This site is not intended to provide medical advice. Any information provided is purely for entertainment purposes. Always speak to your doctor before beginning a new health regime. Sponsored products may help maintain the costs of this site without costing you extra.
If you’ve spent any time at all attempting to naturally support your liver, you would have likely come across lemon water. This simple recipe has long been spouted by health-advocates as an uncomplicated method used to detox the liver at the start of each day.
Simply adding the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon into, ideally slightly warm, water has a host of supposed benefits. But is there any evidence to these claims and how exactly do our livers benefit from lemon?
Whilst there may is some debate as to where this simple liver-detoxing method originated, the science in this case is actually a lot more straight forward!
Why is lemon good for the liver?
Whilst lemons don’t provide a massive amount of nutrional value- thanks to their distinctive sharp taste, it’s uncommon for people to consume large volums of this zesty fruit! However lemons do contain a large amount of both Vitamin C, fibre and helpful plant compounds.
Vitamin C
You may already be familiar with the stories of sea-faring sailors snubbing the advances of scurvy by consuming lemons. This is thanks to lemons high Vitamin C content. Vitamin C is essential for the human body and can help provide a strong immune system which boosts your body’s natural defences.
In fact one lemon can provide as much as 31mg of Vitamin C, which is around 50% of the recommended daily intake. Compare that to oranges which have almost the the same vitamin C content but are much larger in volume and you can see just how powerful lemons are.
Lemons Can Prevent Kidney Stones
Lemons have traditionally been used to prevent kidney stones. Kidney stones are small lumps that are esssentially crystallised waste product that build up in your kidney.
Not only are kidney stones fairly common, they are commonly reoccuring too.
Whilst there are many methods to prevend kidney stones, lemons may contain an ingredient that helps reduce our chances of suffering from them, citric acid. It’s been said citris acid can increase urine PH which creates a less favourable environment for kidney stones to develop in the first place. In this instance lemons can be used as both a preventitive measure as well as a remedy.
D-Limonene: The secret to a healthy liver?
Above all else lemons contain one ingredient that is far too often overlooked. This is the chemical often referred to as D-Limonene. As you can imagine D-Limonene is named as such due to its high content in lemons. However D-Limonene is commonly found in other citrus fruits such as oranges, limes and grapefruits. This powerful chemical is technically a group of turpenes, turpenes are known as the chemical compounds that provide the many plant aromas we are so familiar with. Whilst D-Limonene is one of the most abundunt turpenes found in nature, one of the highest concentrations can be found in lemon.
What’s more D-Limonene is most concentrated in the rind of citrus fruits, rather than the flesh itself, with 97% of the rinds essential oil being D-Limonene.
What are the health benefits of D-Limonene?
D-Limonene doesn’t just smell fantastic, as a ingestible compound it provides a huge number of health benefits. Whilst research in the area of essential oils has long been censored or outright ignored, more and more science is being published on the topic.
Anti-Cancerous
Those you consume citrus fruit peel, the biggest source of ingestible D-Limonene, had a reduced risk of skin cancer developing compared to those who only consumed the juice or the fruit itself.
Another study went on to demonstrate women who ingested 2 grams of D-Limonene each day for 2-6 weeks, had a 22% reduction in breast tumor expression. This is a significant finding.
How does D-Limonene help the liver?
Whilst there are many health benefits of D-Limonene, what role does this compound play in maintaining liver health? Well, you may be surprised that D-Limonene has a profound effect on gallstones, which in part play a huge role in the overall health of the liver. Whilst gallstones are traditionally located in the gallbladder, evidence suggests not only can gallstones become lodged in the bile ducts, but can even be found in the liver itself.
At one time surgery to remove gallstones was one of the most commonly practised surgeries in America. Thanks to advancements in medications and certainly alternative health practices this number is beginning to be greatly reduced. One natural remedy that may help eradicate gallstones completely is D-Limonene. Yes, this potent aromatic Turpene commonly found in citrus fruits has been demonstrated to have extremely potent effects in the dissolution of gallstones.
A study found when D-Limonene was inserted directly into the billary system of 200 patients it had a profoundly beneficial effect. The outcomes were: retained stones completely disappeared in 96 cases (48%); and had partial dissolution in 29 (14.5%).
Another study found a combination of D-Limonene and medium-chain monoglycerides in a 3:2 mixture could quickly dissolve cholesterol gallstones with minimal or no observable side effect.
Did you know bile flow is strongly connected to the formation of gallstones?
Do you suffer from; eratic bowel movements, pale stool, gas, intigestion, heart burn, bloating, SIBO, or poor nutrient absorbtion? You may have a bile flow problem. Learn all about it in our Bile Flow, Phosphatidylcholine & NAC article.
How can I use D-Limonene to improve my health?
As mentioned D-Limonene is found in small amounts in the edible part of citrus fruits. However, by far the biggest concentration is found in the rind of citrus fruits. Whilst the adventurous among us may decide to eat the lemon slice that’s placed in our a glass of water when it’s finished, many of us wouldn’t consider eating the rind of citrus fruit, and we very rarely consume the flesh either. This means that relying on the rare consumption of citrus fruits, or on lemon water itself, is unlikely to provide the therpeutic doses of D-Limonene required to have noticeable benefits.
So how can we get D-Limonene into our diets in benefical amounts? The answer is found in essential oils.
The essential oils that contain D-Limonene include: Lemon, Grapefruit & Orange.
Therapeutic doses of D-Limonene have been suggested between 1000mg – 6000mg, or 1 – 6 grams per day. Bare in mind, one drop of lemon essential oil can include the oil of upwards of 30 whole lemons rinds. This is where you can begin to understand why lemon water on its own is a very healthy, but very diluted way of ingesting D-Limonene.
How do I consume ctirus essential oil?
Lemon essential oil is perfectly safe to ingest, in fact lemon essential oil is one of the most commonly used food additives in the world, thanks to its powerful and rich flavour.
For example, citrus oil such as lemon can be added to food recipes such as guacamole to add a rich depth of flavour, whilst acting as a dietary supplement. A common dose would be as little as 2-4 drops per entire recipe.
Alternatively if you only wish to use Limonene therapeutically it can be added to an empty supplement capsule. This is something I’ve personally experimented with and found great improvements in sleep, digestion, acid reflux and skin health. I will continue to use Limonene daily because of its natural consistency and extremely good value for money. I estimate a 4 fl oz bottle to last you anywhere from 6 months – 1 year with regular use!
Tips on purchasing Limonene: Always buy a good quality essential oil if you’re intent on consuming it orally. Start with just 1 drop per day and work your way up to a dose you feel is comfortable.
How can I use D-Limonene to improve my health?
As mentioned D-Limonene is found in small amounts in the edible part of citrus fruits. However, by far the biggest concentration is found in the rind of citrus fruits. Whilst the adventurous among us may decide to eat the lemon slice that’s placed in our a glass of water when it’s finished, many of us not only never consider eating the rind or citrus fruit, we very rarely consume the flesh either. This means relying on the rare consumption of citrus fruits, or on lemon water itself, is unlikely to provide the therpeutic doses of D-Limonene required to have noticeable benefits.
So how can we get D-Limonene into our diets in benefical amounts? The answer is found in essential oils.
The essential oils that contain D-Limonene include: Lemon, Grapefruit & Orange.
Therapeutic doses of D-Limonene have been suggested between 1000mg – 6000mg, or 1 – 6 grams per day. Bare in mind, one drop of lemon essential oil can include the oil of upwards of 30 whole lemons rinds. This is where you can begin to understand why lemon water on its own is a very healthy, but very diluted way of ingesting D-Limonene.
How do I consume ctirus essential oil?
Lemon essential oil is perfectly safe to ingest, in fact lemon essential oil is one of the most commonly used food additives in the world, thanks to its powerful and rich flavour.
For example, citrus oil such as lemon can be added to food recipes such as guacamole to add a rich depth of flavour, whilst acting as a dietary supplement. A common dose would be as little as 2-4 drops per entire recipe.
Alternatively if you only wish to use Limonene therapeutically it can be added to an empty supplement capsule. This is something I’ve personally experimented with and found great improvements in sleep, digestion, acid reflux and skin health. I will continue to use Limonene daily because of its natural consistency and extremely good value for money. I estimate a 4 fl oz bottle to last you anywhere from 6 months – 1 year with regular use!
Tips on purchasing Limonene: Always buy a good quality essential oil if you’re intent on consuming it orally. Start with just 1 drop per day and work your way up to a dose you feel is comfortable.
If you feel your liver needs detoxing consider learning about the Amazing Liver Flush by Andreas Mortiz. This amazing protocol could completely revolutionise your liver health by expelling toxic debris. What’s more D-Limonene works in perfect synergy with this cleanse!