Obeying a morning ritual is vital to not only athletic performance but your health as well. Any effective morning ritual sets you up for success the entire day to come. Perhaps the most important reason you need a morning ritual is that it creates a physical rhythm. Cadence and consistency are key to reaching whatever your goals may be.
Fortunately, the most effective morning rituals don’t have to be tedious or time-consuming.
You can set your body and your entire day up for success by ingesting a small concoction of salt, water, and lemon.
Sounds simple right? That’s because it is. Look at the ingredients below.
The Lemon and Salt Water Concoction:
- 12oz – room temperature filtered water
- 1/2 organic lemon squeezed
- 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan Salt
Though these three ingredients appear relatively simple, they yield powerful results when combined and ingested first thing in the morning while you are fasted.
The Benefits of Lemon and Salt Water
There are three main benefits of this morning drink:
- It begins your hydration for the day.
- It gives the gut and stomach the acidity needed for digestive functions.
- It helps activate muscles and manage the adrenal system.
Now let's look specifically at the benefits of each ingredient.
12 Ounces of Water
"For people who don’t hydrate well, this is a great place to start. Why? Because it forces them to drink 12 ounces of water to start their day.” – James FitzGerald.
It’s not a secret that water is essential to life and your body’s internal functions. Drinking 12 ounces of it first thing in the morning will help you focus on staying hydrated and maintain your energy throughout the day.
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Squeezed Lemon
“The lemon provides the gut and stomach the acidity required for digestive functions throughout the day.” - James FitzGerald.
Lemon juice is great for gastrointestinal function, Vitamin C production, reduced inflammation, and good immune function. It also provides the necessary acidity needed for the stomach and gut to break down any food consumed throughout the day. Learn more about digestion here.
Himalayan Salt
“Sodium is vital to proper muscle activation and contractions as well as managing the athlete’s adrenal system.” – James FitzGerald.
Salts provide the main electrolytes and minerals critical for normal function. However, don’t just consume any salt. Himalayan salt is far less processed and less toxic than your traditional table salt. It also provides you with more electrolytes and minerals than average salts.
So incorporate this concoction into your morning ritual and, if warranted, your client’s nourishment program.
This morning ritual is an example of a holistic nourishment plan, a program that addresses the specific needs of a client. Learn the basics of holistic nourishment programs and how to create them with this free Professional Coaching Blueprint.
Why on earth would you intentionally drink salt water with lemon in it? Most of us have accidentally gotten sea water in our mouths at some point and it is not a pleasant experience. When this was first recommended to me by my functional medicine doctor, the thought of drinking salt water had about as much appeal as gargling dish soap for better breath. Instead, I just started adding more sea salt to my food. I later found out that drinking salt water and eating salt are two completely different things, but I’ll get to that in a minute.
So, back to the “why”. Sea salt can help balance your potassium and sodium levels. This is actually an issue for many people but they don't realize it. When dissolved in water, potassium and sodium turn into ions which are essential for good functioning of:
- Neurological health
- Cardiovascular system
- Cellular health
- Muscular Health
We are essentially electric organisms: our brain and nervous system needs ions to fire neurons and transmit signals, our heart tissue is firing electrical signals to keep it’s rhythm, our cells need ions to transport things back and forth across the cell membrane and balance fluids.
A good supply of the right balance of ions are critical to our health. Therefore, the amount of electrolytes in the body can affect many crucial functions. This is especially true to people under a lot of stress. Our adrenal glands, which produce our fight and flight response, need a lot of electrolytes to maintain healthy function. This is one of the key recommendations we make to our patients with Adrenal Fatigue.
Isn’t salt bad for us, you ask? Indeed, the sodium that is added to processed foods that many of us eat is table salt. Table salt itself is highly processed which removes most trace minerals and results in approximately 97% sodium chloride. Table salt also has iodine added and anti-caking agents like silicon dioxide, calcium silicate, iron ammonium citrate, and yellow prussiate of soda and may contain aluminum. Aluminum absorbed intravenously has the potential to remain in the body. Excess aluminum has been linked to neurological conditions, certain types of anemia, kidney failure, and the softening of bones.
Sea salt, on the other hand, is made from sea water which contains a complex mixture of trace minerals that our bodies need and has a good balance of both sodium and potassium. Not all sea salts are created equal as you see in the table below. Also, you need to be careful with the source of sea salts as they can come from polluted water and contain microplastics.
Himalayan salt is harvested from an ancient dried up sea in Pakistan so it is not polluted with man-made chemicals. It also has a much higher percentage of potassium than most other sea salts – this balances sodium and potassium.
So why drink it instead of just salting foods? When you drink a fluid without food, it absorbs in the stomach very quickly. This is almost like having an IV. When you salt your food, it needs to be digested and absorbed through the intestines. Many people’s guts are in disrepair and don’t absorb nutrients well.
Drinking your salt water just works better.
Himalayan Sea Salt doesn't have to cost a fortune. We found high quality salt at Costco for around $6 for 5 lbs.
So why add lemon? Lemon makes the salt water taste better, and it has also been shown to help have an alkaline effect on the body. What? Isn’t lemon juice acidic? Yes, but that isn’t how we evaluate alkaline and acidic effect in the body.
When you eat food, it is burned for energy, or metabolized and that creates byproducts. Those byproducts can be acidic or alkaline and put a strain on the kidneys – this is called potential renal acid load (PRAL). Foods such as meat, dairy, and grains increase the PRAL, thus kidneys have to filter out more acid. Alkaline foods such as green leafy vegetables with potassium, calcium, and magnesium and fruits such as – you got it - lemons, reduce the PRAL and help your kidneys!
Whenever I feel sluggish, I drink a glass of lemon salt water and it often gives me a good boost of energy. I even empty a capsule of magnesium citrate in it to replenish my magnesium levels at the same time. My anion gap scores (a measure of acidity in the blood) and blood levels of magnesium increased back to normal levels after drinking this water for only a couple of months. I had been taking capsules of 800mg of magnesium and it wasn’t moving the needle, but once I started drinking just 160mg a day, it made all the difference. For my body, I just absorb much better when I drink my nutrients.
Arbor Health Recipe for Sea Salt Lemon Water
- 3 cups of purified water with ice
- 2 Tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon of Himalayan sea salt
- 6 drops of Liquid Stevia (powdered Stevia can be bitter)
- 160 mg of Pure Encapsulations Magnesium Citrate powder (open 1 capsule into water)
Mix well and drink. One hack is to multiply the recipe and make a juice jug full at the beginning of the week and keep it in the fridge. Even my kids like to drink it – it’s like a weak version of lemonade. You can play with the amounts of salt and lemon, but I find that a couple drops of liquid stevia helps to balance the salt. BTW – I highly recommend liquid stevia vs. powdered as the carrier powder can impart a bitter taste. Many people think they don’t like stevia but it is actually the carrier power.
Do be careful and drink the lemon water quickly and then rinse your mouth with water afterwards. The acidity can degrade tooth enamel if you are not careful. You should refrain from brushing your teeth for 30 minutes after drinking things that can soften your enamel. Lemon water is not recommended if you have mouth or stomach ulcers. As an alternative, consider lemon essential oil. It has all the benefits, but the oil is made from the lemon peel, not the fruit. This makes it healthier for your teeth, 1-2 drops in the above recipe is perfect! Glass containers are recommended because they do not react to acids, or leach harmful plastic or metal chemicals into your water.
Voila – home-made Gatorade without all the artificial colors, sugar, and preservatives. Cheers to your health!
Learn more natural and easy ways to support your health from the inside out at our blog. Check out topics such as:
Thyroid Health
Balancing Hormones
Getting Better Sleep Naturally
Managing Anxiety from the Inside Out
If you live in New York, request a FREE 20-Minute Functional Medicine Consult to see if Functional Medicine might be able to help you live your best life. A Clinical Coordinator will contact you to set up a time to connect.
- Amber Ratcliffe, Co-founder of Arbor Health and Justine Shults, Functional Medicine ANP at Arbor Health