The Effect of Lemon Juice on Liver Function
Uses for lemon juice around the house seem unlimited. It's used for food flavoring, household cleaning, beauty and health. Making lemonade or adding lemon juice to a cocktail may be pleasant, but consuming lemon juice may be helpful to the liver.
History
The Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Romans and Greeks also prized lemons for their antiseptic properties and had various practical uses for the juice. It was also used as an antidote for poisoning.
Liver Function
Water mixed with lemon can be consumed every morning for liver health. It works as a tonic, stimulating bile production for food digestion, according to health.learninginfo.org.
Digestion
Lemon juice promotes peptic activity (stomach digestion) in people with achlorhydria, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Digestive Diseases. This suggests that lemon juice is beneficial to those with the gastric acid deficiency.
Theories/Speculation
Alternative medicine doctors claim lemon juice combined with olive oil can detoxify the liver. In theory, it should stimulate bile production which pushes out gallstones (hardened bile) from the body.
Expert Insight
The "gallbladdder flush" is simply an illusion that makes people feel as if their body has excreted toxins. In reality, chips found in the stool after the "flush" are just olive oil solidified by lemon's citric acid, according to Micheal Klaper, M.D. from the Institute of Nutrition Education and Research.
Tags: Liver Function, bile production, Effect Lemon, Effect Lemon Juice, Juice Liver, Juice Liver Function, lemon juice
