A magical potion that melts a pound? Everyone wants it, right? Now, thanks to TikTok’s armchair wellness experts, there is a miracle formula that has been advertised as doing a round at the moment.
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Adding lemon juice to a cup of coffee is a pervasive treatment for weight loss. All you need to do is drink the mixture and see those unwanted pounds disappear!
The concept has created a lot of buzz on social media platforms … and not just from a cup of Joe’s caffeine. Diet therapy videos have been viewed (and counted) tens of millions of times.
So is adding lemon to coffee the secret to slimming? Find out from registered nutritionist Beth Zellwony, RD.
What is lemon coffee?
A brief description of this drink — coffee with lemon — also serves as an ingredient list. The most common mixture seems to be a juice made by squeezing half a lemon into standard black coffee.
The taste is not so good, so it may be that the steamed cup of “lemon coffee” is not on the menu board of the local cafe.
Do not try to add lemon juice to the latte unless you are interested in the hardened milk. (Bleach!)
However, sweetened iced coffee has a culinary relationship with lemon in some cultures. For example, a drink called Mezghrane was born in Algeria almost two centuries ago and is also popular in Portugal.
Is the weight loss claim true?
The answer to this is simple. no. Lemons have no special fat-burning properties, explains Czerwony. Squeezing juice that induces fruit packers does not help squeezing into small jeans.
“The mechanism of action is just not there,” says Czerwony. “Lemon juice has nothing to burn fat or the chemicals to make it happen. Sorry, it’s not that easy.”
So how did this lemon-in-coffee weight loss hack come about? This is most likely due to a similar underwater lemon claim.
Drinking a glass of H2O with a lemon slice is often cited as a way to help drop a pound. But it’s not because of the mysterious nature of lemons. It is a product of water that fills your stomach without calories.
“Water keeps you more full, which helps to reduce hunger clues that make you want to eat,” explains Czerwony.
Coffee has a similar appetite-suppressing effect, but a caffeine kick boosts metabolism. But a healthy diet plan, with or without lemons, isn’t built around appetizing coffee, says Czerwony.
Is there any benefit to adding lemon to coffee?
Lemon has some great nutritional value. Like many citrus fruits, lemons serve as a solid source of vitamin C. Citric acid in lemons can also help digestion and reduce the chance of kidney stones. In addition, lemons provide a certain enthusiasm in terms of taste.
“Lemon is a perfectly wonderful fruit,” says Czerwony. “When it comes to weight loss, it’s not magic.”
Risk of adding lemon to coffee
Lemon juice can cause heartburn due to its high levels of citric acid, especially if you have a history of acid reflux disease. The acid can also coarsen the tooth enamel in sufficient quantities over time.
But what is the biggest risk of adding lemon to Java? “You will probably ruin good coffee,” says Czerwony.
So is lemon coffee worth a try?
People are always looking for that “one thing” that makes a difference when it comes to the number of scales, says Czerwony. Chai seed got a little attention. The same is true for apple cider vinegar and grapefruit.
“I understand why these weight loss epidemics are so popular,” says Czerwony. “They are natural and based on the products in our kitchen and have some health benefits. They seem to have been able to work.
“But if these things were tried and true, everyone would have been doing them for a long time and succeeded. The truth is, there is no quick solution when it comes to weight loss.”
What about adding lemon to coffee to get better numbers? “That’s not what I recommend,” says Czerwony. “So unless you like the taste for some reason, I’ll move away from this TikTok trend.”
