If life gives you lemons - make a lemonade out of them. Well, or, as an option, add to tea, bake lemon cakes and use them as the main constituent of marinade for chicken or fish. The matter is that in lemons it is full of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants, extremely important for health and excellent state of health.
"Lemons can boast a high level of vitamin C, folic acid, potassium, flavonoids and compounds called lemons, which are contained in lemon juice," - says LiveScience nutritionist Alyssa Rumsey (Alissa Rumsey). According to World's Healthiest Foods, a quarter of a cup of lemon juice contains 31% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C, 3% of the normal folic acid, 2% of the potassium norm and only 13 calories. In general, the lemon contains an impressive 139% of vitamin C.
5 reasons why you should eat lemons, if not every day, then as often as possible - in this material.
Strengthening immunity
"Vitamin C plays an important role in strengthening immunity, helping to neutralize free radicals in our body," comments Ramsey.
According to a study conducted at the University of Oregon (Oregon State University, OSU), vitamin C stimulates the production of leukocytes, which, in turn, maintain the integrity of immune cells. In addition, these leukocytes themselves produce antiviral substances, which in this case is no less important.
Heart and Vessel Health
"It is said that folic acid helps prevent stroke and can help maintain cardiovascular health by lowering homocysteine levels," notes Alyssa Ramsay. However, in a meta-analysis of 2010 published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine, it was found that the results of clinical studies studying folic acid and heart attacks were inconclusive. However, scientists have found that the consumption of folic acid can indeed lead to a moderate reduction in the risk of stroke.
Vitamin C is also associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
A study with more than 100,000 participants, whose results were published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2015, showed that people who had higher levels of vitamin C in their blood plasma had better indices related to cardiovascular health.
Scientists theorize that vitamin C can have such advantages because it is a powerful antioxidant that protects our body from dangerous free radicals. According to researchers from the University of Maryland (University of Maryland), he can also reduce the level of "bad" cholesterol, while maintaining the flexibility of the arteries.
Destruction of kidney stones
Lemons and lemon juice contain more citric acid than any other fruit, which makes them extremely useful for people suffering from kidney stones. According to a study conducted at the University of Wisconsin, citric acid is able to inhibit the formation of stones, plus, it can destroy small stones that have already formed. Scientists found that half a cup of pure lemon juice every day (in the absence of stomach problems, of course) has almost the same effect as pharmacological therapy.
Reducing the risk of cancer
A 2011 study published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention suggests that the lemon extract applied to breast cancer cells induced the death of these cells. Despite the fact that the experiments were conducted in vitro (in vitro), scientists believe that the results, in any case, indicate the strong anti-cancer properties of lemons.
"Today, quite a lot of research is being done, whose purpose is to understand the role of flutes in the fight against cancer," adds Alyssa Ramsey. An article published in 2007 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition notes that the possible benefits of using folate derivatives are related to their role in the formation of substances that block the activity of cancer cells. On the other hand, in the same article, it is noted that in a number of studies it was possible to see that high levels of folate can promote the growth of cancer cells so that additional and much larger studies are definitely needed here.
Restoration of liver function
A new study by BioMed Research International suggests that lemons can also help the damaged liver. Rodent experiments conducted in 2017 showed that in rats, whose liver was severely damaged by alcohol consumption, there was an improvement in the basic indices after lemon juice. Sounds at least not bad.