In the US, lemons have been grown since the 16th century in Florida, after being brought to the New World by Christopher Columbus. With their high vitamin C content, lemons (along with limes) were valued to protect against the development of scurvy.
During the California Gold Rush, lemons were in such high demand that people paid up to $1 per lemon, which would still be considered pricey today (so it was extremely expensive during the 1800s).
The vitamin C content alone provides good reason to keep a steady supply of lemons on hand, but these bright citrus fruits also contain additional antioxidants known as flavonoids that may play a beneficial role in fighting heart disease, cancer, and inflammation. As noted in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry:
“The anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Citrus flavonoids can play a key role in their activity against several degenerative diseases and particularly brain diseases.”
Lemons are simple to add to your diet; they can be incorporated into vegetable juice, used in salad dressings, squeezed over veggies, or used to make lemon water, for starters. In addition, you'll be amazed at just how many uses lemons have outside of the kitchen.
Around your home, lemons can be veritable superstars for cleaning, skin care, and much, much more. Business Insider compiled more than five dozen ways to use lemons in all, which you can browse through below.
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