'I'll have lemon with that'

“I’ll have water with lemon.”

The number of times I have heard those five words in my over two decades of waiting tables at restaurants could fill … well, something really, really large. It is one of the most-ordered beverages. It doesn’t hurt that it’s free (no charge for that lemon slice or two) and downright refreshing — if you are someone who enjoys your H20 having that hint of sweet-but-tart, citrusy flavor.

And with the price of a glass of soda running upwards of $3 or even more at many dining establishments these days, it seems like a perfectly logical way to save a few bucks on the bill (and maybe put those extra dollars toward the overall tip at the end? Hint, hint …).

Nowadays, the water-with-lemon combo isn’t just being enjoyed for its flavor and economical attributes, however. Models and celebrities, the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Miranda Kerr and Jennifer Aniston, have touted the practice of starting their days off with a cup of lukewarm, warm or even hot water with lemon to aid in digestion, jumpstart their metabolisms and maintain that glowy celebrity skin.

But is water with lemon the skin-beautifying, weight-loss inducing, one-two punch of my dreams?

Toronto-based registered dietitian, award-winning cookbook author and YouTuber Abbey Sharp thinks not and rolls her eyes at the very suggestion of water with lemon as a “holy grail of Instagram wellness,” as she says. (Literally, she rolls her eyes. I’ve seen her do it on more than one occasion on her YouTube channel, “Abbey’s Kitchen,” in which she reviews various influencer and celebrity “what I eat in a day” videos.)

“Well, sure, it’s good for you. It’s water,” she says in a post on this very subject on her show’s accompanying website, abbeyskitchen.com. “And while it may help to support some health benefits due to its vitamin C content, it is certainly not the miracle cure-all beverage that it is often touted as.”

Learn more about the commodity: Lemons

While she stops short of attributing holy grail-ness status to water with lemon, Primary Care Physician Denne Thomas-Patterson, who works for the southern New Jersey-based hospital network Virtua Health System, doesn’t see the water with lemon benefits touted by influencers and celebrities as being completely eye roll-inducing. In a 2021 PhillyVoice article, Thomas-Patterson noted the benefits of drinking both cold and warm lemon water.

“Cold lemon water has been found to help burn calories, while warm lemon water is good for digestion, the immune system and bowel habits,” she told the PhillyVoice, a Philadelphia-based, digital-only news platform. “It improves the breakdown of starches and decreases bloating.”

No matter what side of the lemon water debate you are on, the health benefits of drinking more water are obvious — that whole staying -hydrated thing is pretty critical to that whole staying-alive thing, after all. And you don’t have to work in the produce industry to know how great vitamin C is, which is found in all citrus. Besides the much-touted immune system boost, this vitamin can help dissolve kidney stones and even help fight cancer, among other benefits, according to Produce Market Guide’s lemon data. Available year-round, lemons’ accessibility is also a big bonus when trying to get that vitamin C kick, no matter the season. 

This story was printed in PMG magazine. Check out the latest digital issue.

And don’t overlook the merchandising opportunities of lemon water. I’m envisioning an aisle or display of your Smartwater or Fiji water bottles arranged next to those sunny, brightly-colored lemons, with maybe some fruit knives or lemon slicers thrown in for good measure. Make it convenient for shoppers to grab what they need to make their own water with freshly squeezed lemon on the go!

Your display might also remind shoppers of how refreshing that lemon zing in their H20 can be … or that recent YouTube wormhole they were on that included a suggested video of Julianne Hough talking about “starting with a fresh palate for the day” by drinking room temperature water with half a lemon squeezed in the night before. Sounds perfectly delightful, right? I mean, that would definitely be enough to inspire me to throw some of those lemons in my cart as I walk by ... you know, on my way over to the ice cream section. 

So, are the Gwyneth Paltrows of the world onto something with this morning water with lemon ritual? That is something all lemon water drinkers must decide for themselves, I suppose. But, as Sharp says, “if adding lemon juice to your water helps you increase your fluid intake and is something you enjoy drinking, then, by all means, drink up!”