You get more than a tart blast when you suck on a lemon slice or sip lemonade. Lemons are an extraordinarily rich source of healing chemical compounds that improve immunity, strengthen blood vessels, help skin heal, and block cell changes that can lead to cancer. A quick rub of lemon on the underarms helps combat unwanted odors. A squeeze of lemon added to hot water and honey is the perfect sore-throat elixir. And lemon is an indispensable ingredient when it comes to making homemade cough syrup.
What’s it good for?
• Age Spots
• Body Odor
• Calluses and Corns
• Cold Sores
• Colds and Flu
• Dry Mouth
• Head Lice
• Kidney Stones
• Morning Sickness
• Oily Hair
• Oily Skin
• Pregnancy Complaints
• Sore Throat
• Varicose Veins
Centuries ago, British sailors ate lemons by the boatload to prevent scurvy, a deadly disease caused by vitamin C deficiency. A single lemon packs 39 milligrams of vitamin C, more than half the Daily Value. We don’t have to worry about scurvy anymore, because there are so many sources of vitamin C in our diet. But lemons provide a host of other tangy benefits.
Never underestimate the power of vitamin C—or the time-tested advice to drink lemon-flavored tea when you have a cold. The vitamin C in lemons lowers levels of histamine, the chemical that contributes to stuffy noses and runny eyes. The vitamin is a powerful antioxidant that also reduces levels of unstable celldamaging molecules known as free radicals, and helps guard against heart disease.
(Several studies have shown that low levels of vitamin C increase the risk for heart attacks. When cholesterol becomes oxidized—attacked by free radicals—it’s more likely to turn into artery-clogging plaque.) The body uses vitamin C to boost the activity of immune cells and manufacture collagen, the tissue-building substance that assists in wound healing.
Here are more reasons to enjoy the zesty pleasure of lemons:
• Fewer kidney stones. Lemons are loaded with citric acid, a chemical that reduces calcium excretion and helps prevent the formation of these painful little stones. Two quarts of lemonade made with fresh lemon juice daily (sweetened with as little sugar as possible) are as effective as citrate medications.
• Stronger veins. Lemon zest is rich in a bioflavonoid (a group of antioxidant plant chemicals) called rutin, which strengthens the walls of the veins
and capillaries and reduces the pain—and even the occurrence—of varicose veins.
• Breast protection. Another chemical, found in the lemon peel and the white membrane underneath it, is limonene. Scientists have discovered that
limonene has significant anti-tumor activity. It is now being studied for its ability to treat and even prevent cancer, especially breast cancer. Scientists tested the substance against human breast cancer cells and found that it inhibits their growth. Limonene also causes estrogen to break down into a weaker form in the body, which is important because higher levels of estrogen are linked with a gher risk of breast cancer. Limonene also boosts the liver’s ability to remove potential carcinogens from the blood.
• Beauty benefits. If applied often enough to age spots, lemon juice will eventually fade these marks of maturity. You can also dab it on acne for faster
• Stave off skin cancer. A study on 450 people found that adding some grated lemon peel to your morning tea could potentially reduce the risk of some skin cancers by as much as 70 percent. (Black tea alone brought reductions of up to 40 percent.) Lemon works possibly by stepping up the activity of an enzyme, called glutathione S-transferase, that detoxifies cancer-causing compounds.