The Lemon itself is native to Asia, grown from a small, evergreen tree. Lemons are high in vitamin C, fibre, and various beneficial plant compounds, making them responsible for several health benefits. Let’s take a look at how lemons and lemon oil can benefit you and the health of your body.

Lemons Support Heart Health

Research has shown that eating fruits and vegetables high in vitamin C reduces your risk of heart disease and stroke. One lemon contains roughly 31mg of vitamin C, which is around 51% of the recommended daily intake. However, it is not just the vitamin C that is great for your heart, but the fibre that the lemons contain as well. Eating 24g of citrus fibre extract for just one month can reduce the total blood cholesterol levels in your body, thus significantly lowering some of the risk factors associated with heart disease.

Lemons Help Control Your Weight

Lemons are often used in weight loss recipes, and in general, as a weight-loss food, and there are a few theories why. It is said that the soluble pectin fibre in lemons expand in your stomach, making you feel fuller for longer. Although, you would need to eat a whole lemon in order to benefit from this, as lemon juice itself contains no pectin. Another theory is that drinking lemon in hot water helps you to lose weight. Drinking water alone is known to increase the calories you burn, so perhaps it is the water and not the lemon that helps you in losing weight? What has been shown in research, is that plant compounds in lemon extracts help to prevent or reduce weight gain in a number of ways.

Prevent Kidney Stones

Kidney stones are small lumps that build up in your kidneys. They are waste products that crystalise and are rather common, with many people who repeatedly experience them. Citric acid has been shown to prevent kidney stones by increasing urine volume and increasing urine pH levels, making it less favourable for kidney stones to form. The citric acid contained in about 125mls of lemon juice (per day) could actually assist the body to prevent stone formation, especially in people who already experience problems with kidney stones.

Protects Against Anaemia

Amenia is a condition whereby the body doesn’t get enough iron from the food you eat. It’s quite common but can easily be prevented. Lemons contain a small amount of iron, but they are primarily good for improving your absorption of iron from plant foods. Your stomach absorbs iron from meat, chicken and fish rather easily, while iron from plant sources are not as easily absorbed. This absorption can be improved, by consuming vitamin C and citric acid. Because lemons contain both vitamin C and citric acid, they may help to protect against anaemia by making sure that you absorb as much iron from your diet as possible.

Lemon Essential Oil

The true key to lemons healing powers though are from the lemon rinds, which is where the essential oil is extracted from. Lemon rinds contain one of the richest sources of d-limonene, which has shown some promise to cancer research but is also known to help in various other ways.

Some of the richest sources of d-limonene are:

Sweet orange (83.9 – 95.9%)
Grapefruit (84.8 – 95.4%)
Clementine (94.8 – 95.0%)
Bitter orange (89.7 – 91.7%)
Tangerine (87.4 – 91.7%)
Lemon (56.6 – 76.0%)

May Reduce Anxiety And Depression

When using lemon essential oil, you may notice that you are more relaxed or uplifted and in a better mood. This could come from the natural cleansing sensation from sprucing up your environment, however, the actual scent of lemons has been shown to have a powerful calming and mood-improving agents. They are more effective at relieving stress than any other essential oils.

Can Ease Morning Sickness

Nausea and vomiting are two of the most common symptoms of early pregnancy. Lemon essential oil is believed to relieve (or at least decrease) the severity of these symptoms.

Improves The Health Of Your Skin

Lemon essential oil is helpful in killing harmful bacteria that can grow on your skin. When used on the skin, research confirmed that lemon essential oils effect against fighting infection caused bacteria to diminish and helped to prevent inflammation too. Further to this, its antioxidant properties helped to brighten and preserve the skin tone. However, like most other citrus oils, lemon oil can cause sensitivity when in the sun, so be careful when using it.

Can Act As A Pain Reliever

Lemon is often used in aromatherapy as a natural analgesic. The anti-stress and antidepressant effects of this oil may have something to do with how it helps our bodies interpret pain without panicking.

Can Ease A Sore Throat And Help You Breathe Easier

If you have a cold or are experiencing a sore throat, lemon essential oil could be great at helping to treat these symptoms. When adding lemon essential oil to a diffuser, its sweet, citrus scent can help you in getting some much-needed rest to restore the body. The calming properties will help you relax both your mind and the muscles in your throat. The antioxidant properties of lemon can further benefit when you need a little help in breathing easier as well.

Helps You Feel More Alert

Lemon essential oil will not only perk up your mood, but it could assist in boosting your concentration and brainpower. Two separate studies conducted on children in primary school and then on patients with Alzheimer’s disease showed that the brain and cognitive function was improved when lemon essential oil was diffused.

Great For The Skin

When diluted and applied topically, lemon essential oil can kill the bacteria that may get trapped in the pores of the skin and thus prevent a breakout of pimples and acne. It also clarifies the skin, gently exfoliating and removing dead skin cells that often get trapped in your hair follicles and pores.

May Promote Wound Healing

Since lemon essential oil is packed with antimicrobial properties, it may not surprise you that this oil can assist with faster healing of tissue, especially when infected. By cleansing the area of a small cut or graze, with diluted lemon oil, you will not only sanitise the area, but discourage infection, assisting the skin at healing more quickly.

Oils That Blend Well With Lemon Oil

Not only is lemon a versatile oil when it comes to uses and benefits, but it also blends well with a variety of other essential oils. If you want to bring out the bright, energising scent of lemon oil, consider blending it with other citrus oils like Grapefruit, Lime or Bergamot.

Fun Fact:
A single lemon tree has the potential to produce between 220 and 270kgs of lemons in one year. It normally takes about 75 lemons to fill one 15ml bottle of essential oil.