Health Kick: Hot Lemon Water

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Lately I've been hearing many positive things about having a cup of hot water and a slice of lemon first thing in the morning. So, I decided to try it for myself and build it into my daily morning routine! This sounds easy, except the first thing I crave in the morning is a cup of tea and a spoonful of sugar... And as I'm usually not really awake at that point, I have a hard time reaching for anything other than the teabags. So I decided to list the benefits I've heard about here, hopefully they'll creep into my subconsciousness :)

• Lemons are packed with vitamin C, which just so happens to be one of the first casualties of stress. Hot lemon water will help build up those C levels again ready for whatever the day decides to throw at you. 
• Vitamin C also boosts your immune system, helping you to ward off cold and flu. 
• Lemons contain potassium, important in controlling blood pressure and encouraging brain and nerve function. 
• Pectin fibre helps fight hunger cravings, aiding in weight loss. Lemons are full of it. 
• Vitamin C has skin-cleansing properties and is said to decrease wrinkles and blemishes. It also clears toxins from the blood. In fact, lemon juice can be directly applied to scars to reduce their appearance. 
• Helps cleanse the body of unwanted materials and aids the liver in making bile which is needed for digestion. 
• Lemons help to balance the body's overall acidity, they are very much an alkaline fruit.
• It is a breath freshener and can help in relieving tooth ache and gum disease.
• It will save you from drinking at least one cup of coffee each day ;)
• .... And it helps remove coffee stains from mugs!

And so I have stated my case in favour of hot water and lemon! However, there is one thing to be weary of when starting this new routine of mine... Lemon juice is very good at eroding tooth enamel so it is very important that you brush your teeth after drinking your lemon!

So boil your water, slice a lemon and squeeze the slice into your mug. Drop the slice in and fill with hot water and voila! You have yourself a great kick-start for the day :)

Hannah xo