Lime Juice A Wonderful Addition To Your Daily Routine

Lime-juice, like lemon (link) and other citrus (link) is a wonderful addition to our daily routine. Popular in Latin American, Thai and Caribbean cuisines, this little round jewel is rich vitamin C and minerals, such as calcium, potassium, copper, magnesium, and phosphorous.

They’ve also been shown to protect against coronary heart disease.

They’re the fruit that gave the Naval Brits their sea-faring epitaph: “limeys” because they could be hauled in transatlantic voyages without spoiling, while preventing scurvy (a sailor could hardly be thought to do his high-sea duties with the bowed legs, flaccid muscles, and tooth loss inherent in a scurvy malaise — which is why many scurvy-ridden pirates are depicted this way).

But that’s hardly all:

Limes can improve digestion, provide relief from constipation, peptic ulcers, gout, and bleeding gums. They accelerate weight loss, and can even help with urinary tract issues and respiratory disorders. Ayurveda (a form of ancient natural Indian medicine) talks about limes’ ability to support the expectoration of phlegm and mucus.

And like all things rich in Vitamin C, it’s great for skin and collagen formation, and shortens the duration of colds. All Vitamin C rich foods are a great way to reduce arthritis symptoms and also wonderful support for the prevention of atherosclerosis. Limes have an astringent effect on our capillary beds. And limes are filled with anti-cancer compounds such as kaempferol. Research has shown this flavinol anti-oxidant stops cell division in different kinds of cancers!

HERE ARE THE TOP 4 REASONS LIMES ARE SUBLIME

Limes are Anti-Carcinogenic

According to J. Robert Hatherill Ph.D., a research scientist, limes contain cancer-fighting compounds called flavonoids. In his book “Eat To Beat Cancer,” he writes about the biological activity of citrus juice has anti-cancer effects that prevent the invasion of cancer cells. Go kaempferol!

  1. Limes And Antibiotic Properties

Limes contain flavonol glycosides, so the same substance that fights off cancer also serves as an antibiotic. Kaffir limes, those bumpy-skinned limes found in India and Southeast Asia, have been shown to fight off E. coli. Further, these lime-antibiotic compounds have been shown to protect against the contraction of cholera!

  1. Limes Empower The Liver

Limes contain eight (8) different kinds liminoids which promote enzymatic activity in the liver. This allows your liver to detox a variety of cancer-causing chemicals that otherwise tend to take up residence there. Limes help the liver to deactivate them and then promote their excretion from your body.

  1. Limes Improves Digestion

When you’re getting set to juice, go ahead and throw in some lime! Limes are mildly-acidic and actually help the enzymes in our saliva break down food more efficiently. Better enzyme action = better digestion. Plus, the flavonoids in limes naturally stimulate our digestive juices. It’s great to add into savory juices with peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs. Or, add to watermelon or pineapple bases for tangy-tart kick.

  1. Limes Fight Anemia

Did you know that a single lime can provide 32 % of your daily RDA of Vitamin C? Did you also know that just consuming 100 milligrams of the vitamin C found in limes helps increase iron absorption by 67%? (see: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition). And, we all know iron is critical to the production of our blood and hemoglobin. It’s what assists our body in keeping oxygen levels right where they need to be. Symptoms of deficiency include anemia, dizziness, brittle hair and nails, alopecia, and fatigue.

Fun Facts:

One of the places commonly associated with growing limes is Key West, FL. home of the key-lime pie… However, almost no limes are grown there today. They are mainly grown in subtropical climates, such as Mexico, India, and Egypt. And, in case you’re wondering how they arrived in the Americas, well it seems Christopher Columbus brought lime trees to the New World on his second voyage.

Here’s Where YOU Can Help, Dear Reader . . . become a health detective  🙂

For two years, I’ve scoured the internet seeking sources that can back up the health and benefit claims of fruits, vegetables, and supplements (sometimes called “boost”).

In the chart below are the health claims I and others have discovered about lime. Where you see a footnote, you’ll find a link to the source.  If there is not a footnote, then that means that the specific health claim is made, but neither I or anyone I know has been able to locate sources of research or anecdote to backup the claim.

So, if you are aware of a direct source of research or anecdotes to back up the claims, please post them in the comments.  I’ll check them out and if they meet our standards, I’ll make sure that they’re included in the next edition of the blog and give you a shout-out!

Reported Health Benefit Claims of Lime:

Natural antibiotic Improves digestion

Anti-inflammatory [5]

Prevents heartburn

Antioxidant [5]

Strengthens heart health [2]

Prevents ashtma

Prevents rheumatoid arthritis [5]

Prevents atherosclerosis [1]

Promotes healthy skin

Prevents some forms of cancer [5]

Prevents stroke
Strengthens immune system

So, enjoy a lime and good health this season!

Today with Dr. Davis we’re gonna learn about limes. So now let’s talk about limes. Oh, limes are one of my favorite because it goes well with a tequila hahaha and margaritas. So we live in Texas, so margaritas, but uh, lime again, the, the major properties to it is very similar to the lemon and oranges and grapefruits high in vitamin C has antioxidant properties to it, you know, we all know it from, that’s what, you know, we used to give the sailors who would get scurvy and for, for the younger people out there, sailors used to get scurvy because they would be at sea for so long and they weren’t able to to get any type of fruits or vegetables. So they lacked vitamin C and so they would go get scurvy and scurvy is a condition that causes the uh, the gout?

No, no, sorry, the thyroid. No, not necessarily thyroid. It causes capillary fragility of the body. And so, so all the mucus membranes would bleed like your, the gums in the ears and nose and eventually it would actually bleed out. Would be what would be from when they would die. Almost like internal bleeding death. Yeah, exactly. That’s what it would be like. And so, uh, again, people that bruise a lot, one of the, one of the things they may be missing is vitamin C and a wine would be a great way to get great source of it. So uh sometimes people mix wine with coconut. Is that just for the flavor? I believe so. I, yeah, I mean the song goes back with that, but I think it was just the, just the, the mix that they came up with. Great stuff.

Sources:

  1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3933061/
  2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11412050
  3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10799377
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17919696/
  5. https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/135/4/870/4663766