The common thinking and the belief about lemons is big myth.
I am going to share some available facts along with my personal findings about lemons, and why you should be careful with this fruit.
There is a strong belief that lemons are very beneficial for our health. But when I ask people why they are beneficial, I only hear that lemons have Vitamin C, and they boost our immune system.
Guess what, there are negatives to your health when eating lemons, so a couple of benefits lemons offer are not enough to outweigh their dangers. Especially, when there are a lot of other fruits and vegetables that have much more Vitamin C than lemons.
Vitamins from group B, A and E contained in lemons are in such small amounts that you would have to eat 20-to-30 lemons each day in order to cover the need. So, clearly the biggest advantage from lemons is Vitamin C. Let me give you a little comparison of lemons with other fruits and vegetables to show you how big the myth about lemons truly is. Keep in mind that the daily need for Vitamin C for a healthy person is 90 mg. You can never overdose on Vitamin C. The body doesn't collect and doesn't reserve it. It stays in our body for only 12 hours and whatever the body didn't use will be removed by the kidneys without causing any harm.
Vitamin C in Daily Value (DV)
Lemon (1 fruit) - 88% of DV
Guava (1 large fruit) - 628% of DV
Red bell pepper (1 cup raw) - 317% of DV
Kiwi (1 fruit) - 273% of DV
Green bell peppers (1 cup raw) -200% of DV
Orange (1 fruit) - 163% of DV
Strawberries (1 cup) - 149% of DV
Broccoli (1 cup) - 135% of DV
Pineapple (1 cup) - 131% of DV
Grapefruit (1 cup) - 120% of DV
Green peas (1 cup) - 97% of DV
and more....
Now as you see by the numbers, lemons are not the only option that can provide you with Vitamin C. But there is also another dark side of this fruit, which is a myth I want to destroy today. Lemons DO NOT alkaline our body! Quite opposite, they make the body very acidic. Consuming them each day can make us seriously ill. The myth that lemons CAN prevent cancer of lungs and mouth is based on the fact that lemons have flavonoids, oxidants, and fiber. The combination of these three is believed to prevent these two types of cancers. But look at it from another side. To date, no one ever proved lemons prevent cancer, but there is a risk you CAN develop cancer if you consume a lot of lemons.
I test my PH balance every morning and each time I have lemon my PH balance falls to dangerous numbers. I made extensive research with writing down every day exactly what I was eating, and what was affecting my PH. When I found the perfect balance, I ate that exact food for 3 days in the row, and my PH was stable on 7.2-to-7.5. The days I have lemon water or lemon in my tea or in my salad, my PH would drop to 5.2-to-5.5 and stay on that level for the whole day. The problem is that PH below 7.0 creates risk of becoming sick. And of course, we know that in an acidic environment cancer is born. So, yes, lemons alkalizing our body is a big myth, and can be dangerously used.
There is another bad side effect of lemon's acid. It destroys teeth enamel. So, if you decide to have lemon water or lemon tea, you better use a straw and don't allow it to touch your teeth.
After this discovery I cut down on lemons significantly. Now my Vitamin C comes from kiwis, bell peppers, oranges, and many other sources.
There are better and safer options than lemons and they don't have side effects.