Lemon Juice Recipes You Can Make at Home

A Brief History of the Lemon

I was doing a little research on the Lemon to discover it's called the sunshine fruit. I guess it shares that title with the orange! Historically, the lemon goes back a long way, although no one is certain of the exact origin of this super healthy fruit. Evidence points to it's origins in the Asian areas of China and India. In approximately 700 AD it somehow made its way into Persia and become a fundamental plant for decorating Islamic gardens. From that central point it expanded into the Mediterranean regions of Europe and found worthy by Christopher Columbus. He took the seeds of the lemon on his voyage to South America, and this appears to be the best evidence for the introduction of this citrus fruit into the content of America.

Juicing Lemons - The Health Benefits

• Vitamin C: One of the key benefits of juicing lemons at home, as with any citrus fruits, is the excellent vitamin C content of the juice. Thus, its no coincidence that lemon is such a key flavor / ingredient in many cold remedies. Lemon's are essentially synonymous with fighting colds!
• Vitamin A. Maybe less talked about, but lemons also contain beta carotene (which the body uses to create vitamin A), a powerful antioxidant in itself and also an essential part of the immune system when converted into the body into Vitamin A.
• Phyto-chemicals. Lemons are an awesome source of potent antioxidants, otherwise known as phyto-chemicals. Three of the most abundant of these phytochemicals found in lemons and their juice are hesperidin, limonene, tangeritin.
• Hespiridin has links to reducing the risks of diseases such as cancer and hear disease. Anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral properties are other health benefits that studies indicate.
• Limonene has the amazing ability to dissolve cholesterol, yep you read right! In fact its limonene that is a key dissolving agent in lemon juice, so much do its been used clinically to help dissolve gallstones. Neutralizing the effects of heartburn are other proposed healing benefits of this key antioxidant of the lemon.
  
  

  Juicing Lemons at Home

  When juicing lemons at home, ot any citrus fruit for that matter, add the white pith to the mix. The white membranes of citrus fruits are seriously concentrated in antioxidants, even more so than the flesh of the fruits. Getting that white pithy stuff into your juicer machine along with the flesh is going to majorly increase the nutritional content and health benefits of the resulting juice.

  You can even scrape some of the white stuff of the inside of the skin to get even more into your juice machine. Don't juice the skin however, it will create a very unpleasant tasting juice.

  Onto the lemon juice recipes:

  Recipe #1

  Melon Lemonentry
  1 lemon
  1/4 of a watermelon

  Recipe #2

  Fruit Salad Juice
  1 lemon
  1 pear
  1 apple
  1 orange

  Recipe #3

  Lemon & Apple
  2 apples
  1 lemon

  Recipe #4

  Citrus Blend
  2 oranges
  1/2 lemon
  1/4 of lime

  Recipe #5

  Lonesome Lemon
  3 lemons
  Dilute as much as you need. Straight lemon juice is a bit intense!