I did a Week Long Lemon Water Experiment And the Benefits were Amazing!

At the start of the week, I woke up with a strange, yet familiar feeling.  I could tell immediately that  I was experiencing one of my worst nightmares.  As I ran my fingers over my face, I could sense a possible breakout lying deep beneath the surface.  I get breakouts from time to time. It happens.  But this wasn't any type of breakout. It was the kind that could potentially evolve into a cystic eruption.

I knew this because I could actually feel it turning into a painful lesion even though it wasn't yet visible.  Since I experienced this many times before, I knew exactly what to do.  Before a breakout has the chance to rear its ugly head, I rely on one remedy that seems to work for me every single time.

In my unskilled opinion, large acne breakouts were a byproduct of inflammation.  I keep hearing about how drinking lemon water helps combat inflammation by alkalizing the body.  So one day I decided to try it as a home remedy.  Whenever I drank warm/room temp lemon water before a pimple fully manifested, I would almost always avoid the worst case scenario. Most of the time, I'd prevent the breakout altogether.  If not, I'd at least limit the severity of it.

Since I felt like this break out had the potential to be disastrous, I decided to go all in.  Instead of enjoying a small cup of lemon water, I reached for a mason jar capable of holding about a quarter gallon of water.  Then I squeezed an entire lemon into the water, grabbed a straw (to protect the enamel on my teeth) and proceeded to sip on it all day.

By the next day, that painful sensation beneath my skin was gone.  It seemed like I had avoided yet another catastrophe.  But, just to be sure, I decided to repeat the same ritual the next day with another quart of water and one additional lemon.  This routine has gone on for the past 4 days. And I'm realizing how many benefits I've received from being consistent over this short time period.

Let's discuss.

I already talked about the skin clearing benefits I was granted thanks to the help of lemon water. But I didn't really notice the other positives until now.    One of the most obvious is how drinking that much lemon water stimulated digestion.  I felt like it created a mild detoxification process.  Whenever I drink ample amounts of lemon water, I find myself having to urinate much more frequently than when I drink plain H20.  It seems to have a diuretic effect. So when I don't have time to do a juice cleanse, I can drink lemon water and still experience detoxing effects. Best of all, I can still eat while the lemon detoxes my body.

Speaking of eating. I noticed that drinking that much lemon water had a profound effect on my food intake.  I work from home and one of the challenges I've faced is constant boredom snacking.   I'm only a few steps from a fridge at all times which is both a blessing and a curse.  Since incorporating ample amounts of lemon water, my cravings have reduced DRAMATICALLY.  I found myself snacking on the first day, but it was out of habit.  When I realized that I wasn't even hungry, the snacking stopped.

By day 3 I noticed that I was no longer walking to the fridge to satiate my cravings for sweet or salty snacks.  As a matter of fact, my appetite was quite suppressed.  At times, I had to remind myself to eat.  This actually put me in a really good position because when I snacked uncontrollably, I almost always reached for convenient, not-so-healthy-foods.  But when the tables were turned, I made conscious decisions in my eating. Instead of going for ice cream, I grabbed an apple or boiled a couple of eggs.  My lunch choices this entire week have so much healthier compared to the week before.  Simply because I sipped on lemon water (throughout the day).

Since starting this new habit, I've already noticed a reduction in bloating and a little weight loss.  They say that drinking lemon water "burns fat." I don't know if lemon water actually flushes fat like some claim. But, for me, it completely alters my appetite to the point where I eat very differently.  I make smarter choices about what I eat because I'm not driven by some uncontrollable primal urge.  Even when I did enjoy a little ice cream, it didn't taste as good.  It was like my palette had been altered in a good way.  I also got fuller faster which is a plus.

These are just a few of my observations of what I've experienced over the past 4 days.  As I mentioned, there are probably internal benefits that I'm not even considering.  Needless to say, I'm not giving this habit up anytime soon.  I hope to experience even more positive effects from this going forward.