Effect of lemon juice on blood pressure

Lemon juice has commonly been used by hypertensive patients in order to lower blood pressure (BP) acutely when BP is raised or as an alternative/complementary therapy for expectation of chronic improvement. Grapefruit, a citrus fruit like lemon, causes clinically significant interactions with a variety of drugs including calcium antagonists. The aims of this study were to investigate acute and chronic effects of lemon juice on BP among hypertensive patients. Ninty-eight patients were included in this prospective study. Patients using calcium antagonists were not included in the study. In the acute study group, neither lemon juice nor water affected systolic and diastolic BPs. Blood pressure readings after two weeks of lemon juice were not different when compared to basal measurements. There is little information about drinking lemon juice in hypertensive patients. To our knowledge, acute or chronic effect of lemon juice on BP has not been investigated previously. This study did not show any beneficial effects of lemon juice on elevated BP. Besides, lemon juice has two potential risks for the users; drug interaction and noncompliance to the prescribed treatment. In conclusion, there is no evidence that lemon juice lowers BP at the present time and more studies are needed to investigate the effect of lemon juice on BP and possible interactions between lemon juice and drugs. Physicians should keep in mind that alternative therapies can have risks and train their patients about compliance to the treatment. J. Exp. Clin. Med., 2012; 29:38-41