I haven’t always been obsessed with lemons. Up until a few years ago, I didn’t give them the time of day. I’d occasionally have a glass of sugar-filled lemonade, but that was the extent of it. Well it all changed on a cruise ship in May 2011.
My parents, Duncan and I were seated at a table for dinner with a few other people that we’d never met. We all got to talking about the usual stuff, where we were from, what we did for a living and so on. One of the men at the table worked in the nutrition and fitness industry and him and I began talking about all kinds of things in that field. I’m not sure exactly how lemon water came up, but he basically told me that I should drink a glass of room temperature to warm water with ½ a lemon squeezed into it every morning. He listed a handful of benefits and promised that I would notice a huge difference health-wise if I started doing this. For whatever reason, I took his advice and upon our return a few days later, I went to the grocery store and bought a bag of lemons and began my new routine the following morning.
Turns out my cruise buddy was true to his word as I absolutely noticed positive differences, some pretty quickly. To name a few, I had more energy, my skin cleared up and became less dry, my digestive system became much more efficient, and the biggest and best difference…an entire year went by without me getting a cold. The reason this is such a big deal is because I would get about 5 colds per year, all of which turned into awful sinus and ear infections that seemed to last FOREVER. It was pure misery and I felt like I was spending more time sick than healthy. Even after over a year of being cold-free, the first one that I did get wasn’t even a fraction as bad as what I’d usually go through. Now, a few years later, I still get a mild cold once or twice a year but they’re hardly noticeable and clear up within a few days. I can’t prove it’s the lemon water, but it just makes sense.
I’m a huge lemon water advocate and have a few close family and friends on board (probably because they were tired of hearing me go on and on about it!). I don’t actually have a lemon tree, despite the name of this blog, but I most definitely plan on getting one soon. My dream is to have a backyard one day with a big old lemon tree. And a trampoline because they’re way too much fun. For kids of course…not this 30 something year old ;).
my little lemon tree 