Benefits of Lemon And Cucumber Water

Introduction

Drinking water throughout the day is a healthy way to stay hydrated; however, sometimes plain water gets boring. Adding fruits or veggies to water is a great way to add flavor to plain water. In this article, we review the benefits of lemon cucumber water for kidney health.

Hydration is important for your kidney health

Drinking enough water throughout the day helps keep our kidneys well hydrated and the nutrients in our blood balanced. Water is a significant portion of our blood ^[1]. Staying hydrated is helpful in all types of kidney diseases. In fact, increasing water intake is a key part of care for kidney stones, polycystic kidney disease (PKD), and urinary tract infections ^[2]. Increasing water intake also can improve your mood, sleep, and ability to think ^[3]. Sometimes people with kidney disease are told to limit fluids. In those cases, follow the amount of fluid your doctor recommends.

Benefits of lemon cucumber water

Lemons are a good source of vitamin C and citrate. Cucumbers are a good source of vitamin K, beta-carotene and are a low potassium vegetable. The strong lemon taste balanced with the mild cucumber makes a refreshing blend in water, making it easy to stay hydrated. It is important to leave the sugar out of lemon cucumber water recipes as sugar-sweetened beverages have been shown to affect kidney health and kidney stones ^[4,5] negatively.

Ways to add lemon cucumber water to your day

Lemon cucumber water is an excellent addition to meals on a hot day. Simply fill a pitcher of water with ice, add sliced cucumbers and lemons, and water, then serve. You can also squeeze lemon juice, chop small cucumber pieces, and freeze in ice cube trays. Then the next time you want lemon cucumber water, simply add the lemon/cucumber ice cube (or two) to your glass of water.  Check out our Lemon Cucumber Water Recipe for the detailed recipe (a secret ingredient brings it all together).

Lemon Cucumber Water Recipes

Here is a list of different ways to make Lemon Cucumber water.

• Cukebook Lemon Cucumber Water
• Delicious Not Gorgeous Lemon Ginger Cucumber water 
• Plants Rule Cucumber Lemon Basil water

Conclusion

Lemon cucumber water is a refreshing way to add to stay hydrated. Hydration is vital to healthy kidneys. If your doctor has told you to limit fluids for health reasons, this recipe can be a great part of your total fluids for the day. Check out our other kidney-friendly recipes here.

References

1. InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. What does blood do? [Updated 2019 Aug 29]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279392/
2. Clark WF, Sontrop JM, Huang SH, Moist L, Bouby N, Bankir L. Hydration and Chronic Kidney Disease Progression: A Critical Review of the Evidence. Am J Nephrol. 2016;43(4):281-92. doi: 10.1159/000445959. Epub 2016 May 3. PMID: 27161565.
3. Pross N, Demazières A, Girard N, Barnouin R, Metzger D, Klein A, Perrier E, Guelinckx I. Effects of changes in water intake on mood of high and low drinkers. PLoS One. 2014 Apr 11;9(4):e94754. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094754. PMID: 24728141; PMCID: PMC3984246.
4. Rebholz CM, Young BA, Katz R, Tucker KL, Carithers TC, Norwood AF, Correa A. Patterns of Beverages Consumed and Risk of Incident Kidney Disease. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2019 Jan 7;14(1):49-56. doi: 10.2215/CJN.06380518. Epub 2018 Dec 27. PMID: 30591520; PMCID: PMC6364540.
5. Ferraro, Pietro Manuel,†; Taylor, Eric N.†; Gambaro, Giovanni; Curhan, Gary C.†,‡. Soda and Other Beverages and the Risk of Kidney Stones. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 8(8):p 1389-1395, August 2013. | DOI: 10.2215/CJN.11661112