There has been lots of talk recently about the benefits of lemon water. Lemon is an alkalizing food which means that it can reduce levels of acidity in the body to keep everything in balance. High levels of acidity have been linked to increased risk of illness. Here’s a great article on Top 5 Reasons to Drink Lemon Water.
Our lemon tree is ready!
This is something I keep in the back of my mind because one of the functions of your kidney is to manage the pH balance of your body. Patients with kidney disease have an increase risk of having acidosis (excess acid) which causes the body to pull calcium out of the bones to neutralize the acid which can cause bone disease. For that reason, and because I have had acidosis in the past, I take sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) twice a day to help keep my body in balance.
I figure lemon water can only help, so I have at least a glass a day. Plus, I’m a lover of sour stuff, so I actually crave lemon water.
What I’m not so fond of is making lemon water. Here’s the dilemma…
I want a 12 to 20 ounce glass of water with the juice of half of a lemon, without seeds. I only have one strainer in the house and every other day it is usually dirty in the dishwasher. I’ve tried the Giada De Laurentiis trick of squeezing the lemon through my fingers to catch seeds, but the juice that ends up on your hands is wasted.
This morning I was making lemon water with half of a lemon I had from yesterday. It was stored in a baggie in the fridge. Usually, I would take it out of the bag, stick a fork in the center and squeeze it through a strainer into my glass. Today, the genius idea!
I poked holes through the baggie and squeezed the juice straight into the glass from within the bag. Seeds were caught and all of the juice made it into the glass. Refreshing in so many ways.
It’s funny how such a simple solution can bypass you so often.
For the first half of the lemon, I’ll still have to use a strainer. Half a problem solved is half way closer to a total solution.
Wondering where my nifty blue cup with the straw is? Well, I dropped it in the garage trying to carry way to many things into the house on Monday and the outer shell busted. I am headed to Target this weekend for a new one.
Do you drink lemon water for the health benefits?