Drinking coffee with lemon is one of the latest weight loss trends to conquer TikTok. Videos of people drinking the concoction in hopes of losing weight have gone viral.
Some show them adding the juice of half a lemon to a mug of instant coffee and others show them adding just a slice of lemon to a cup of black coffee. I saw one video creator claim that she lost 6k in 5 weeks by drinking coffee with lemon.
However, health experts claim that this trend is simply not true, since adding lemon juice to your coffee won’t make you lose weight at all.
Still, if the before and after photos that some are posting online are to be believed, then the coffee and lemon juice combination appears to have helped them lose weight somehow.
Somehow may be due to the fact that many of the video creators claim that they only eat once a day to “optimise” the results. This is in effect intermittent fasting so the weight loss is likely to be due to that alone.
But Dr Béatrice Dubern, assistant professor in the department of pediatric nutrition at the Armand-Trousseau hospital in Paris has warned that this could
“possibly be a rapid loss of lean mass, which is dangerous and leads to a risk of malnutrition”.
To find out more about whether drinking coffee with lemon is effective for weight loss or not, let’s find out what this trend is all about and what more health experts say about it.
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The Lemon and Coffee Drink
Lemons and coffee are two ingredients you will commonly find in your kitchen. Both are nutritious, and each has distinct health benefits. When it comes to weight loss, both ingredients are believed to be effective to a degree. Let’s find out how each ingredient can help with losing weight.
Coffee For Weight Loss
Coffee can be a healthy drink since it contains important nutrients like potassium, niacin, magnesium, and antioxidants. It can support muscle function, improve digestive health, and promote better heart health.
Related reading: Is Mold in Coffee Bad for You?
But, the main ingredient in coffee that can help with weight loss is caffeine. Caffeine helps to improve energy, boost metabolism, and promote weight loss.
Related reading: 5 Simple Ways To Boost Your Metabolism To Lose Weight
Lemon for Weight Loss
Lemons are low in calories and contain a good amount of vitamin C and antioxidants but only very low levels of other nutrients.
Some say that pectin in lemons expands in your stomach to create a feeling of fullness resulting in a reduction of the amount of calories you will eat which may contribute to weight loss.
However, the pectin in lemons is in the pulp and rind so simply adding lemon juice to your coffee is not really going to supply much pectin.
Lemons also contain d-limonene which is known to boost liver detox. This can aid in the elimination of toxins in the body which contribute to weight gain. So, lemon juice can help in that way although I don’t think a small amount daily will do much. There is more d-limonene in the rind so drinks which include some are better.
By combining lemon and coffee, some people believe that the weight loss benefits that both ingredients can give you will be maximized.
How to Prepare the Lemon and Coffee Drink
One of the reasons why the combination of coffee and lemon has become popular is because this concoction is so easy to prepare. Plus, these two ingredients are usually readily available in your kitchen.
To prepare this drink, you only need to add a spoonful of lemon juice to your favorite coffee. Stir well, and drink. I don’t know about you but can’t image that it tastes particularly nice and I don’t think I want to find out!
While you can use any coffee to prepare this concoction, you will have better effects if you opt for pure black coffee. Avoid adding milk or sweetener to it. And, for those who find the lemon very acidic, some people suggested adding a bit of sea salt to the concoction.
If you are working out, it is best to drink the concoction half an hour before you start exercising.
Is Drinking Coffee with Lemon Beneficial in Shedding Weight?
While both lemons and coffee are healthy, combining them will not make you lose weight. As reported in Fox News Michelle Rauch, a registered dietician at The Actors Fund Home, stated:
“The idea that combining coffee and lemon juice creates a ‘fat burning’ elixir is false. While each component may have some of their own health benefits, there is no scientific evidence to prove that the pairing of the two would promote weight loss.”
Rauch further stated that drinking the lemon and coffee combination may have some bad effects on the body. For instance, the citric acid that the lemon juice produces could potentially harm your esophageal lining and damage your tooth enamel, especially if you consume lemon frequently and in high quantity.
And, although it’s generally uncommon, some people might be allergic to the juice, seeds, and peels of lemon.
Meanwhile, too much caffeine can trigger harsh side effects like irritability, increased heart rate, nervousness, headaches, and insomnia. Some evidence also suggests that heavy coffee drinkers are most likely to get addicted to caffeine.
Further studies also show that regular intake of caffeine can lead to sleep disturbances and daytime sleepiness.
What’s the Proper Way to Drink Coffee and Lemon for Weight Loss?
While it’s true that both lemon and coffee are healthy, drinking them on their own cannot help you shed pounds. Weight loss cannot be achieved by simply drinking any concoction. The only surefire way to lose weight is to exercise and follow a healthy diet like keto.
Of course, you can still include coffee and lemon into your diet. In fact, if you follow a low-carb diet like keto, coffee is a good addition to your diet.
Related reading: Can Keto Coffee Help You Lose Weight?
There are many ways to drink coffee while on the keto diet. You can drink it on its own, but make sure you choose the unsweetened version. If you want, you can also add butter to your coffee. There are many butter coffee recipes out there, but the best one is one that’s made with grass-fed butter.
Related reading: What Is Keto Coffee and Should You Drink It?
Lemons, on the other hand, are among those fruits that are considered keto-friendly. The juice from one lemon contains only 3 grams of carbohydrates and only around 11 calories.
Adding lemon to your keto diet can aid in weight reduction while also giving you a dose of immune-boosting vitamin C, which fights off free radicals. The best way to add lemon to your keto diet is to prepare lemon water. Simply squeeze the lemon into a glass of warm filtered water and drink it every day.
Related reading: Low Carb Infused Water Ideas
Final thoughts
Drinking coffee with lemon will not guarantee weight loss. In fact, if you consume too much of this concoction, you could suffer from harmful side effects. The only way to lose weight is to exercise regularly and follow a healthy diet, such as the keto diet.
Remember, losing weight does not come easy. It requires lots of effort, and you cannot achieve it by merely drinking any sort of beverage.
So, do not be easily persuaded by fad diets. Just because they are popular does not mean that they are effective. More importantly, it’s always a good idea to consult with a nutritionist or health expert before you start following any type of weight loss diet.
