Summary
Dr. Berg addresses whether bottled lemon juice provides meaningful amounts of vitamin C, explaining that the pasteurization process destroys most of the vitamin C content. While bottled lemon juice still offers other benefits, fresh lemons and limes are far superior sources of vitamin C.
Key Takeaways
- Bottled lemon juice is a poor source of vitamin C — it contains only about 4.8mg per ounce (8% of the RDA), meaning you’d need roughly 9 ounces to meet your daily requirement
- Vitamin C is highly sensitive to heat and oxygen, both of which are introduced during the pasteurization and bottling process
- Fresh lemons and limes have essentially the same vitamin C content — the difference is that historical sailors used unprocessed citrus, which retained its vitamin C
- Scurvy — the vitamin C deficiency disease — was historically prevented by sailors using fresh limes, onions, and cabbage
- Bottled lemon juice still provides citric acid, which is beneficial for preventing kidney stones
- Phytonutrients and minerals are better preserved through bottling than vitamin C is
- To get meaningful vitamin C, opt for raw lemons, limes, or fresh vegetables
Details
Vitamin C Content in Bottled Lemon Juice
The label on commercially bottled lemon juice typically shows only 8% of the RDA per ounce, equating to approximately 4.8mg of vitamin C. The standard RDA for vitamin C is 70mg, meaning a person would need to consume around 9 ounces of bottled lemon juice daily just to meet that baseline — a largely impractical amount.
Why Bottling Destroys Vitamin C
Vitamin C is particularly unstable when exposed to two factors present in commercial processing:
- Heat — introduced through pasteurization
- Oxygen — introduced during bottling and storage
Together, these degrade the vitamin C content significantly, leaving little nutritional value in that regard by the time the product reaches the consumer.
Historical Context: Sailors and Scurvy
The historical example of sailors developing scurvy illustrates how critical fresh vitamin C sources are. Symptoms included:
- Bleeding gums
- Breakdown of collagen
- Serious fatigue
The remedy was found in fresh limes, onions, and cabbage — none of which were pasteurized or processed, preserving their vitamin C content fully.
What Bottled Lemon Juice Is Still Good For
Despite the vitamin C loss, bottled lemon juice retains other useful properties:
- Citric acid — helps prevent kidney stones, which is one reason lemon juice is commonly recommended on the ketogenic diet
- Minerals — various trace minerals remain intact through processing
- Phytonutrients — certain plant compounds are still preserved in bottled form
Best Sources of Vitamin C
For reliable vitamin C intake, Dr. Berg recommends:
- Raw lemons or limes (unprocessed, fresh)
- Fresh vegetables (e.g., cabbage, as historically used)