Hey - a round of applause for all the teachers, students and parents just barely hanging on out there! Spring break is just 24 days away, I can almost smell it. Truth be told, I am writing this in Daytona Shores, Florida as I am getting ready to go to my cousin's wedding (Hey Stacey!! [She’s a teacher too!!])
I am happy to report that 6 months later after my failed attempt at #75Hard, I am still drinking about 3-4 liters of water every day. It’s actually not that hard anymore and I find myself thirsty at night instead of filling up like a water balloon.
I have always read that lemon water in the morning is very good for you. I would have the occasional lemon water in the morning because I wanted something different than the traditional coffee or tea but that’s it. A few years back I saw more and more posts about it so I started to do my own investigating.
Turns out, it’s an ancient Ayurvedic tradition, and boy do I like holistic medicine that is centuries old. I would rather have an archaic remedy that is hundreds of years old than a pill with an expiration date. Hear me out…
Lemon water aids in digestion. The temperature of the water flushes out the digestive system and rehydrates you from your waterless peaceful sleep. If you are sleeping for 8 hours, well we're just going to say you are starting your morning off dehydrated. Want an early morning bowel movement? Warm water in the morning with some movement is your prescription. Trust me!
It’s also a natural flush of your system. There is something called an Ayurvedic clock - more on that later. In the evening between like 2 am and 6 am is when the liver is hyperactive secreting and making its bile. Read: digestive sludge. I don’t know about you but sludge sounds thick, heavy, a little greasy, and tough to clean. Warm lemon water in the morning helps stimulate proper stomach acid production to help you with that sludge.
Warm lemon water in the morning boosts your immune system with that added hit on Vitamin C (you can read more about Vitamin C here). It’s not a whole lot, but the added potassium is helpful for balancing electrolytes too.
Your skin is happier - if you read my other post on water intake you knew this.
It’s also a great way to maintain a healthy weight. Researchers in Germany found that drinking enough water increased metabolism. According to this article:
After drinking approximately 17 ounces of water, the subjects’ metabolic rates — or the rate at which calories are burned — increased by 30% for both men and women. The increases occurred within 10 minutes of water consumption and reached a maximum after about 30 to 40 minutes.
I mean if you drink lemon water in the morning and don’t do anything else like diet and exercise, it’s not going to do much for you.
Warm lemon water in the morning has been linked to curing joint pain according to an article published in the International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences. It “cured” joint pain in 69% of the participants which is like 2/3 of people.
Okay, but how do you start? I don’t have time..
Oh, yes you do. Cut up a few lemons over the weekend or the night before you leave in the morning and put them in a baggy. You can put your warm water in a thermos to keep warm overnight with the lemon in it for a no-fuss morning! Or, you can microwave your water as you are heating your car, packing your lunch or kissing the kids goodbye.
What do I do? Well, I do cut up my lemons ahead of time so they’re in the fridge and ready to be dropped in my water bottle. Then, I habit-stack by brushing my teeth in the kitchen and warming up water in the microwave for a few minutes. On days when I don’t want to wake anyone up, I use my instant hot water maker and put it into a thermos with my lemons in it, and top it off with cold water so it’s not too hot. I will then drink it in the car on my way to work. It takes me about 45 minutes to drink a liter of warm water and I am energized and peppy by the time I get to work.
You can check out my full Waterdrop Review here.
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