An acquaintance who apparently has some chemistry understanding told me that eating lemon juice freshly squeezed to drinking water negates all of its health benefits because the water chemically alters the vitamins minerals and enzymes. I am very dubious because a lemon is 82% water and a human body is 75% water and of course lemon juice must be to a very great extent just water. Also lemon juice is renowned as being a great morning drink because of its health benefits. My acquaintance however emphatically stands by his statement. Please clarify this situation for me. Does water really chemically alter the nutrients in lemon juice rendering a lemon drink of no health benefit whatsoever other than the obvious water base?
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$\begingroup$ Welcome to chemistry.SE! If you had any questions about the policies of our community, please visit the help center. $\endgroup$– M.A.R.Commented Sep 10, 2015 at 6:56
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$\begingroup$ It seems this guy is making a fool of you, only thing I can think of is oxidating wit. C by chlorine in water. $\endgroup$– MithoronCommented Sep 10, 2015 at 12:09
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$\begingroup$ This question is suitable for Skeptics or Medical Sciences $\endgroup$– WYSIWYGCommented Sep 10, 2015 at 14:57
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Does water really chemically alter the nutrients in lemon juice rendering a lemon drink of no health benefit whatsoever other than the obvious water base?
No, of course not. Otherwise, humanity would have succumbed to scurvy a long time ago.
I encourage you and your friend to visit PubMed where you can peruse hundreds of refereed abstracts of studies that illustrate that nutrients from citrus fruits are bioavailable to humans and other species and necessarily require administration with water.
Here is a one-pager on lemon juice from the Cleveland Clinic, which is probably a reliable enough source in this case if you want to skip the more technical items at PubMed.
answered Sep 10, 2015 at 13:24