"Health from Food" Series | 10 reminders for making lemon water, please check!

Summer is here, and lemonade has become a favorite fruit drink for many people to cool off. Some people choose to order a cold lemonade takeout, while others choose to make a lemonade that suits their taste. So many questions arise, such as does lemonade need to be brewed with cold water? How strong should it be? Can people with stomach problems drink lemonade? Here are 10 questions and answers about lemonade, please check them out!

1. How strong does lemonade have to be?

Lemonade is not a lemon juice drink, and the water used to make it must be light. Generally speaking, one lemon with skin needs to be soaked in one bottle of water, which can be poured into 3-4 small cups.

2. How to make lemon water?

When making lemonade, cut the lemon peel together and make sure the slices are thin so that the aroma components in the lemon peel can be soaked out. It is best to remove the seeds when making lemonade to reduce the bitterness. Soak the lemonade in hot water first, then cool it down and refrigerate it to achieve the best aroma and taste.

3. Will hot water destroy the vitamin C in lemons?

Since citric acid is highly acidic and vitamin C is more heat-resistant under acidic conditions, it is not as easily lost as people imagine. There is no problem even if the water temperature for soaking lemon slices is higher than 60°C.

4. How to preserve lemons that cannot be used up in one go?

The main problem with long-term storage of lemons is that the surface becomes dry, but the inside is still juicy. Lemons that are not used after slicing can be wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator's crisper for two or three days.

5. Can patients with stomach problems drink lemon water?

People with excessive stomach acid can just dilute the lemon water as much as possible, as a small amount of citric acid is beneficial to the repair of gastric mucosa. For those with indigestion, adding a thin slice of ginger to the light lemon water and drinking it with meals is also good for promoting the secretion of digestive juice.

6. Is lemon water suitable for people who are losing weight?

For those who want to lose weight, light lemon water is a good drink, which contains very little sugar. However, if sugar or honey is added to lemon water, it will bring calories, so it is necessary to limit the consumption of honey lemon water.

7. Is lemon water suitable for gout patients?

Gout patients need to drink a lot of water to dilute urine and eliminate uric acid. Light lemon water is a good choice for hydration. Light lemon water without sugar is very suitable for patients with gout and hyperuricemia.

8. Is light lemon water suitable for patients with kidney stones?

Studies have shown that citric acid intake is beneficial for the prevention of kidney stones, and potassium citrate has been used in the treatment of kidney stones. At the same time, in order to prevent urine concentration and recurrence of stones, kidney stone patients need to drink more water. Therefore, stone patients are suitable for drinking light lemon water.

9. Is lemon water suitable for patients with hypertension and diabetes?

Unsweetened light lemon water has no sodium, almost no energy, and negligible calories, making it a very good choice to replace sweet drinks. It also contains potassium, a small amount of vitamin C and a small amount of flavonoids, making it suitable for daily drinking by chronic patients such as those with hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes, but lemon water cannot be considered to have a therapeutic effect.

10. Can I drink water soaked with other fruits?

In fact, all kinds of fruits can be added to fruit tea, but they all contain a lot of sugar. However, you can also use sour oranges and tangerines produced in South China and Southeast Asia to replace lemons. Cut a small sour orange in half or cut it into 4 slices and soak it in water.

(The author is Professor Fan Zhihong, a registered nutritionist in China and the School of Food Science and Engineering at China Agricultural University)