A recent trend emphasizes the possible health advantages of drinking coffee with lemon.
Proponents believe that the mixture aids in the removal of fat and improves headaches and diarrhea.
Because both coffee and lemon have several documented health advantages, you may be wondering whether drinking the two together provides any extra benefits.
This article examines the evidence on coffee with lemon to either support or refutes the claims.
A drink with two common ingredients
Coffee and lemons are two items that can be found in practically every kitchen.
Coffee, one of the world’s most popular drinks, is created by brewing roasted coffee beans. (1)
About 75% of Americans report consuming it regularly, primarily due to its caffeine concentration, which stimulates the central nervous system and improves alertness and mood. (2, 3)
On the other hand, Lemons are a fruit of the Citrus genus. After oranges and mandarins, they are the world’s third most-produced citrus fruit. (4)
They’re high in vitamin C, antioxidants, and a variety of other helpful plant chemicals, which is why they’ve been used for ages for therapeutic purposes.
The coffee with lemon trend proposes combining 1 cup (240 mL) of coffee with one lemon juice.
While some may think it’s a weird combo, others say the advantages outweigh the peculiar taste – but science may disagree.
Coffee and lemons have several health benefits
Both coffee and lemons have several documented health advantages, mainly attributed to their high antioxidant content. These chemicals safeguard your body from the negative consequences of high levels of free radicals. (5)
Here’s a rundown of the advantages that each has to offer.
Evidence-based benefits of coffee
Over 1,000 bioactive chemicals are found in roasted coffee beans, but caffeine and chlorogenic acid (CGA) stand out as critical active molecules with antioxidant ability. (6)
Coffee has been linked to a lower risk of numerous forms of cancer, including liver, prostate, endometrial, breast, gastrointestinal, and colorectal cancer, via activating pathways that protect against cancer development. (7, 8, 9)
Coffee is also linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart and liver illness, depression, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. (10)
Finally, the caffeine component is responsible for the drink’s energy-boosting effect, good impact on endurance exercise performance, and potential to enhance the number of calories burned, resulting in weight reduction. (11, 12, 13)
Evidence-based benefits of lemon juice
Lemons are high in vitamin C and flavonoids, both potent antioxidants. (14)
Vitamin C and citrus flavonoids have been related to a decreased risk of some malignancies, including esophageal, stomach, pancreatic, and breast cancer. (15, 16, 17)
Furthermore, both chemicals protect against heart disease, while vitamin C strengthens your immune system and aids in the battle against infections. (18, 19)
As you can see, coffee and lemons have several health advantages that protect your body from chronic illnesses. However, combining the two may not always produce a more potent cocktail.
Popular claims about drinking coffee with lemon
The advantages of drinking coffee with lemon are summarized in four key assertions.
Here’s what science says about them.
1. It helps melt off fat
This belief is widespread among numerous movements, including the usage of lemon, yet neither lemon nor coffee can melt off fat.
The only way to lose excess fat is to consume fewer calories or burn more. As a result, this assertion is untrue.
However, studies suggest that coffee may help you lose weight, so some individuals may see a modest weight loss after eating the beverage.
Studies show that caffeine activates brown adipose tissue (BAT), a metabolically active fatty tissue that declines with age and may digest carbohydrates and lipids.
Caffeine from a typical 8-ounce (240-mL) cup of coffee may enhance BAT activity, resulting in an increase in metabolic rate, which leads to weight reduction, according to one test tube and human research.
Similarly, research from the 1980s and 1990s shows that coffee may improve your metabolic rate for 3 hours after consuming it, increasing your burnt calories by 8–11 percent – meaning you may burn an additional 79–150 calories every day. (20, 21, 22)
However, the putative weight reduction impact may be related to the caffeine in coffee rather than the combination of coffee and lemon.
2. It eases headaches
Headaches and migraines have been identified as substantial factors of impairment in people under the age of 50 across the globe. (23)
As a result, it’s typical to locate a variety of home cures for their treatment. Still, research on the usage of coffee for this purpose is highly mixed.
According to one theory, caffeine has a vasoconstrictor effect, restricting blood vessels, reducing blood flow to your brain, and relieving pain. (24)
According to research, caffeine may also enhance the effectiveness of medications used to treat headaches and migraines. (25, 26)
Another theory holds that coffee, along with other drinks and foods such as chocolate, wine, and citrus fruits such as lemons, may function as a headache trigger for certain people.
As a result, drinking coffee with lemon may ease or aggravate a headache. If it does assist with pain relief, it will be due to the caffeine in coffee, not the coffee and lemon drink itself.
3. It relieves diarrhea
Instead of drinking coffee, one treatment suggests eating ground coffee with lemon.
However, there is no evidence to support the use of lemon to cure diarrhea, and coffee stimulates your colon, increasing your desire to defecate. (27)
Furthermore, diarrhea produces a substantial fluid loss, which may lead to dehydration, which coffee’s diuretic impact may exacerbate. (28, 29)
4. It offers skincare benefits
According to research, the antioxidant content of both coffee and lemon may give skin advantages, so this assertion seems to be some validity.
On the one hand, coffee’s CGA concentration is thought to promote blood flow and skin hydration.
According to research, consuming it may decrease skin scaliness, increase smoothness, and slow the degeneration of the skin barrier. (30, 31, 32)
Lemon’s vitamin C concentration, on the other hand, may encourage the creation of collagen — a protein that gives your skin strength and flexibility — and decreases skin damage caused by free radicals from sun exposure. (33, 34)
However, you may still get these advantages by ingesting coffee and lemons individually since there is no proof that the impact is exclusively felt when the two are combined.
Coffee with lemon downsides
The disadvantages of drinking coffee with lemon are attributable to the drawbacks of each component, as is the case with their benefits.
For example, data shows that excessive coffee users may develop caffeine addiction, which the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes as a psychiatric illness. (35)
Further research indicates that frequent caffeine use is connected with sleep disruptions and accompanying daytime tiredness, as well as an increased risk of miscarriage. (36)
While lemon allergies are rare, some individuals may be sensitive to the juice, seeds, or peels of citrus fruits. (37)
Let’s look at coffee for weight loss
Black coffee is almost calorie-free and has long been a diet mainstay. That’s because caffeine is a stimulant that may rev up your body’s engine for the day. Dr. Sowa explains this: “Caffeine works by inhibiting a neurotransmitter called adenosine, which may increase by stimulating neurotransmitters like dopamine, which makes you feel more alert and energized—why that’s what we all seek for our morning coffee,” she explains. While there is some evidence that this process may increase your basal metabolic rate (the amount of energy your cells burn simply by keeping your essential body functions running), Dr. Sowa points out that to get this benefit, you would need to consume a large amount of caffeine—one study estimated the amount at four cups per day—which would affect your health in other ways, such as decreased sleep, increased anxiety, and dehydration. Furthermore, according to Dr. Sowa, any increase would be fleeting as your body adapted to the caffeine. “No doctor I know would ever endorse this as a weight-loss method,” she says.
What about the benefits of lemon for weight loss?
The second component in this excellent beverage is the sunshiny citrus fruit, lemon. You’ve probably heard that drinking lemon water may help you lose weight, but the emphasis should be on the second word, not the first. “There’s nothing magical about lemon; it’s about being hydrated by drinking water, and the lemon simply adds taste,” Dr. Sowa explains. “While there are some intricate biochemical mechanisms at work, the most fundamental factor is that drinking water keeps you full.” We receive these hunger signals to our brain that are frequently really thirst signals, but your body understands that if it tells you to eat anything, you’ll typically swallow water while eating. You can generally suppress some of those signals by just remaining hydrated.”
And, of course, there’s this: “You may hear about lemon water being healthy for folks attempting to lose weight, but frequently this is just because the person is substituting lemon water for sugar-sweetened drinks,” Walsh says.
Result in Bottom Line
Coffee and lemon have several health advantages, mainly owing to their antioxidant content.
There is no proof, however, to support the idea that drinking coffee with lemon helps diarrhea or encourages fat to melt away.
The remainder of the alleged advantages of the combo may be attained by ingesting coffee or lemon juice individually. As a result, there’s no need to combine the two if you don’t want to.
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