Risks and Benefits of Drinking Lemon Water Daily
Diet & NutritionFood & Ingredients
Explore This Topic

Weighing the Risks and Benefits of Drinking Lemon Water

Weighing the Risks and Benefits of Drinking Lemon Water
Adobe Stock
By
Updated on July 31, 2025
by

Zinging up a glass of water with fresh lemon or lemon juice can make it taste more interesting and may even offer some health benefits. But drinking lemon water daily may have some disadvantages, including worsening heartburn and damaging tooth enamel.

You don’t have to avoid lemon water entirely; moderation is key here. Learn more about the risks, the benefits, and how much is safe to drink.

What Happens if You Drink Too Much Lemon Water?

The main risk of drinking lemon water daily is that it can damage your teeth.

Over time, acidic substances, like lemon juice, can wear away the protective enamel on your pearly whites. This erosion changes how your teeth look and can result in cavities or infection if bacteria get in.

Plus, if you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), acidic citrus fruits like lemon may trigger or worsen heartburn symptoms.

You may have also heard rumors that lemon water can cause diarrhea, but this isn’t true.

“Drinking normal quantities won’t upset a healthy person’s bowel movements,” says Su-Nui Escobar, DCN, RDN, a nutritionist and dietitian based in Miami.

The Potential Benefits of Lemon Water

Drinking lemon water has several upsides, Escobar says.

For one, you’re more likely to drink water if you enjoy it. And by starting your day with healthy hydration from lemon water, you’re setting yourself up to succeed.

“As a daily habit, it can provide the mindset you need to keep working on your nutrition goals for the rest of the day,” Escobar says. “Furthermore, adding lemon to water will increase vitamin C intake, which is a powerful fighter against infections and strengthens the immune system.”

In fact, one glass of lemon water containing 48 grams of lemon juice (squeezed from one lemon) contains 21 percent of your daily value of vitamin C.

As an added benefit, getting your vitamin C from lemon water instead of orange juice at breakfast can help you cut down on lots of harmful added sugar and may aid digestion.

Escobar says there’s also evidence to suggest the citrate in lemon may improve calcium solubility and absorption, which in turn could benefit the strength of your bones.

Plus, citric acid can help prevent kidney stones. It can block their formation and break up smaller stones that might already exist. Experts even recommend mixing 4 ounces of lemon juice with water as a preventive measure against kidney stones.

The idea that lemon water can help with weight loss might not be an old wives’ tale, either. A recent research review of 13 studies found that people who consumed citrus, citrus extracts, or both over a period of at least four weeks lost an average of just under 3 pounds.

Drinking Lemon Water Safely

Wondering how to get the benefits of lemon without running into any of the potential concerns?

“I suggest drinking a glass of lemon water first thing in the morning and using warm water to get more of the nutrients into the water,” Escobar says. Additional glasses are fine during the day, she says, but be mindful of the potential effects on dental health.

To protect your teeth, you can try rinsing your mouth after drinking lemon water or following your beverage with milk or cheese, since the calcium in dairy products can help neutralize acids.

You can also consider using a straw to reduce the time the acid touches your teeth. For the same reason, try to avoid holding or swishing the lemon water in your mouth.

Don’t rush to brush your teeth after drinking lemon water, though. Experts advise waiting an hour before brushing to give your saliva a chance to remove acids and reharden your enamel.

If you have GERD or experience heartburn, however, your best option might be to avoid lemon water and choose a less acidic beverage instead.

If you don’t like the taste of plain water but want to avoid lemons, you can try flavoring your water with noncitrus fruits, like melons or berries. If you eat the fruits, you can also increase your fiber intake and neutralize stomach acid.

It’s always best to consult a doctor or registered dietitian before adding lemon water to your daily routine, especially if you have GERD or another health condition. They can advise you on how much is safe for you to drink and suggest alternatives if you need to avoid lemon water.

The Takeaway

  • Adding lemon to water can boost both its flavor and nutritional value, offering the benefits of vitamin C and citric acid.
  • Too much lemon water, however, can pose risks to tooth enamel and worsen conditions like heartburn or GERD.
  • Consider following the safety tips provided to protect your dental health while enjoying your zingy beverage, and remember that you can explore other fruit options if lemon doesn’t work for you.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Erosion: What You Eat and Drink Can Impact Teeth. American Dental Association.
  2. Eating, Diet, & Nutrition for GER and GERD. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. July 2020.
  3. Is Starting Your Day With Lemon Water Healthy? Cleveland Clinic. August 21, 2024.
  4. Freitas D et al. Glycemic Response, Satiety, Gastric Secretions and Emptying After Bread Consumption With Water, Tea or Lemon Juice: A Randomized Crossover Intervention Using MRI. European Journal of Nutrition. April 2022.
  5. Ikeda H et al. Effects of Lemon Beverage Containing Citric Acid with Calcium Supplementation on Bone Metabolism and Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women: Double-Blind 11-Month Intervention Study. Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism. February 2021.
  6. Six Easy Ways to Prevent Kidney Stones. National Kidney Foundation. 2025.
  7. Wang X. Dietary Citrus And/Or Its Extracts Intake Contributed to Weight Control: Evidence From a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 13 Randomized Clinical Trials. Phytotherapy Research. August 2020.
  8. Foods To Eat and Avoid if You Have GERD. Cleveland Clinic. May 21, 2025.
Meet Our Experts
See Our Editorial PolicyMeet Our Health Expert Network
Reyna-Franco-bio

Reyna Franco, RDN

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Reyna Franco, RDN, is a New York City–based dietitian-nutritionist, certified specialist in sports dietetics, and certified personal trainer. She is a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has a master's degree in nutrition and exercise physiology from Columbia University.

In her private practice, she provides medical nutrition therapy for weight management, sports nutrition, diabetes, cardiac disease, renal disease, gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, food allergies, eating disorders, and childhood nutrition. To serve her diverse patients, she demonstrates cultural sensitivity and knowledge of customary food practices. She applies the tenets of lifestyle medicine to reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve health outcomes for her patients.

Franco is also a corporate wellness consultant who conducts wellness counseling and seminars for organizations of every size. She taught sports nutrition to medical students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, taught life cycle nutrition and nutrition counseling to undergraduate students at LaGuardia Community College, and precepts nutrition students and interns. She created the sports nutrition rotation for the New York Distance Dietetic Internship program.

She is the chair of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine's Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist Member Interest Group. She is also the treasurer and secretary of the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, having previously served in many other leadership roles for the organization, including as past president, awards committee chair, and grant committee chair, among others. She is active in the local Greater New York Dietetic Association and Long Island Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, too.

See full bio

Angela Dowden

Author

Angela Dowden has over 20 years experience as a health journalist and is a Registered Nutritionist. Her work appears on dailymail.com, lovefood.com and acsh.org, as well as in many print publications.

See full bio
See Our Editorial PolicyMeet Our Health Expert Network