If you are one of the more than two-thirds of Americas who are overweight or obese, you may be looking for a quick way to boost your metabolism and lose weight. While you may have heard rumors that lemons or some other "super-food" will crank up your metabolism and cause you to start losing weight quickly, in reality, there is no food you can eat or pill you can take to rapidly lose weight.
Lemons
No available evidence indicates that eating lemons or any other food will boost your metabolism enough to make a significant contribution to weight loss, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. While fad diets involving foods such as lemons, cabbage soup, celery or grapefruit routinely become popular, there is no quick, easy way to safely lose weight. Similarly, while adding a slice of lemon to your water may improve the taste, it is unlikely to speed up your metabolism.
Lemons and Weight Loss
Although lemons do not significantly boost metabolism, they can play a role in weight loss. Lemons, as well as other fruits and vegetables, are known as low energy density foods, meaning they contain a relatively low concentration of calories compared to high energy density foods like meat or dairy products. This means that a lemon contains fewer calories than a similarly sized piece of cheese. Adding more low energy density foods, like lemons, to your diet can help you consume fewer calories each day, which can help with weight loss, explains the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Food and Metabolism
The reality behind many of these fad diets is the "thermic effect" of food. When you eat any type of food, including lemons, your metabolism increases slightly as your body expends energy to digest and absorb food. This effect lasts for roughly five hours after you eat, but the amount of calories burned digesting food accounts for only about one-tenth of all the calories you expend in a single day, explains the Student Nutrition and Body Awareness campaign at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Health Benefits of Lemons
Lemons contain high levels of nutrients known as phytochemicals, as well as citric acid and malic acid, all of which provide numerous health benefits, explains Orange Coast College. Additionally, lemons and lemon juice have a long history of use in aiding digestion and cleansing the body, although these effects have not been rigorously tested in clinical trials. While these nutrients may provide health other health benefits, they are unlikely to contribute to weight loss.
References
- Weight-control Information Network: Statistics Related to Overweight and Obesity
- Student Nutrition and Body Awareness campaign at the University of California, Los Angeles: Nutrition Basics
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control: Can Eating Fruits and Vegetables Help People to Manage Their Weight?
- Federal Occupational Health: Personal Health
- Orange Coast College: Fresh Vegetable Juices
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