With health becoming a bigger priority in peoples’ lives these days, they are turning to different methods for weight loss. And both coffee and lemon have notable weight loss properties. Therefore, many believe mixing the two will produce a miracle weight loss remedy.
Coffee and lemon can promote weight management, but irrefutable evidence has been presented to suggest that pairing the two won’t help you lose weight. If anything, the duo can be detrimental to your health.
The citrus lemon trend has been around for centuries, but the truth is lemon coffee isn’t a magic weight loss recipe. In this article, we’ll explain why.
Where Did Lemon Coffee Come From?
Coffee with a citrus twist? You’d be surprised to know that only is it quite popular and widespread, but the practice has been around for centuries.
Where this practice began is still a bit of a mystery, but two notable tales tell somewhat believable stories of the odd practice’s origins.
World War 2
According to this tale, by the time World War 2 started, coffee and cafés had become extremely popular among soldiers. They’d often gather at cafes and enjoy a cup of coffee.
Given how resources were often scarce during times of war, there wasn’t enough water to thoroughly wash the coffee cups. Consequently, baristas would use lemon peels to sanitize the mugs. When the war ended, lemon slices became regular coffee add-ons.
Mazagran
The second story suggests that the practice started in the 1800s. French soldiers were accustomed to diluting their coffees with brandy or milk until supplies began running low due to war. Then, as an alternative, they would dilute their coffees with cold water, and the first cold coffee was born.
They named it “Un Mazagran.” When they returned to France, they recreated the drink and added lemon to it to mask the coffee’s poor taste.
Does Lemon Contribute to Weight Loss?
Lemons are pretty versatile in their benefits and uses. They’re commonly used as ingredients in popular beverages, as purifying agents, and even at times as bleaching agents.
Above all, they’re sought-after for their assumed weight-loss properties. This is because lemons are filled with Vitamin C, diuretic elements, and antioxidants, which contribute to weight loss in one way or another.
- Numerous elements can slow the body’s metabolism, including oxidative stress. Vitamin C is known to tackle oxidative stress and eliminate it from the body; in the process, it speeds up metabolism.
- Secondly, because of their diuretic properties, lemons make you shed mostly water weight and a bit of fat by triggering the increased production of urine in your body.
- Lastly, antioxidants reduce fat, especially belly fat, as they boost the fat-burning cells.
Lemons may speed up your metabolism and create an internal environment that promotes weight loss in your body, but for these to work, you’ll still need to adopt a healthy diet and workout regimen. Lemons aren’t “weight loss miracles”; their effectiveness depends on various factors.
What are the Health Benefits of Coffee?
We’ve all heard more times than we can count how “bad” coffee is for the human body, and countless articles and blog posts online detail the side effects of coffee, but its benefits aren’t as publicized. But Coffee does offer benefits, including:
Potentially Reduces Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Several studies have concluded that regular consumption of coffee can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by up to 6%. This conclusion stems from the fact that caffeine preserves Beta cells, which produce Insulin, an element that prevents Diabetes.
Promotes Brain Health
Various studies have been conducted to study the positive effects of caffeine on the brain. While a good portion of them turned up inconclusive, most showed similar results; caffeine consumption may lower the risk of cognitive deterioration and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
Improves Weight Management
Studies and experiments suggest that caffeine tackles weight management in numerous ways. For one, coffee can potentially hinder fat storage. Secondly, drinking coffee has been linked to increased daily physical activity. Both these factors contribute to weight management.
Supports Cardiovascular Health
Two unrelated studies, conducted in 2018 and 2021, concluded that consuming 2 to 3 cups of coffee daily could reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
What are the Health Benefits of Lemon?
Lemons are used in various ways, and their benefits range from medicinal to cosmetic. The following handful of the numerous benefits associated with lemons are:
Weight Loss
Lemons are most commonly known for their weight loss properties. These are attributed to the presence of vitamin C, antioxidants, and pectin fiber. In essence, lemons promote weight loss by boosting the metabolism and burning fat cells.
May Help Prevent Kidney Stones
The citric acid in lemons can potentially prevent kidney stones by speeding up urine production and making urine more acidic.
Are There Benefits to Drinking Lemon Coffee?
Lemon coffee isn’t new, but it’s been making headlines because of an internet challenge that’s gone viral. As the name suggests, participants of this challenge will squeeze a few drops of lemon in their Joe to produce the ultimate weight loss recipe.
The assumption is that pairing coffee and lemon will result in a twice as effective drink promoting weight loss. Except, lemon coffee won’t actually help you lose weight any more than coffee or lemon alone will.
The Science
It all boils down to science. Scientifically speaking, when two elements are mixed, the product will not be a perfect blend of the two elements. Instead, an entirely different product is likely to be created.
Mixing coffee and lemon results in what is known scientifically as a solution, and one of the distinctive characteristics of a solution is that the elements used to make the solution don’t retain their individual properties.
What that suggests is that once the two ingredients are turned into a solution, they most likely will lose their fat-burning properties as they react with other elements in the solution.
So can you benefit from a coffee lemon at all? Yes, you can because the resulting product may offer other benefits and possess other characteristics, but they will not necessarily be affiliated with weight loss.
Are There Risks to Drinking Lemon Coffee?
While no studies are backing these weight loss claims from drinking coffee lemon, many people have come forward to talk about their unpleasant reaction to the combo and the potential side effects. The following potential risks of drinking the concoction are:
Severe Acid Reflux
Lemon is an acidic ingredient that’s known for causing heartburn. Caffeine, on the other hand, is less acidic but still acidic nonetheless. A combination of the two will raise the production of stomach acid beyond the normal range.
Raised Blood Pressure
Caffeine alone has a reputation for raising blood pressure in some people. However, according to observations on people consuming coffee lemon, the lemon only amplifies the caffeine’s likeliness of causing high blood pressure.
Low Iron Levels
Neither lemon nor caffeine affects iron levels individually. However, when combined, they produce a solution that lowers iron levels.
Signs of low iron include weakness, fatigue, fast heart rate, and difficulty concentrating. Iron pills can be bought over the counter, and experts recommend organic iron supplements (on Amazon).
Conclusion
The problem with quick weight-loss fixes like coffee lemon is that people will react differently to them depending on several factors. Moreover, because experts usually don’t have enough time to study the full extent of their adverse effects, most people don’t know what to expect once they’ve indulged.
The truth is that coffee lemon can cause severe health damage; in most cases, the damage is irreversible.