The Lemon: Some Sweet and Sour Facts

| published July 16, 2025 |

By Thursday Review staff writers

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably been told by a doctor, a nurse or a diet specialist that you need to drink more water—far more than what may seem reasonable or tolerable in any given day, especially in an age in which coffee, soft drinks and energy drinks crowd so easily into our habits.

One age-old and trusted remedy for water overload: add some lemon; sliced, squeezed, or crushed into pulp, that single lemon will enhance the taste of plain water while instantly providing you with nearly half the Vitamin C needed in your daily diet.

The modest lemon—with its distinctive sour kick and (paradoxically) its ability to enhance with a sweet boost—is packed with between 30 and 40 milligrams of Vitamin C apiece, more than making up for its modest size when it comes to health benefits. As an antioxidant, Vitamin C is considered by most health professionals to be essential protecting your skin, bolstering your immune system, and even helping your body better absorb iron. Vitamin C has also gained a reputation in more recent years after some studies have shown that it may even play a role in reducing risk of cancer.

All-in-all, this elevates the reputation of the little lemon (limes share a similar resume when it comes to Vitamin C) and pushing it alongside its other more glamorous citrus kin: oranges and tangerines, to name two examples. Recall from some of our previous articles about anti-oxidants that Vitamin C is a no-risk supplement: you can hardly ever get too much of it, and over-consumption is virtually impossible since your body ejects what it does not need in your urine (another advantage of adding it to your daily regimen of water intake!)

Lemons also have other distinct health advantages. For the same reason that lemons can be useful as a natural cleaning product in the home and kitchen, studies have shown that lemon juice can inhibit the growth of bacteria in the body, even aggressive things like salmonella and staph infection, and, according to some studies, even pneumonia. Lemons, like other items with lots of citric acid, are also known to help reduce the risk of the development of kidney stones. Lemons also contain a type of anti-oxidant known as flavonoids, which are known to have anti-inflammatory characteristics.

And like some other citrus fruits, lemons may play a small part in reducing the risk of diabetes by lowering blood sugar naturally and inhibiting the way some starches convert easily into sugar.

Obviously, lemons are not for everyone. Like grapefruit and oranges, lemons can, in some people—those with food triggers—launch a migraine headache. For that reason, lemons sometimes reside on the danger list for migraine sufferers everywhere. Also just as obviously, those persons with allergies to citrus should avoid lemons, as well as those with a tendency to canker sores triggered by high citric acidic items, such as oranges or grapefruit. But just as important is that lemons are small—very small in comparison with the most citrus—and can be used sparingly for any of the above advantages, especially as a flavor enhancer (for the aforementioned water, for example).

Remember too that lemons are a great item to have around when you are cooking…well…nearly anything—from a whole chicken or Thanksgiving turkey, to fresh vegetables, to casseroles, to baking and dessert items, to seafood steamed, grilled or baked.

Related Thursday Review articles:

The Health Magic of Berries; Maggie Nichols; Thursday Review; November 1, 2014.

The Health Benefits of Beans; Maggie Nichols; Thursday Review; July 6, 2025.