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Lemon

The lemon tree is a tree whose fruit, juice and peel are used to make medicine. Lemon is used to treat scurvy, a disease caused by a vitamin C deficiency. Lemon is also used to treat colds, flu, tinnitus, Meniere's disease and kidney stones. It is also used to aid digestion, reduce inflammatory pain and swelling, improve blood vessel function and increase urine output to reduce water retention. Lemons are used in food as a food ingredient and flavoring agent.

How do lemons work?

Lemons contain antioxidants known as bioflavonoids. Scientists believe that these bioflavonoids are responsible for the health benefits of lemons.

How effective is lemon?

There is not enough scientific data to make a statement about the effectiveness of lemons for the following conditions:

  • Meniere's disease: There are some reports that a chemical in lemons called eriodictyol glycoside may improve hearing and relieve dizziness, nausea and vomiting in some people suffering from Meniere's disease.
  • Kidney stones: Insufficient amounts of citrate in the urine appear to increase the risk of developing kidney stones. There is evidence that drinking 2 liters of soda throughout the day can significantly increase urinary citrate levels. This could help prevent kidney stones in these people.
  • Treatment of scurvy: Scurvy is a disease caused by a vitamin C deficiency. Lemons could provide some of the missing vitamin C.

There is also not enough scientific data on the effectiveness of lemons in treating colds and flu, reducing swelling and increasing urine output. Further scientific research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of lemons in these applications.

Safety and side effects

Lemons are safe and harmless in food-grade amounts and may be safe and harmless in higher medicinal amounts. The side effects of higher amounts of lemons are not known. Applying lemon to the skin could increase the risk of sunburn, which seems to be especially the case for fair-skinned people.

Precautions and warnings:

Pregnancy and breastfeeding: lemons are safe and safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women as part of their normal diet. However, it is not known whether it is safe to use lemons in large medicinal quantities during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Interactions

At this time, there is no information on interactions of lemon with medications or supplements.

Dosage

An appropriate dosage of lemon products depends on various factors such as age, health status and others. At this time, there is insufficient scientific data to make a statement about appropriate dosage ranges for lemon products. For this reason, you should follow the dosage instructions on the label and/or consult a doctor or pharmacist before use.

References

  1. Bear WL, Teel RW. Effects of citrus flavonoids on the mutagenicity of heterocyclic amines and on cytochrome P450 1A2 activity. Anticancer Res 2000;20:3609-14.
  2. Bear WL, Teel RW. Effects of citrus phytochemicals on liver and lung cytochrome P450 activity and on the in vitro metabolism of the tobacco specific nitrosamine NNK. Anticancer Res 2000;20:3323-30.
  3. Bernhard RA. Occurrence of coumarin analogues in lemon juice. Nature 1958;4643:1171.
  4. Ceccarelli I, Lariviere WR, Fiorenzani P, et al. Effects of long-term exposure of lemon essential oil odor on behavioral, hormonal and neuronal parameters in male and female rats. Brain Res 2004;1001:78-86.
  5. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Title 21. Part 182 -- Substances Generally Recognized As Safe. Available at: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid= 786bafc6f6343634fbf79fcdca7061e1&rgn=div5&view= text&node=21:3.0.1.1.13&idno=21
  6. Miyake Y, Murakami A, Sugiyama Y, et al. Identification of coumarins from lemon fruit (Citrus limon) as inhibitors of in vitro tumor promotion and superoxide and nitric oxide generation. J Agric Food Chem 1999;47:3151-7.
  7. Miyake Y, Yamamoto K, Tsujihara N, Osawa T. Protective effects of lemon flavonoids on oxidative stress in diabetic rats. Lipids 1998;33:689-95.
  8. Moufida S, Marzouk B. Biochemical characterization of blood orange, sweet orange, lemon, bergamot and bitter orange. Phytochemistry 2003;62:1283-9.
  9. Naganuma M, Hirose S, Nakayama Y, et al. A study of the phototoxicity of lemon oil. Arch Dermatol Res 1985;278:31-6.
  10. Odvina CV. Comparative value of orange juice versus lemonade in reducing stone-forming risk. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 2006;1:1269-74.
  11. Ranganna S, Govindarajan VS, Ramana KV. Citrus fruits. Part II. Chemistry, technology, and quality evaluation. A. Chemistry. Critical Rev Food Sci Nutr 1983;19:313-86.
  12. Ranganna S, Govindarajan VS, Ramana KV. Citrus fruits. Part II. Chemistry, technology, and quality evaluation. B. Technology. Critical Rev Food Sci Nutr 1983;19:1-98.
  13. Seltzer MA, Low RK, McDonald M, et al. Dietary manipulation with lemonade to treat hypocitraturic calcium nephrolithiasis. J Urol 1996;156:907-9.
  14. Vitetta L, Thomsen M, Sali A. Black cohosh and other herbal remedies associated with acute hepatitis. Med J Aust 2003;178:411-2.
  15. Williams HL Jr. Eriodictyol glycoside in meniere's disease. Trans Am Acad Ophthalmol Otolaryngol 1964;68:45-59.
  16. Williams HL, Maher FT, Corbin KB, et al. Eriodictyol glycoside in the treatment of meni'ere's disease. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1963;72:1082-101.