Last Updated on November 9, 2023 by Fasting Planet
You’re trying to drink nothing but water for the duration of your fast, but it sure is difficult. As healthy as water is for you, it’s tasteless. Could you enhance the flavor with something, maybe a fruit like a lemon? Does that break your intermittent fast?
Lemon water contains few calories and carbs, so you should be able to drink it without causing an insulin response that would interrupt fat burning. It’s also proven through studies that lemon water can boost your immune system and your digestion as well as help you lose weight, benefitting you during a fast.
In this article, we’ll discuss more about what’s in your lemon water, how nutritious it is, and how often you might sip this fruity-flavored beverage on a fast. Keep reading!
How Many Calories Are in a Glass of Lemon Water?
For some context, when we talk about lemon water, we don’t mean the artificially flavored stuff you can buy at the grocery store. Instead, you’d take a plain glass of water, mash down a lemon for its juice, and then pour that juice into your glass.
You’re ingesting only about six calories when you do this. A whole lemon may contain as many as 17 calories, but since you’re not eating the entire fruit, you don’t have to worry about quite as many calories. Here are the rest of the nutrition facts for a lemon:
- 2 grams of total fat
- 1 grams of polyunsaturated fat
- 1 milligram of sodium
- 80 milligrams of potassium (2 percent of your daily recommended allowance)
- 5 grams of carbohydrates (1 percent of your daily recommended allowance)
- 6 grams of dietary fiber (6 percent of your daily recommended allowance)
- 5 grams of sugar
- 6 grams of protein (1 percent of your daily recommended allowance)
- 1 percent of calcium
- 51 percent of vitamin C
- 1 percent of iron
- 1 percent of magnesium
Can You Drink Lemon Water on a Fast?
Looking at those nutrition facts, is lemon water a safe beverage to drink on a fast? Does lemon water break a fast?
It’s hard to say how many of the above nutrients transfer over when squeezing the juice versus consuming the fruit itself (not like people really do that, anyway). Fasting experts seem to agree that you’re consuming 5 to 6 grams of carbs, so that might mean the 1.5 grams of sugar carries over as well.
It’s not recommended you consume sugar on a fast, especially if you’re trying to lose weight. For one, you’re breaking your fast. You’re also impeding fat burning efforts. Your body can only switch to burning fat once it depletes its supply of glycogen, a form of sugar that comes from glucose. We replenish our glucose when we eat, especially sugary or carb-heavy foods.
The paltry levels of sugar and carbs in lemon water shouldn’t cause an insulin spike, but that’s not necessarily guaranteed. If you drink lemon water once or twice a day, then you should stay on track with your fast and not interrupt fat burning.
However, should you spend the whole day and evening gulping down lemon water, then the calories and especially the sugars and carbs would add up. Your body might take longer to start burning fat, which might not cause the weight loss you were hoping for when starting the fast.
What Are the Benefits of Lemon Water?
When you do enjoy a glass of lemon water, you’re benefitting your body in several ways. Let’s take a closer look at how.
Lots of Vitamin C
A single lemon contains a whopping 51 percent of vitamin C. That’s good, as not only is vitamin C a vitamin, but it’s an antioxidant as well. As such, it’s rich with benefits for a better you. For example, the vitamin may lessen skin dryness and wrinkles so as you age, your skin looks younger. You could even lower your stroke risk by regularly getting vitamin C through sources like vegetables and fruits.
If you suffer from colds often, make sure you increase your vitamin C intake, says this 2014 report in Nutrients. The study involved a group of men aged 18 to 35 years old. They were all in good health and didn’t smoke at the time of the study.
One group took 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C each day over eight weeks and the other group was on a placebo. The men who consumed vitamin C every day had fewer colds. When they did get sick, their illness was 59 percent shorter compared to the placebo group.
Better Immunity
If your immune system could use some assistance, start drinking more lemon juice. Not only does the vitamin C content in the average lemon bolster your immunity, but so too does the folate and potassium. Lemon water also contains phytonutrients that heal the lining of your gut so your immune system works even better.
Improved Digestion
Do you have digestion issues? You won’t if you develop a taste for lemon water. The lemon promotes waste elimination and aides in digestion. This is due to lemon water’s large quantities of acids. These acids allow for food in the stomach to break down faster so your body can absorb more nutrients and digest with fewer difficulties.
Conclusion
Lemon water is low in calories, carbs, and sugars. If consumed once or twice a day, it should not create an insulin response that could prevent your body from burning fat on your fast. Do make sure you limit how often you have this naturally-flavored beverage though.
When you sip lemon water, know that you’re helping your immune system, your digestion, and your health, as you may be less prone to illnesses like the cold. Just make sure you drink lemon water through a straw to preserve your teeth, as the acids in citrus fruits like lemon can wreck your teeth enamel.