Live Healthy ( Five health benefits of Lemons)

Five health benefits of lemons.

When life gives you lemons eat them! From taming inflammation and hidering kidney stones to boosting antioxidants and fighting disease, the potential health benefits of lemon are many.

Few fruits have such a sunny disposition as lemons. On their own the tart tang can be jarring, but when tamed by flavors sweet or savory, they become the life of the party. They are essential in a wide variety of recipes, beautiful to behold and supply an aroma that has been proven to boost the mood. Not to mention that we have them to thank for lemon cake, lemonade and lemon curd, bless their little lemon hearts.

But beyond the culinary and aromatherapy opportunities that lemons so kindly provide, they have some impressive health skills as well. They are so bright and potent, it somehow make sense. When lemon have gained a reputation as miracle fruit capable of leaping tall buildings and curing cancer, we know that lemons, infact don't have legs and thus can't leap. But as for curing cancer? Well maybe. Find out and more in the following roundup of this happy fruit potential health benefits.

1. Hinder Kidney Stones: Lemons, being citrus and all, are high in citric acid a weak organic acid that plays a key role in metabolism. And of all the citric family, lemons and limes have the highest concentrations big it , constituting as much as 8 percent of the dry weight of these fruits. Citric acid (which is different from ascorbic acid, aka vitamin C) may be helpful for people with kidney stones since it slows the formation of them and stops tiny crystals firm clumping together to form bigger ones, explains University Wisconsin Madison school of medicine and public health. The more citric acid in the urine, the more protection you have against forming "problem" calcium containing kidney stones. The university recommends a half cup ( 4 ounces ) of pure lemon juice a day to get the equivalent dose of citric acid that pharmacological therapy would supply.

2. Help maintain body pH : The body's alkaline and acid levels have been a bit topic lately, and although high in citric acid, lemon is considered an alkaline food. The popular thinking is that lemon's citric acid helps to maintain proper body pH, which as the theory goes gets out of whack when too many foods like sugar, red meat and dairy are consumed. 

Erica Kannall, a registered dietitian and certified health/fitness specialist with the American College of sport Medicine, notes in SF Gate that the citric acid found in lemons helps to maintain body pH within the ideal range , going as far as to say, " which is beneficial in preventing cancer, heart disease, fatigue,weight gain and a variety of other health issues". The scientific jury is still out on proving the efficacy of alkaline inspired diet plans, but there is some evidence that there could be certain benefits oto eating a more alkaline, produce rich diet.

3. Provide Protection Against Disease : Lemons are rich in beta-crypotoxanthin, a pro- vitamin A carotenoid that is converted to an active form of vitamin A in the body. Multiple recent studies have suggested that beta-crypotoxanthin protects against certain diseases such as cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.

4. Reduce Risk Of Inflammatory Disorder : A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also cites beta-crypotoxanthin as a potential factor in reducing the risk of disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis.

5. Help Absorb Antioxidants : Everyone wants more Antioxidants, the free radical fighting darlings of contemporary health and wellness. According to a digestive model study published in Molecular Nutrition and food Research, adding fresh lemon juice to green tea, which is already rich in these health giving compounds, helps increase the absorption of antioxidants.