Wednesday, April 13, 2011

I'm averaging a lemon per day

Water is amazing and drinking a lot of it always makes me feel good. I feel lighter, have more energy, it helps food move through my body, it keeps headaches at bay, I experience reduced occurrence of allergies, and I know it does a whole heck of a lot more! Overall, water is awesome. And it's no surprise that we need to drink a lot of it in order to feel great since our bodies are composed of at least 55% water. (Different sources gave different percentages, but the point is - it's a lot!)

Although I'm a cheerleader for water, I have found recently that no matter how hard I try, I still feel dehydrated. It could be that I think I'm drinking a lot of water, but it really isn't enough. Or, more likely, the sodium level in the food I eat is high and so the amount I'm drinking, although it's large, is not doing the trick. Either way, after recently purchasing Powerade Zero and Vitaminwater Zero to quench my thirst when I was bored of water on several occasions, I got to thinking: These artificial sweeteners really aren't good for me - especially the type in Powerade Zero, since it is sweetened with sucralose, which is Splenda. (No bueno!) Vitaminwater Zero claims to be sweetened with non-artificial sweeteners, but I don't know if I really trust that they are healthy for me either. Upon contemplating this for a moment or two, I realized the solution: lemon water.

I know, I know. That is no revelation or brilliant revolution in the beverage department. However, for me, lemon water was just something I had at restaurants or the spa, not a beverage I made for myself on a day to day basis. So, I went into my nearby market, bought a bunch of lemons and proceeded to make the most refreshing, natural beverage (at a cost of 33 cents a pitcher, mind you). I cut the ends off one lemon, cut it in half, squeezed each piece into a pitcher before throwing the lemon pieces in, filled the pitcher up with cool water and some ice cubes, and voila! I drank the whole pitcher. That's right. I drank the whole pitcher in about fifteen minutes (give or take a few). The point is, I slammed it.

Yes, water is amazing, but lemon water is super amazing. And, what's more, after falling in love with it, I googled it to see if anyone else was in love with it too, and what did I find? A whole slew of sites touting its health benefits! So, read up, drink up, and enjoy.

2 comments:

  1. Nice article,Carly. Also amazing in water: some sliced fresh ginger, cucumber, and a couple of sprigs of fresh mint. One of my coworkers has recently started putting turmeric root in her water. Not sure about that one.

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  2. Ahahaha - turmeric root. Oooooo - lemon AND mint would be amazing I bet. :)

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