Does Lemon Juice Burn Fat

 

Does Lemon Juice Burn Fat or is it all Hype?

Turn on any televised interview with a fat loss expert or fitness pro and you’re bound to hear about lemon juice and how it’s good for burning fat.

But is lemon juice the wonder drink that it’s been hyped up to be? Can a simple citrus fruit be so powerful that it will burn bodyfat and turn you into a shredded fittness model?

Well, obviously not. At least not to the extent that they claim on television or in online articles that hype up the power of these crazy trends.

But does lemon juice burn fat at all? Even in small ammounts? That’s what the following information is set out to discover.

Because, here’s a hint. In some cases lemon juce does burn fat. Maybe not enough to transform you from a overweight person into someone who is super shredded, but it does help. And anyone who is looking to lose weight will know that any little bit helps.

Do you Need To Juice Lemons to Get A Fat Burning Effect?

The first question I wanted to address is if you need to juice lemons to get the fat burning effect. Or can you simply slice up lemons and add them to your hot water or tea or water bottle.

Basically, the answer is that you get more benefit if you have freshly squeezd or juiced lemon juice.

The whole lemons are not going to be as efficent as the pure lemon juice.

This is simply a matter of the bioavailability of the lemon juice in the whole, unjuiced lemon.

You simply do not get as much of the lemon nutrients when you only take a slice of lemon and add it to water or hot tea.

In order to maximize the fat burning potential you will need to juice the lemon and drink that straight (or mixed with water if you’re a normal person and don’t want to drink a straight shot of lemon juice!)

Are There Any Studies That Back Up The Fat Burning Claim?

Funny you asked. There are indeed quite a few studies.

Remember, these studies are linked to trials on the effect of drinking lemon juice and wheater or not it helps fat burning. They are all geared towards the scientific results, which are likely to be less dramatic than a model on televison who drops down several pant sizes.

Time magazine, a popular magazine gearded towards quick soundbytes, put out a video and article which looked to debunk the lemon juice claim. It’s no suprise that a magazine that takes advertisements from major commercial brands would do this.

The problem with the Time Magazine review is that there are in fact studies that prove lemon juice helps burn fat. I’ve linked several of them below.

Also, Time Magazine said that lemon juice can damage your teeth. While that is true if you happen to drink straight lemon juice, studies have shown that things such as soda are much worseare much worse. And there are good ways to prevent this, namly drinking lemon juice mixed with water or fruits and drinking it in a small, concentreaed ammount…not to drink a big glass of lemon jucie water.

I go into depth a bit below on how to prooperly drink lemon juice. Hint–it’s not straight lemon juice in a shot glass like some big magazines seem to think you’re doing.

For reference, here are the studies regarding lemon juice burning fat.

• This study discusses the efficacy of drinking lemon juice and green tea.
• Here’s a study that covers the effect of the lemon detox diet.
• Anothe review went over the advantages of something called “lemon polyphenols” and how they supress appetite.
• Even something such as honey and lemon combined can have a positive infulence, as this study found.

 

 

Do You Need to Fast When You Drink Lemon Juice?

No, you don’t need to fast, but it helps. People who fast accelerate their fat burning potential. It doesn’t matter if you are doing a strict fast, or an intermittent fast. Any sort of calorie restricted fast will work.

Notice that the term calorie restricted was used. If you drink shakes and smoothies, you are not technicially fasting. A fast is not just not eating solid food. A fast also involves abstaining from calories for a set ammount of time.

There is a danger in fasting too long (you can harm your metabloism) which is why I prefer intermittent fasting.

So, a great approach would be to drink a glass of lemon juice and water in the morning then drink plain water or black coffee or herbal tea during the day up until you have your first meal.

If you are fasting, then the small ammount of calories in lemon juice won’t negatively effect your fast. Just try and avoid making a fruit or veggie drink with the lemon juice.

However, I also suggest that you use a vegetable juice with lemons to break fast later in the day. The vegetables, especially leafy green ones, are simply loaded with micronutrients that will help you on your goal to losing weight and losing fat.

 

Does Lemon Juice Burn Fat When Taken With Honey?

Many people would like to mix lemon and honey but are concerned about the problem of the calories in honey.

So, will honey impact the efficacy of lemon juice and weight loss? As mentioned in the above references, honey does not have a negative effect on fat loss. In theory.

The issue comes with how much honey you choose to use. If you add to much honey, you are of course going to have to deal with added calories.

If you are someone who likes to heat honey, then by all means continue using it. There are some amazing health benefits to honey that makes it a great addition to your diet.

However, if you do choose to use honey, be aware that honey is calorie dense. A half a teaspoon of honey has 32 calories. And most people don’t use a half teaspoon, some people add an entire tablespoon. So, proceed with caution if you are planning on using honey when trying to lose weight.

Choose Raw Honey If You Must

If you are someone who does like honey with lemon, I advocate that you use raw honey. There are numerous reasons that are extensive and you could write entire books about the health benefits of raw honey. But essentially, when you’re eating regular honey, all you are getting is basically the sugar. Raw honey has the healthy vitamins and nutrients in it that is cooked out (aside from mineral content) when honey is processed.

Raw honey is readily available. You can find it in most supermarkets and even online.

 

Why Types of Lemons Burn Fat?

Are there certain lemons that are better than others at burning fat? Should you end up buying meyer lemons and juicing them?

Let’s put it this way. The essential oil in lemons is what is the compound that has the benefits to burning fat.

So, only use meyer lemons if you prefer their flavori. Meyer lemonsMeyer lemons have a more subtle flavor. But they are expensive.

I am not a particular fan of meyer lemons. I like  regular lemons. They are commonly refered to as Lisbon Lemons. All in all, there are aproximately six types of lemons.

The most important thing to do is get organic lemons. Let me say that again, get organic lemons.

Why? Because when you are looking to burn fat, you should be juicing the whole lemon and making sure that you juice the skin.

You can of course wash the skin of a regular lemon that has been grown with pesticides, but it’s much healthier to get organic lemons and wash them and then juice them.

There is a whole other discussion to be made that concerns pesticies and other nasties and how they negativey correlate to fat gain.