can help with so many symptoms but not limited to postnasal drip, earache, toothache, fever, dry mouth, excess mucus, nausea, unquenchable thirst, low hydrochloric acid, vomiting, weight gain, headaches, and more.
16. If you drink tea with lemon in it while talking with people it can enhance the conversation and allow both of you to open up more.
17. Squeezing a little lemon in a cut can prevent infection and disinfect the wound.
18. They are excellent for oral health and lemon water can be used as a mouthwash and gum cleanser. MM recommends diluting the juice with some water, he doesn’t say how much.
19. A cup of warm water with raw honey and lemon or lime juice right before bed can calm a busy mind and help create restful sleep.
20. Drinking 16-32 oz. of lemon/lime water can help your body get rid of all the toxins the liver worked hard to expel during the early morning hours (more in Liver Rescue).
21. Adding honey to lemon water can enhance the honey’s bioflavonoids to give our bodies an immune boost. Flavonoids, according to live science.com, are types of phytonutrients that give fruit and vegetables their bright colors. They are powerful antioxidants and can help prevent chronic illness such as cancer and non degenerative cardiovascular disease.

7 Reasons to have Lemons and Limes from Thyroid Healing

1. They improve digestion by raising levels of hydrochloric acid which is a good acid in the stomach. If you have low hydrochloric acid then you may have issues with acid reflux.
2. They tone the intestinal lining.
3. They cleanse the liver.
4. Offer replenishing calcium to prevent osteoporosis when EBV (Epstein Barr Virus) prompts nodule formation throughout the body which uses up calcium.
5. They balance sodium levels in the blood which allows for electrolytes to become active
6. The balanced sodium levels improves the neurotransmitter activity that has been hampered by EBV. EBV neurotoxins causes brain fog and other neurological symptoms.
7. They help heal sleep issues when you make them a part of your life with other healing foods.

10 Reasons to have Lemon and Limes from Liver Rescue

1. The hydration the lemon/lime water provides can get our liver out of the “came effect”. The camel effect is when the liver doesn’t receive proper hydration, it goes into this camel effect to keep the rest of the body hydrated to keep it sustaining life. This hydration helps sustain life to the liver and the rest of the body!
2. Lemon and lime water helps flush out the body from toxins and pathogens the liver processes in the early morning hours when it wakes up before you do!
3. Improve hydrochloric acid production.
4. Helps improve bile production and potency.
5. They contain micromineral salts that break down pathogens such as unproductive bacteria, modl yeast, and fungus.
6. Strengthens the liver’s immune system by breaking down all the bad stuff mentioned above.
7. Rich calcium levels bind to the vitamin C and enter the liver to awaken stagnant, sluggish, fatty liver. This helps loosen and disperse fat cells.
8. They clean up dirty blood syndrome.
9. Improve glucose absorption.
10. Protect the pancreas.

(pgs. 292,335)

References

• Article about thorns on lemon and lime trees –  PlantHardware.com
• Cleveland Clinic Article about Electrolytes – Cleveland Clinic.
• Harvard article on Calcium – Harvard.edu
• Harvard article on Antioxidants – Harvard.edu
• Flavonoids from Live Science – LiveScience.com
• Lemon Loaf Cake – MM Blog