Consuming lemons for a diet is a simple way that is believed to be able to lose weight and make your body look more attractive.
Lemon is a fruit that is rich in fiber and contains lots of vitamin C. This fruit also contains other nutrients, such as vitamin B6, vitamin B1, iron, calcium, potassium, folic acid, and various plant compounds, and is classified as a low-calorie fruit.
Thanks to the nutrients stored in lemons, this fruit can provide a myriad of health benefits, such as preventing heart disease, reducing the risk of kidney stones, lowering cholesterol levels in the body, and maintaining the function of the digestive tract.
In addition to these benefits, regularly consuming fruit or lemon juice is also believed to be a choice of drink for dieting, because it can lose weight. So it’s no wonder that many people use lemons for their diet.
How to Use
A diet with lemon water is fairly simple to live. The essence of this diet is to reduce calories by limiting food consumed and increasing the consumption of lemon water and water.
At the beginning of the diet, it is recommended that you gradually reduce your food and drink intake, before actually implementing the lemons diet and not consuming other foods or drinks. One simple diet that is easy to live with is lemon water.
For more details, here are the stages of the lemons diet that you can do:
The first and second day
Avoid processed foods, meat, dairy, sugar, fatty foods, alcoholic beverages, soda, and caffeine. Focus only on eating fresh vegetables or fruit these two days.
The third day
On the third day, try to start getting used to dieting only by consuming smoothies, soups, and fruit or vegetable juices throughout the day.
The fourth day
You can only drink water or squeezed orange juice plus one or a maximum of two teaspoons of sugar. Sugar intake can provide energy for the body so it doesn’t get tired while on a diet.
Fifth day
You can start following the lemon diet. First prepare, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and a glass of water. Mix these ingredients and drink whenever you feel hungry.
Limit consumption of lemon water 6-12 times a day. This diet should be accompanied by consuming 1 liter of warm water mixed with 1 or 2 tablespoons of salt every morning and one glass of warm water or tea at night before going to bed.
You can go on the lemon diet for 10–30 days, counting after the initial adjustment period. Don’t suddenly stop the diet program if your weight has reached the expected target.
Quitting the lemon diet should be done gradually, just like when you started it. Eat as usual, but limit the number of calories and portions consumed so you don’t gain weight. Alternate with consuming lemon water when hungry.
Is Effective for Weight Loss?
The lemon diet encourages you to drastically cut your calorie intake, which results in weight loss. However, the lemon diet is not the main method recommended by doctors for weight loss, because safety and effectiveness still need further research.
Some people who go on this diet can experience weight gain again if their diet is not maintained. Not only that, but the lemon diet also risks causing your body to lack nutrients and increases the risk of several health problems, such as malnutrition or dizziness, and weakness.
The safe and correct way to lose weight is to adopt a healthy lifestyle, namely managing your diet, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep. The process is also not instantaneous and must be done in stages.
When on a diet, it is recommended that you lose only 0.5-1 kg of weight each week. More than that, you have the potential to experience dehydration, electrolyte disturbances, muscle aches, metabolic disorders, and gallstones.
You might use lemon water as a supporting way in your diet program. For example, if you like to consume high-calorie drinks, such as soda or packaged sugary drinks, you can replace them with lemon water.
If you have excess weight and intend to lose it, try to consult with your doctor first before you try any type of diet, especially extreme diets that have not been proven safe and effective.
Side Effects
1. Cause Stomach Problems
Lemon has a fairly high level of acidity. Although lemon water mixed with honey can facilitate the digestive process, if too much lemon juice is consumed it can irritate the stomach. Can inhibit digestion to stomach pain.
2. Causes Dehydration
Lemon water with added ice and water can indeed quench thirst. But drinking too much lemon water can enlarge the bladder. This will trigger you to go back and forth to the toilet to urinate.
Of course, after removing a lot of these toxic substances, the body needs to be rehydrated. For that, when drinking lots of lemon water, also prepare enough water so that the body is properly hydrated.
3. Causes Tooth Erosion
Tooth erosion is a condition where the mineral substances on the teeth will be chemically lost. The high acid level in lemon juice can cause a tingling sensation in the teeth.
Apart from that, over time lemon juice will also cause damage to tooth enamel. Therefore, if your teeth are sensitive, be sure to reduce your intake of foods that contain lots of citrates, such as lemons.
4. Causes Dry Skin
Even though the content of vitamin C in lemon is enough to provide a lot of nutrition to the skin. One medium lemon contains 83 mg of Vit C. But if you consume too much it will make your skin dry to the point of peeling.
To avoid this side effect, balance it with drinking lots of water to keep your skin hydrated.
5. Can Damage Hair
Some hair problems are often overcome by using lemon as a solution. Lemon is considered a fruit that can solve hair problems such as dandruff and scalp damage.
But using lemon juice directly applied to the hair will cause dryness to trigger the growth of gray hair. The acid content of the lemon is what causes damage to the hair.
