Lemon & Tea: A Refreshing and Healthy Combination
Lemon and tea go together like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. Whether you prefer icy cold or piping hot beverages, lemon, and tea are a winning flavor combination. Add a sprig of fresh mint and fruit peels for a zesty iced lemon tea, or make a warm infusion in winter with honey and a pinch of cinnamon for a delicious vitamin C boost in a warm and comforting lemon tea.
Lemon and tea leaves have tons of health benefits, from supporting heart health to repairing cell damage and even reducing the risk of cancer. This tasty combination is delicious and nutritious. Let's take a closer look at these incredible health benefits.
Adding Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice to Your Tea
You can elevate the taste of a freshly brewed cup of tea with lemon juice or lemon zest, or use both! This simple and affordable addition to your tea is the perfect way to boost flavor and add some vitamins to your brew!
Making a hot cup of lemon tea is quick and easy! You only need fresh lemons and your favorite tea for a healthy dose of your daily lemon ingestion.
It's easy...
Simply cut a lemon in half and squeeze some of its juice into your hot cup of tea. Start with a few drops of juice; you can always add more. Or, cut the lemon into slices and place it in your hot cup of tea. The natural citrus essential oils will seep from the lemon slice into the hot water giving you all the lemon flavor and citrus flavonoids - The unique phytochemicals or plant compounds responsible for all that healthy goodness.
If you want an even more convenient way of making and drinking lemon tea, consider squirting a few drops of bottled lemon juice into your cup. We recommend using a brand free of added sugar or artificial flavors and preservatives. It's a quick and easy way to create a unique lemon tea and get all the potential benefits of fresh juice without much work. Although this is still a good option, we recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice; it tastes great and is healthier.
Another popular way to make the perfect cup of lemon tea is by grating lemon zest (lemon rind) into it. You can use a special tool called a lemon grater, but a standard kitchen grater will also do. It's a quick process that releases all the essential oils and their amazing benefits into your cup for a zesty and healthy lemon tea beverage.
Black and Green Tea
Creating your very own lemon tea recipe wouldn't be complete without black or green tea. Green and black teas come from the same Camellia sinensis plant.
People who enjoy drinking green tea will be happy to know that this drink has several health benefits from the naturally occurring flavonoids called catechins in the tea leaves. These flavonoids can help reduce the risk of cancer and support heart health.
Black teas are also super healthy, but drinking green tea with lemon provides the most health benefits. Black teas undergo more processing than green, such as drying and oxidizing, giving them their signature dark and rich flavor and color. While green tea undergoes less oxidization and drying, retaining a bright green color and more beneficial compounds.
The best way to drink black or green tea with lemon is in loose-leaf form. Whole tea leaves will give you the most natural tea flavor and benefits. Green or black tea leaves packaged in tea bags are overly processed to finer dust or small particles. Overprocessed tea loses most of the vital nutrients, potent antioxidants, and flavor.
It is important to note that herbal tea is not a "true tea" at all. It is made from other plants' leaves, seeds, or flowers, like mint or chamomile, instead of tea plants. Herbal tea with lemon has an entirely different set of benefits. This article focuses on lemon tea made with black and green tea.
The Top Health Benefits of Tea With Lemon
Combining lemon and tea creates a popular drink with many potential health benefits. It's a perfect combination of antioxidants, essential minerals, and vitamins in one delicious cup. And the best part is that lemon tea is a refreshing, low-calorie, tangy beverage that you can drink hot or cold. Let's look at some of the top benefits of this healthy drink.
#1. It Can Support Weight Loss
Green tea with lemon is powerful! This combination can help you to avoid gaining weight and even help keep it off. Green tea naturally supports weight loss and is an excellent fat burner. Based on 15 studies, the amount of EGCG, a polyphenolic compound in green tea responsible for keeping the body healthy, can help reduce body weight and body fat and promote weight loss.
Another study found that women who took green tea extract over 12 weeks saw terrific weight loss results. However, lemons also have incredible fat-burning qualities. One animal study found that citrus flavonoids decreased fat cells in mice on a high-fat diet and positively affected their body weight and metabolic rate.
#2. Rich In Antioxidants
There is an abundance of antioxidants in both green tea and lemons. These antioxidants are essential to help protect the body against inflammation and cell damage because of oxidative stress. This imbalance occurs when there is an excess of free radicals in the body.
The antioxidants such as EGCG, quercetin, chlorogenic acid, and theogallin in green tea can help support the function of the immune system while fighting off free radicals and repairing damaged cells.
Lemons are also a great source of the antioxidants ascorbic acid, citric acid, naringin, hesperidin, ferulic acid, and vitamin C. Consuming lemon tea can deliver a power-packed punch of antioxidants that may help protect the body from several risk factors associated with conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and even cancer.
#3. Lower Risk of Diabetes
Drinking lemon tea may help improve blood sugar control and help protect the body against type 2 diabetes. One review suggests that people who drink green tea have a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and a lower chance of having diabetes-related complications.
Adding lemon tea to your daily diet could reduce inflammation, allowing the body to use insulin more efficiently. One study found that participants with type 2 diabetes who took green tea extract for 16 weeks reduced their resistance to insulin, potentially helping support blood sugar control.
The lemons in your cup of lemon tea are great for lowering the risk of diabetes since they contain soluble fiber in the pulp that helps improve gut health while reducing blood sugar levels. It does this by slowing down the digestive process of both sugars and starches - which can increase blood sugar levels in the body.
#4. Better Cardiovascular Health
Research suggests that green tea and lemons can help improve heart health. One review found that citrus flavonoids may reduce inflammation, improve blood flow while supporting healthy cholesterol levels.
One study found that people who consumed lemons and walked daily had lower blood pressure levels. Lemons are high in fiber, which helps lower bad cholesterol (LDL), allowing the blood to flow easier through the blood vessels and preventing the risk of artery blockages which could lead to atherosclerosis.
A review of nine studies showed that drinking green tea regularly reduced the risk of heart disease, stroke, and heart attack. Another review of 24 studies found that drinking green tea greatly reduced the risk of heart disease and lowered high systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
#5. Better Brain Health
Research suggests that combining green tea and lemon can help improve brain health. One review of eight studies found that consuming green tea helps lower the risk of dementia and cognitive function.
Some animal and test-tube studies have found that lemons may improve brain function. Certain citrus fruits like lemons may have anti-inflammatory properties promoting better brain function and reducing the amount of plaque in the brain - a potential reason for the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
#6. Helps Prevent Kidney Stones
Kidney stones are excruciating. These hard mineral deposits collect in the kidneys forming stones that can cause unbearable pain and overwhelming nausea. Both lemon juice and green tea may help stop these stones from forming. One study found that drinking green tea daily helps reduce the risk of people developing kidney stones.
Another review found that consuming 4 ounces (118 mL) of lemon juice per day may help treat kidney stones. The citric acid in lemons may help break down and prevent kidney stones. Citric acid increases the volume of urine, preventing it from binding to calcium oxalate, creating an accumulation of crystals that can lead to kidney stones.
#7. A Boost to Your Immune System
Lemons are loaded with vitamin C, which contains powerful antioxidant properties. Vitamin C, a water-soluble micronutrient, is critical to how well the immune system functions. Vitamin C may help lower inflammation and support the healthy functioning of immune cells. Increasing vitamin C levels may also help prevent the onset of respiratory and systemic infections - or a condition that affects the whole body, like high blood pressure.
Both green tea and lemons are rich in antioxidants that help support a healthy immune system. Animal studies have shown that EGCG in green tea may help improve immune function and even protect the body against autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis.
#8. Increased Energy
The caffeine in green tea is a natural central nervous system stimulant and can boost energy. Some studies suggest that caffeine can help fight fatigue, increase alertness, improve focus, and support better physical performance and endurance.
A refreshing cup of green tea with lemon juice is better than highly processed energy drinks. Many popular energy drinks today contain higher levels of caffeine, sugar, and artificial ingredients, which could affect a person's health if they are sensitive to caffeine or if they are diabetic.
If you drink green tea with lemon alone, you get a sugar-free drink with a moderate level of caffeine that gives you that boost without giving you the caffeine jitters. Lemons also act as a natural electrolyte that helps regulate muscle function, keep the body hydrated and rebuild damaged tissue from physical exertion.
#9. Hydration
Drinking tea with lemon is a great way to stay hydrated. Hydration is essential for human health and better skin health, brain, digestive, liver health, weight management, and kidney function.
Consuming enough healthy fluids throughout the day is vital to overall health. It can reduce the risk of kidney stones, constipation, headaches, and other body conditions. Green tea with lemon is a tangy beverage that gives you a perfect amount of hydration without any sugar.
#10. Cancer Protection
One of the other health benefits of green tea with lemon is its potentially powerful anti-cancer properties. Several test-tube studies suggest that specific compounds extracted from lemons may help prevent the spread and growth of cancer cells.
Some scientific studies suggest that eating a diet rich in citrus fruits could lower cancer risk in several types of cancer, such as lung, stomach, and breast cancer. Other studies suggest that green tea may also help lower the risk and spread of cancer cells in conditions such as bladder and prostate cancer.
Drinking Tea With Lemon
Whether you choose to drink tea with lemon for its zesty flavor, invigorating aroma, soothing properties, or incredible health benefits, you'll get a great beverage supporting a healthy body. Lemon tea can help support healthy cholesterol levels, improve skin health and heart health, prevent weight gain, and stop harmful free radicals and chronic diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Next time you pour yourself a cup of one of these fantastic blends, add some lemon for a flavor infusion. It will level up your cup of tea's health benefits and taste in one delicious sip.