Does drinking lemon water really help you lose weight? 5 common nutrition myths busted by a registered dietitian

Feeling a bit sluggish after the holidays? Have you noticed your clothes are feeling snug? Overindulging a little during the festive season is OK. After all, it only happens once a year.

But before you start searching for the latest fad diet on the internet to set your weight loss goal as part of your new year’s resolutions, let us take a closer look at some of the common nutrition myths about managing weight.

Myth #1 – drinking lemon water helps with losing weight

You probably have heard through your social networks that drinking lemon water could help with losing weight. This fad claims drinking lemon water, especially in the morning, will help cleanse and detox the body, which leads to weight loss.

Before you start rushing off to stock up on lemons and loading lemon slices into your water, here are some facts for you:

Like regular water, lemon water provides hydration to our body and quenches our thirst. The added lemon merely gives a boost in vitamin C in the drink.

Having said that, lemon water may play a role in weight loss if you regularly drink sweet beverages such as pop, sodas and fruit juice. Replacing these drinks with lemon water is a healthier alternative. Assuming you make no other changes to your dietary patterns, you may notice weight loss over time, simply because you are consuming fewer calories, as lemon water has minimal calories compared to sweet beverages.

Myth #2 – all sugars are bad for you