A new study has shown that lemon juice reduces the peak blood sugar level after eating white bread by about 30 percent and delays this spike by more than half an hour. This is reported by Earth.com, citing data from a study published in the European Journal of Nutrition.
What the Experiment Is About
After volunteers ate white bread along with lemon juice, their blood sugar levels rose more slowly and reached a significantly lower peak than when consuming water.
Tracking these changes over three hours, Dr. Daniela Freitas from the University of Paris-Saclay documented a 30 percent reduction in the average glucose peak and a delay of more than 35 minutes compared to consuming only water.
Instead of a sharp spike around 40 minutes, glucose levels peaked closer to 80 minutes, spreading the increase over a longer period.
A lower peak means that less glucose enters the bloodstream at once, which can reduce sharp spikes in glucose levels. With a more gradual influx of sugar, insulin has time to act, and cells can receive energy without panic.
How Lemon Works
The acid begins to act even before the bread reaches the stomach because saliva starts breaking down starch in the mouth. In laboratory tests, the activity of salivary alpha-amylase, the enzyme that initiates starch breakdown in the mouth, decreased when the drink became acidic.
With less intense grinding of food in the early stages of digestion, larger pieces of starch reach the intestine, and glucose enters the bloodstream more slowly.
At the same time, most volunteers ate the bread separately, so mixed dishes with fats, proteins, and fiber may alter the results. Real habits also matter because people squeeze lemons differently and sometimes add sugar, which negates the effect achieved.
