Lemons come from evergreen trees and are believed to have originated in either China, India, or northern Burma.
The fruit came into Europe through Southern Italy, then went on a voyage through the years to Persia, Iran, and finally the Americas when it was brought to Hispaniola by Christopher Columbus.
Today, we use lemons for a lot of different things, whether as garnish, flavorings, or drinks and even as a quote about life’s hardships.
It is often considered an awesome superfood thanks to its high vitamin and mineral content.
In fact, consuming lemons in all its forms can have tons of great health benefits for the body.
Here are six fantastic scientifically proven benefits that you get from eating lemons.
1. Vitamin C
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The juice of a lemon contains a high about of vitamin C, and each fluid ounce contains a whopping 13% of the recommended daily intake.
As a matter of fact, taking a 100g serving of this juice provides you with 53 mg of vitamin C in total.
This is important because vitamin C is a very strong antioxidant that battles free radicals and keeps the immune system strong, and it also is one of the important components of collagen creation.
Collagen, in turn, works to generate new blood vessels, bone, and skin.
2. Digestion
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Mixing lemon juice with warm water and drinking it can help to aid digestion.
This is because the atomic structure of lemon juice is surprisingly very similar to that of the stomach’s own digestive juices.
This similarity leads the liver to produce more bile, believing that the lemon juice is just the stomach’s natural digestive components.
Tricking the liver this way means food moves through the body and digestive system smoothly and more regularly, helping to regulate passage through the gastrointestinal tract while ensuring healthy bowel movements.
This is why lemon juice and warm water can be great for stomach aches or indigestion.
3. Skin
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Lemons contain plenty of properties – such as antibacterial and antifungal ones – that make them great for clearing up acne scars in a natural manner.
Top it off with the natural citric acid that lemon contains, which can lighten blemishes, dark spots, and other marks, and you have a fruit that’s perfect for optimal skin health and appearance.
4. Liver
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The inflammation of the liver can be harmful to the body, and lemons have a special compound known as naringenin.
Naringenin fights off microbes that cause the inflammation.
As a fruit, lemon also has a good flavonoid content, and this can prevent oxidative stress from too-heavily affecting the liver.
In a way, this means lemons can help in the body’s natural detoxifying process.
5. Breath
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Lemons are highly acidic, as you likely know from its heavily sour taste, and this acidity can break down the components that cause bad breath.
In a way, the fruit can be used like many people use mints, and it helps to keep the breath fresh and clean.
6. Cancer
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Yes, believe it or not, lemons can help to protect the body against the risk of cancer!
This is because a diet is a very important part of fighting cancer, and you need to consume foods that have high levels of antioxidants.
Lemons have tons of these components, including the vitamins A, C, and E.
These fight against free radicals in the system, and these free radicals are what can lead to impairments in the cells and their DNA which eventually may build up to cancer.