Does Drinking Lemon Juice Help Reduce Belly Fat?

Lemon Water MAY help With Insulin Sensitivity.

Put simply, insulin sensitivity is how much insulin gets released when your blood sugar is high (blood sugar spikes EVERY time you eat). The insulin then acts kind of like a traffic cop, and signals cells to absorb blood sugar, which brings your glucose levels back to normal.

Learn More: Insulin, An Undeserved Bad Reputation.

If your body only needs to secrete a relatively small amount of insulin in order to deposit that sugar into your cells, then you’re considered insulin sensitive.

If your body has to release a large amount of insulin to deposit that sugar into your cells, you’re considered insulin resistant.

Learn More: All About Insulin Sensitivity

Insulin resistance is tied to diabetes. Insulin resistance has also been STRONGLY linked to obesity (study 1, study 2).

So, being more insulin sensitive will help prevent excessive weight gain, and lemons can help with insulin sensitivity.

Two studies have found that lemon flavonoids help increase insulin sensitivity (study 1, study 2).

These studies were done on rats, which is why I say “MAYBE.”

Drinking more water can help you lose weight.

We all know that we should drink more water. But, no one really knows exactly why. “Drink more water,” gets said so much that people just believe it at this point.

And they should believe it. One of the reasons you SHOULD be drinking more water, is that it increases resting energy expenditure (REE).

REE is the amount of calories that your body is burning when you’re doing nothing. You know, just watching Netflix n shit.

One group of researchers put two groups who were both eating fewer calories than they needed (to cause weight loss), and found that the group who drank more water lost an extra 5 pounds over the course of the study.

Drinking more water was found by researchers to increase REE by 24–30% for at least an hour, which is huge (study 1, study 2).

…I know what some of y’all are thinking.

“Yeah, but, you can just drink water. You don’t need to put lemon in it to get those benefits.”

You’re correct!

However, there are some folks out there who don’t like drinking water. It may be because they’re hooked on soda. Or maybe because water tastes too bland.

If adding some lemon for taste helps you drink more water, just do it.

 

Tyler Thomas – GoTRIBE Trainer and 90Fit Health Coach

Masters in Kinesiology