Does Lemon Water Help You Lose Weight? How to Make It (Recipe)

Do you want to know how to make lemon water for a flat belly? It’s simple! Just follow these easy steps, and you’ll be on your way to losing weight in no time.

Lemon water has gained popularity with its tangy taste and for its health benefits. Wouldn’t it be great to lose weight without exercise just by drinking more lemon water?

Struggling with weight loss can be frustrating and confusing. Nothing worse than trying different weight loss diets, but the scale doesn’t budge. Maybe you just need to add a little lemon juice to your water to boost weight loss.

But can drinking lemon water help you lose belly fat? Or is it just a myth? Please keep reading to discover how lemon water can make you lose belly fat and how to prepare it.

Can Lemon Water Reduce Belly Fat?

Some studies suggest that lemon water may help with weight loss, including belly fat.¹ Lemon water doesn’t necessarily speed up your metabolism but indirectly supports weight loss through other methods.

Lemons are a great source of Vitamin C, which boosts the immune system and helps the body detoxify.² They are also high in antioxidants, which can help fight off free radicals that can damage cells.³

Lemon juice contains pectin, a fiber that helps suppress appetite and promote feelings of fullness.⁴ The more full you feel, then the less hungry you’ll be, which reduces your calorie intake.⁵ So drink up and enjoy all the health benefits of lemon water.

Hesperidin and naringin are two flavonoids found in lemon juice. They’re known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. These two flavonoids can create new smaller fat cells instead of larger ones, and these smaller ones are much easier for your body to burn off.⁶

The polyphenols in lemons can help with weight loss and improve insulin resistance.⁷ This was due to the increased gene expression of enzymes in fatty acid oxidation (PPAR-alpha). This is a receptor that regulates lipid metabolism, so activating it by drinking lemon juice with water can lead to weight loss.

The Real Reason Lemon Juice Helps With Weight Loss

The main benefit of drinking lemon water is promoting healthy blood sugar stabilization.

Studies have found lemon juice can lower blood glucose by 30% while also delaying it.⁸ In addition, phytonutrients found in lemon juice can blunt the blood sugar response.⁹

One of the primary causes of belly fat and weight gain is blood sugar spikes and chronically elevated insulin levels.¹⁰ In addition, those with abdominal fat are more likely to suffer from insulin resistance, making them even more likely to have belly fat.¹¹

A study found drinking lemon juice before eating a carb-rich meal significantly reduced blood sugar spikes by 30%.¹² This is due the premature inhibition of the salivary amylase in your mouth. It causes you to not digest as much of the carbohydrates, resulting in a smaller increase in blood sugar.

So drinking lemon water doesn’t directly help with weight loss by burning calories, but it does promote healthy weight loss and help get rid of belly flab. This is because you have to lower insulin to shrink fat cells in your belly, and it will help you do just this despite how many calories you’re consuming.

When to Drink Lemon Water to Lose Weight

Your body is also dehydrated in the morning after sleeping all night without drinking much water. A lot of people don’t like to drink water early in the morning, but it’ll be easier to drink a tasty glass of lemon water instead.

I prefer to do intermittent fasting in the mornings. So, lemon water can suppress your appetite and curb hunger, making it easier for you to continue fasting for longer. This will give you better belly fat burning and weight loss results.

As mentioned earlier, the flavonoids and polyphenols in lemons help activate PPAR-alpha. With intermittent fasting, you’re ideally trying to activate this receptor to make your body more fat-adapted. This results in your body burning fat more easily when fasting.

If you’re not intermittent fasting in the mornings, then lemon water can help with weight loss by stabilizing your blood sugar. It’s easier for your blood sugar levels to become unstable earlier in the day especially if you’re eating a carb-rich meal.

Spiking and crashing blood sugar levels cause an insulin release that puts your body into a fat-storing mode. So, drinking lemon water in the morning will be better to help combat this if you’re trying to lose weight.

If you have kidney stones (or want to prevent them), drinking lemon water can help. The citric acid in lemon juice is a natural way to break up or prevent kidney stones from forming.¹³ If you have concerns with kidney stones, then I’d be sure to drink lemon water daily.

Cons and Side Effects of Lemon Water

But the interesting part is that lemon water also has an alkalinizing effect on your body once it’s metabolized despite being acidic. This is because lemon juice contains minerals that can alkalize your blood and urine.

If you have alkalosis (your body’s pH level is excessively alkaline), lemon water can increase your alkalinity. Some symptoms of alkalosis are muscle twitching, nausea, numbness in the face/hands/feet, dizziness, heart palpitations, and breathing difficulties.

Be sure NOT to drink lemon water right before eating.

The alkalinizing process from the acid in lemon juice can inhibit digestion. So, it’s not a good idea to eat right after drinking lemon water. Wait at least 30 minutes before eating.

If you have acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), then drinking lemon could exacerbate your symptoms with heartburn and indigestion.

If you have an allergy to citrus fruits, then you will want to avoid lemon water. Lemon juice can still trigger allergic reactions despite it being diluted in a glas of water.

If you have an ulcer or gastris, then lemon water can cause a burning sensation in the area. You’ll quickly realize that you may have an ulcer or gastritis because you’ll feel the burning right after drinking it.

What Happens When You Drink Lemon Water for 7 Days

As you start drinking water after the first week, you can have numerous benefits such as:

• Increased energy levels
• Improved skin hydration
• Enhanced focus and mental clarity
• Reduced headaches, dizziness, lightheadedness
• Better digestion
• Improved physical performance

You can also expect the weight scale to go down some as well. Switching out a sugary beverage like soda or fruit juice for lemon water is a healthy way to start shedding pounds.¹⁴

Most of the above benefits will be the result of improving hydration from lemon water. Many people go throughout the day dehydrated and it has a big negative impact on your health.

With dehydration, you can easily mistake thirst for hunger, which can make you end up eating more calories.¹⁵ Your metabolic rate slows down, your body will ironically increase water retention, stress hormones increase, and you may not be as active due to higher fatigue.

But once you start drinking more lemon water (and water in general), you should quickly start to reverse these negative signs of dehydration.

The lemon juice in the water can help you also to lose weight within 7 days. Your blood sugar levels and insulin should improve some, which is a big part of the weight loss process.

Drinking lemon water should improve bowel movements and digestion.¹⁶ The more freely your body is able to eliminate waste, the fewer stuck stools you’ll have in your digestive tract.

While all of the above are possible with drinking lemon water for 7 days, you should be aware that weight loss probably won’t be too high after only a week. You’ll need to also increase your daily calorie expenditure. You can see more here on how to lose 5 pounds or even 10 pounds in a week.

But the good news is that you may start eating less due to decreased hunger from the lemon water. You may also want to try intermittent fasting throughout the night and mornings. The lemon water should help curb hunger and increase your metabolism while fasting.

Try adding this C8 MCT (caprylic acid) powder to burn more fat when fasting. It’ll help to kickstart the ketogenic fat-burning process in your body while fasting.¹⁷ It also curbs hunger, boosts your metabolism, and gives you brain energy.

Just by adding some lemon water to your morning routine, you can expect to see a reduction in belly fat and weight loss. How long this will take will depend on how much you have to lose in the first place. Usually, those who have more to lose can drop it a lot faster than those with less, such as 10 pounds.

How to Prepare Lemon Water to Lose Belly Fat

Now that you know the health benefits of having a weight loss drink lemon water every day, let’s look at how to prepare it as the best fat-burning drink. Of course, you don’t have to follow these directions precisely, but I found them to make the most effective fat-burning drink with lemon water.

It’s best to use room temperature or slightly warm water mixed with lemon juice first thing in the morning.

Room temperature or lukewarm water is easiest on your stomach and digestive system. Cold water does have small health benefits, such as possibly slightly increasing your metabolism, but it’s not worth it at the expense of an upset stomach.

It’s best to use the juice from freshly squeezed lemons.

The pre-juiced lemon juice concentrate you find on store shelves is usually mixed with preservatives and other junk you shouldn’t be putting in your body. Plus, much of the vitamin C is lost in lemon juice due to the pasteurization process.

If you must buy pre-made lemon juice, make sure it’s organic. I like to batch juice a bunch of lemons at once and store them in a glass container.

I like to use a tablespoon of lemon juice for every 12 to 16 ounces of water. Mix it well, and then drink the lemon water with a straw. Lemon water is highly acidic and can wear down the enamel on your teeth, so if you’re drinking a lot of it, this is even more important to prevent tooth decay.

Lemon Water Weight Loss Recipe

How do you make lemon water to lose belly fat? Use this fat-burning recipe below:

Ingredients:

• 12-16 ounces of warm water
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp raw honey (optional)

Just add all the ingredients to a glass of warm water and mix well. Drink through a straw.

If you’re looking to take your lemon water results to the next level, try this fat-burning detoxification drink recipe. I wouldn’t drink this one every time, but it’s a great way to step things up a notch and mix it up for better results.

Use 12 to 16 ounces of warm water and mix a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Then, add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to the lemon water. Finally, add a dash of cayenne pepper. Mix it all and drink it through a straw to keep the acids from getting onto your teeth.

Lemon juice and apple cider vinegar create a powerful combination for losing belly fat. Both are terrific at stabilizing blood sugars and insulin levels. They are also satiating, helping you feel fuller for longer.¹⁸

Drinking this fat-burning drink will make it easier to get through and speed up intermittent fasting results. It won’t break your fast since it won’t raise your insulin, and the few calories it might contain are negligible. It’s one of my top intermittent fasting drinks.

Cayenne pepper is a natural thermogenic that promotes a faster fat-burning metabolism.¹⁹ Adding this spicy pepper to your lemon water can promote weight loss by raising your body temperature. Cayenne pepper increases your body temperature and forces your body to burn calories, resulting in more weight loss benefits.

If this drink recipe is too tart for you, you can add a little bit of raw honey. Just know that adding raw honey will break your fast if you’re practicing intermittent fasting.

If adding the cayenne pepper is too hard on your stomach, you can remove it. You can also try drinking it after you’ve had a little something to eat.

Summary

• Drinking lemon water should be a part of your daily routine to lose belly fat and as part of a healthy diet. It’s one of the best fat-burning drinks you can have on an empty stomach, and it won’t break your fast. Instead, it’ll help you feel fuller for longer, making it easier to get through your fast. So start drinking some lemon water daily to lower your body weight and belly fat.
• Lemon juice has many health benefits, including weight loss. Adding lemon juice to your water will increase hydration since you’ll be more likely to drink tastier lemon water than plain water.
• Drinking lemon water daily on an empty stomach can enhance weight loss by improving your blood sugar and insulin levels. Weight gain doesn’t only come from eating way too many calories but also from having blood sugar and insulin responses to sugars and rich carbohydrates.
• Try adding apple cider vinegar to your lemon water and some cayenne pepper to promote weight loss. Lemon juice and apple cider vinegar work together to promote healthy blood sugars and insulin. The cayenne pepper will boost your metabolism and help you burn extra calories.