Does Lemon Water Detox Your Liver?

Some detoxes appear to be more legitimate than others, such as simple lemon water, but how effective is it actually? In this article, we take a look into lemon water detoxes and explore how consuming lemon water may benefit the rest of the body.

So, does lemon water detox your liver? Experts disagree on whether lemon does indeed detox the liver, however studies suggest that lemon water may improve liver function. Lemon water also holds a number of other benefits such as boosting the immune system, aiding digestion and helping with weight loss.

Read on to learn more about lemon water detox and how consuming lemon water benefits the body as a whole.

Does Water With Lemon Detox Your Body?

A number of citrus fruits, including lemon, can be added to water to help detox the liver and improve liver function. Studies show that the antioxidants in lemon reduce inflammation, remove free radicals and improve the body’s ability to process glucose. It is also thought that these antioxidants may lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Further to this, research claims that the nutrients from lemons may decrease fat storage in the liver and may reduce chronic alcohol-induced liver damage. Scientists explain that lemons contain vitamin C, flavonoids, carotenoids and other bioactive compounds that fight oxidative damage and protect the liver.

Additionally, studies have found that the liver produces more enzymes in the presence of lemon when compared to other food and drink. These enzymes are essential to simulate accelerate and catalyse various chemical reactions throughout the body,

That being said, most research into the effects of lemon on the liver has been carried out on animals, therefore more research is needed to fully understand their relationship in humans.

How Much Do You Need to Drink?

When detoxing with lemon water, it is advised to drink ½ to 1 whole lemon juice mixed with water every day. But, if you’re not such a fan of lemon, other options are available to similar effect.

Other Options

Plain water – water is the best way to recharge and maintain good liver health
Other citrus fruits – e.g. grapefruit juice
Teas – e.g. lemon and ginger, peppermint or green tea
Turmeric spice – may decrease inflammation and assist with liver repair
Ginger juice water – thought to protect the liver from toxins and reduce inflammation

Other Health Benefits of Drinking Lemon Water

Research suggests that detoxing with lemon may have a positive impact on overall health and wellbeing, not just on the liver. These benefits include:

Boosts the Immune System

The consumption of highly acidic foods, such as lemon juice, contributes to an acidic stomach environment that may deter pathogens from gaining a foothold and causing illness. Further to this, lemons have antioxidant properties which help to protect the body from disease.

Aids Digestion

Lemon water helps the body to digest food. The citrus flavonoids aid the stomach in breaking down food, thus helping overall digestion. This appears to be particularly beneficial when the lemon water is warmed.

Improved Hydration

Lemon is not in itself associated with hydration, however many people struggle to consume enough water each day to stay properly hydrated. Consuming water with a flavour such as lemon may make drinking water more appealing, thus improving hydration.

Promotes Regular Bowel Movements

Along with helping the liver and the gut, lemon water may also encourage more regular bowel movements. Like with improved hydration, lemon isn’t inherently good for bowel regularity, drinking more water is.

Prevents Kidney Stones

Similarly, the boosted hydration as a result of drinking more water, as well as the acid from the lemons can help to prevent kidney stones. The water flushes out the kidneys and the lemon acid reacts with the chemicals in the kidneys to help keep stones from forming.

Boosts Metabolism

A lemon water detox has a number of benefits but it is particularly useful when consumed first thing in the morning as it can jump start your metabolism. This helps to maintain a healthy weight and be active. This is most effective when consumed cold. The body needs to warm the water to temperature during digestion.

Reduces Appetite

For those looking to lose weight, lemon water may help to reduce appetite. Studies suggest that the polyphenols in lemon may help to prevent weight gain, whilst the consumption of water helps you to feel more full. This reduces the amount of food needed to feel satisfied.

Like lemons, limes also have great health benefits. Check out our recent blog for more information about how limes can boost your energy, immunity, gut health, and decrease belly fat.

Takeaway

We hope that we’ve sold you on the huge health benefits to both the liver and the body as a whole that lemon water provides. Simply mix lemon juice (from a real lemon, not from a bottle!) with at least 200 ml of water. It’s your choice whether or not to warm the water through, but a number of experts recommend heating the water to maximise the results.

Why not try these supplements for an additional digestive boost with complementary benefits?

1 HPH Fibre +

Fiber + would be ideal for anyone who doesn’t get adequate fibre from their diet or has stomach issues (bloating, gas, constipation). This is particularly suitable for people looking to avoid grains whilst getting fibre.

2 ATP Lab Glutamed

Glutamed can benefit you if you are looking to support your gut health and immune support. Glutamine could also be used to down-regulate your nervous system after being ramped up for intense training and/or before sleep, which will aid your body in recovery.

3 GI Regenerate

GI Regenerate is an all-around sufficient supplement to support and improve your gut health. Fulled by Designs for Health G.I Revive powder.

Alternatively, you can get in touch with us to arrange a consultation.

May 19, 2023/by hphstore

Fat Loss & Nutrition, Resources, Training & Performance

5 L-Glutamine Benefits for Your Gut, Brain, Muscles and More

If you think L-glutamine is only for athletes, think again. Indeed, L-glutamine powder and supplements have long been promoted in the fitness industry because they help to build healthy and lean bodies. Yet, L-glutamine is possibly one of the most vital but underrated supplements for everyone. This powerful amino acid provides many essential health benefits for gut and brain health, immune function, and more.
So, what are the benefits of L-glutamine? L-glutamine powders and supplements offer a number of health benefits for everyone, not just athletes. These include, but are not limited to:
- Promotes a healthy gut
- Boosts the immune system
- Stabilises blood sugar
- Reduces the symptoms of stress
- Boosts muscle recovery
Top 5 Benefits of L-Glutamine

L-glutamine is the most abundant amino acid found in muscle tissue and a significant building block of protein. Your body requires a lot of L-glutamine, therefore, supplementing with L-glutamine powder is an excellent way to ensure that your body gets enough to provide the following benefits.

1. L-glutamine Promotes a Healthy Gut

Hippocrates declared over 2000 years ago that “all disease begins in the gut”. Today we know even more about the gut-health connection and how your gut impacts your health in many ways.

L-glutamine is the primary fuel source for the intestinal mucosa, making it a fantastic supplement to support the intestinal lining’s health and integrity. It also helps to seal and maintain the gut lining. Decreasing intestinal permeability helps heal leaky gut, a condition that can cause autoimmune diseases and other serious health issues.

Because L-glutamine supports gastrointestinal health, it’s also known to relieve excess bloating and could help you banish that post-cheat day bloat!

L-glutamine is crucial for a healthy gut; it’s my top go-to supplement for any gut repair protocol. I recommend the HPH GI Regenerate Powder as an all-around supplement to support and improve your gut health.

2. L-glutamine Boosts the Immune System

L-glutamine plays a vital role in gut health. It also directly benefits the immune system since about 60 to 80% of the immune system lives in the gut.

Intense training sessions, illness and general lack of wellbeing places the body under a great deal of stress that naturally suppresses the immune system. However, supplementing with L-glutamine powder provides the body’s immune system with an immediate fuel source to keep functioning optimally.

3. L-glutamine Helps to Stabilise Blood Sugar

When you experience a craving for carbohydrates, your brain usually wants sugar or glucose. L-glutamine works as a healthy alternative to sugar as it fuels similar brain receptors.

L-glutamine helps suppress insulin levels and stabilise blood glucose benefits, which benefits people with diabetes and those with sugar and carb cravings. Lowering cravings for sugar and processed carbs, and by extension, eating less of them helps control blood sugars and inflammation that would slow down your recovery.

So if you find yourself reaching for a late-night cookie when you know you shouldn’t, consider taking L-glutamine instead, and the sugar craving will soon pass.

Tip:

Here’s my favourite for sugar cravings: Mix 1 heaped tablespoon of L-glutamine powder with 50 ml of heavy organic cream or coconut cream. Drink or spoon it as a dessert, mixing in a handful of fresh raspberries or blueberries – delicious!

4. L-glutamine Helps Reduce Symptoms of Stress

In part, L-glutamine is used by the brain to build and balance the neurotransmitter GABA. There is growing evidence that L-glutamine and GABA play a significant role in mood and anxiety disorders.

Over time, chronic stress can cause serious health problems. For example, chronic stress can suppress your immune system leaving you vulnerable to infections and other illnesses and inhibiting your body’s ability to repair itself and absorb vital nutrients. However, L-glutamine is known as the “calming amino acid” for its effectiveness in reducing stress-related anxiety symptoms.

Increasing L-glutamine levels may also reduce symptoms of stress-related IBS. When the body is stressed, it releases the hormone cortisol, which can lower L-glutamine levels stored in the muscle tissue.

5. L-glutamine Boosts Muscle Recovery

Your body needs lots of protein and amino acids to help your muscles recover after a workout. L-glutamine is the perfect post-workout supplement as it boosts muscle recovery by increasing protein intake to build muscle, up-regulate the immune system, and improve the gut to help lean out and build muscle.

Heavy workout sessions can deplete your glutamine levels and, due to the stress placed on your body after working out, your muscles and tendons need significant amounts of glutamine. Supplementing with L-glutamine post-workout hydrates your muscles and triggers a boost in growth hormone. More growth hormone helps your body synthesise protein to build muscle, reduce recovery time, and mobilise fat from storage to make it available for energy.

Supplementing with just 80g of L-glutamine throughout the day provides a protein intake equivalent to 400g of meat!

How Much L-Glutamine to Take Per Day

If you’re new to L-glutamine, I recommend starting with a 10g serving in the evening between your evening meal and going to bed. This should be taken with Magnesium Bisglycinate. After a while, you can then increase your intake with another 10g in the morning, mixed with lime, salt and water. Eventually, you should be able to increase your intake to 8 X 10g servings of L-glutamine per day.

Takeaway

L-glutamine powder may traditionally be used to burn fat and build muscle, but evidence shows that there are far wider benefits. This amino acid promotes gut and brain health, boosts immunity and athletic performance, and improves your overall health.

You may also want to consider L-glutamine powder if you have symptoms like anxiety, sugar or alcohol cravings, a poor immune system, low muscle mass, poor wound healing, or slow recovery after workouts.

Human Performance Hub recommends these pharmaceutical-grade L-glutamine powders:

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FAQs

What is L-Glutamine?

L-glutamine is the most abundant amino acid found in muscle tissue and a significant building block of protein. The musculoskeletal system is made up of around 60% glutamine, therefore, it won’t surprise you to learn that your body needs a lot of it.

Your body naturally produces L-glutamine. You can also get L-glutamine from your diet in animal and plant protein foods like beef, chicken, fish, eggs, and beans.

However, many people don’t consume enough in their diet to reap the benefits. In fact, inadequate L-glutamine levels in your body can have harmful effects on your health. Some recent studies have associated glutamine depletion with increased mortality on the extreme side. For this reason, critically ill patients are often given a glutamine supplement.

January 8, 2021/by hphstore

Fat Loss & Nutrition, Mindset, Resources, Sleep & Recovery, Supplementation

Inositol Benefits for Brain and Body – 5 Science-Backed Health Benefits

Inositol is one of the most important vitamins you may never have heard of! It is often promoted as a general health supplement for women due to its benefits for fertility and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), as well as for relieving symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and anxiety. However, inositol benefits a wide array of conditions in both women and men, and has many other health-promoting effects.

In this article, I’ll talk about why inositol is so essential and how you can boost it in your body.

So, what are inositol benefits? Inositol is beneficial in balancing neurotransmitters, but has a wide range of other health benefits including:

Promotes quality sleep

Improves PMS and PCOS symptoms

Reduces anxiety

Reduces depression

Aids weight loss

Read on to learn more about the health benefits of supplementing with inositol, as well as when and how to take it.

What is Inositol?

Inositol is a vital nutrient produced naturally in the body and found in plants and animals. Inositol plays a part in many bodily processes. However, one of the primary reasons we use inositol here at Human Performance Hub is its vital role in balancing neurotransmitters.

Inositol and Neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitters relay messages between the billions of neurons or nerve cells in your brain and affect many aspects of your life, ranging from moods, productivity, stress management, memory and learning ability, sleep, food cravings, addictions, etc.

While all neurotransmitters are essential, the “big four” are:

Dopamine – impacts energy, drive, focus and motivation
Serotonin – affects mood, sleep, and immune function.
Acetylcholine – influences memory and attention span.
Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA)– promotes calmness and contentment, optimal sleep and digestion

All major neurotransmitters rely on inositol to relay the messages between your brain cells. Like your phone needs a signal to work, neurotransmitters can’t do their thing without inositol.

Unfortunately, modern living, with high-stress levels, inadequate sleep, and poor nutrition, can rapidly imbalance your neurotransmitters; to be physically and mentally healthy, you need a good balance of neurotransmitters.

Inositol is an excellent balancer because it’s naturally a part of many brain chemical systems. As such, inositol can help a wide array of health conditions as well as boost good health. It is one of the first supplements I recommend to new clients.

5 Inositol Benefits Backed by Science

Here are five ways that inositol can improve your health and wellbeing.

1. Inositol Helps to Promote Quality Sleep

The great thing about inositol is that it works as an adaptogen – this means it promotes only what your body needs on an individual basis. For example, GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter, slows down brain activity and puts your body in a calmer and more relaxed state. Low GABA activity in your body is linked to insomnia and disrupted sleep. Meanwhile, serotonin is another brain chemical that affects how you sleep. If serotonin is low, it can disrupt sleep.

So if you’re low in GABA and serotonin and struggle with sleep, inositol can help bring your levels back up. Alternatively, if you struggle to get out of bed in the morning due to low dopamine levels, inositol can help bring this up instead.

Learn more about how neurotransmitters and brain chemicals affect how we sleep in our blogs, The Brain Chemicals that Boost Sleep and Recovery and The Science and Sensibilities of Sleep.

2. Inositol Helps to Improve PMS and PCOS Symptoms

Inositol helps diminish the mood swings, depression, and anxiety of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and the more severe premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Taking inositol supplements can also positively improve polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) symptoms like menstrual irregularities, infertility, weight gain, high blood sugar, and unhealthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Furthermore, several studies found that daily doses of inositol reduced blood triglyceride levels, improved insulin function, lowered blood pressure, and promoted ovulation in women with polycystic PCOS(3, 4, 5, 6). It supports ovarian function so well that some nutritional supplements specifically designed to encourage fertility contain inositol.

Inositol also shows potential in boosting fertility for men. One study of 194 men showed that inositol supplementation improved sperm quality, sperm count, and fertility after three months.

3. Inositol Helps Lessen Anxiety

Several mental health disorders such as anxiety, panic attacks, OCD, and depression are linked to lower levels of inositol in the brain (8, 9). Inositol affects neurotransmitters and low inositol levels may contribute to decreased serotonin activity in your brain, impacting behaviour and mood. Research on inositol supplementation showed improved symptoms associated with conditions affecting serotonin and the brain.

In some instances, inositol was more effective than the most commonly prescribed medications. For example, one study found that people taking inositol had fewer panic attacks per week compared to those taking SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) anxiety medication.

4. Inositol Helps Reduce Depression

Like anxiety, inositol has benefits for depression. That’s because inositol levels are lower than average in people with depression, however, inositol increases serotonin and creates SSRI effects, similar to antidepressant drugs like Prozac. In one study of 28 people with depression, high doses of inositol (12 g/day) improved mood and all symptoms after four weeks.

These studies suggest that inositol can be as effective, if not more, when compared to SSRI antidepressant drugs for different conditions.

5. Inositol Helps Weight Loss

Inositol can encourage weight loss by improving how the body responds to insulin. Insulin is a critically important hormone for controlling blood sugar levels, and when your body has a problem responding to insulin, the resulting insulin resistance causes blood sugar fluctuations. This can lead to compulsive overeating and cravings for sugary foods in many people.

Inositol helps reduce insulin resistance by improving the body’s sensitivity to insulin. In one study, women supplemented with 4 grams of inositol per day showed improved insulin sensitivity. (14)

Recommended supplementation

It’s best if you build up your inositol levels steadily. I recommend taking 900mg – 3,6 grams every night for at least one month.

The product I prefer is our Myo-Inositol. Each cap serving has 900mg of inositol. Most people find this the most convenient and economical way to take Inositol.

Takeaway

Inositol has tremendous health benefits due to its many roles in the body. It can help with stress, anxiety, hormonal issues, PCOS, acne, trouble with focus and sugar cravings, and metabolic conditions such as diabetes, autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and more. If you have any of these issues or want to help prevent them, you should add inositol to your health toolkit.

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Consultations

We’re always here to help. If you have any questions or would like advice about supplements, nutrition, or training, please book in for a consultation.

November 7, 2020/by hphstore