No doubt about it, lemons make a healthy addition to your diet. They’re low in calories and rich in antioxidants. But despite the claims, drinking hot water with lemon won't help you lose weight unless accompanied by a calorie-reducing diet.

The Claims

Some people claim that if you start your day with a glass of hot water with lemon, you’ll lose weight. Like most diet fads, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. There’s no evidence to support claims that any food or combination of foods, including hot water and lemon, can help your body lose weight or melt fat, the academy goes on to say.

Hot Lemon Water and Calorie Intake

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While the drink combo alone may not help you lose weight, if it gets you to drink more water, it may help your weight-loss efforts. A study published in 2008 in Obesity found that drinking water helped overweight women on a diet lose weight and fat 3. The authors theorized that drinking water may help lower calorie intake and alter metabolism. If starting the day with a glass of hot lemon water helps you eat fewer calories, it may help you lose weight.

Health Benefits of Hot Lemon Water

In addition to helping you reduce your calorie intake for weight loss, drinking hot lemon water may also help you meet your daily vitamin C and potassium needs. Juice from one lemon contains 11 calories, 18 milligrams of vitamin C and 49 milligrams of potassium. Vitamin C is an important antioxidant, necessary for the formation of collagen, and helps your body fight off infection. Potassium assists with the communication between your muscles and nerves and may help with blood pressure control by blunting the effects of sodium.

Losing Weight

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As a low-calorie beverage, hot lemon water makes a good choice for a weight-loss diet, especially if you substitute higher-calorie drinks with it. To lose weight, you need to reduce your total calorie intake. Eating 500 fewer calories a day can help you shed 1 pound a week, according to FamilyDoctor.org. A healthy weight-loss diet should be low in fat and include a variety of foods from all the food groups.