If you’re making regular trips to your water cooler to make sure your body remains well hydrated so that it can perform optimally – well done! But if drinking regular water is starting to feel a little ho-hum, then maybe it’s time to mix things up a little, and an excellent way of doing that is to add something simple like a slice or two of lemon. Apart from enhancing the taste, lemon water also carries a number of other benefits.

Helps Prevent Urinary Tract Infections

Natural News advocates adding half a cup of lemon juice to your drinking water in the morning to help combat UTIs – lemon maintains the correct pH levels in the urinary tract preventing bacteria from growing.

Helps Strengthen the Immune System

Lemon is an excellent source of Vitamin C which, as we all know, helps combat colds and flu – especially important now as winter approaches. Not only that, but according to Greatist it’s also an antioxidant powerhouse and could help ‘decrease heart disease risk, reduce inflammation, and fight some cancers’.

Helps Reduce Inflammation

As cited on Live Strong, lemon juice helps to neutralize uric acid in the joints which is a major cause of inflammation – ‘although an acid itself, lemon juice, like apple cider vinegar, helps to promote the production of digestive juices including bicarbonate, helping to neutralize acidity in the body.’

And if preventing UTIs, strengthening your immune system and reducing inflammation is not enough reason to add lemon juice to your glass of water from the water cooler or instant taps in your breakout area, consider the aesthetic benefits: it helps neutralize the bacteria in your mouth which causes smelly breath and it aids collagen production which helps to keep your skin plump and youthful-looking. And if drunk in warm water, on an empty stomach as you start your day, lemon juice water is also said to aid weight loss as it promotes better digestion and increases your metabolism. So, go ahead and add a squeeze or two of lemon to your water – the benefits are far-reaching.