Cucumber Lemon Water with Carrots and Celery

Increase your water intake with this cucumber lemon water. It’s a painless and pleasant way to cut back on sugary drinks!

I have been infusing my water for years, but it had never occurred to me that I should share my experiences with you because, you know, it’s water. What’s there to talk about with lemon slices in tap water? Not much, right? I thought so too until I read the book Lemon-Aid, written by a dope couple who were addicted to soda and sugar but managed to quit cold turkey by drinking infused water.

What?? How? How can you even compare the sweet, dear, and seductive flavor of sugar to plain, boring, totally unattractive plain water? Let alone replace it entirely?

The authors of Lemon-Aid, JW Gu and Simona Mok answered my question in the most hilarious yet thought-provoking way in their book, leading me to dig deeper by turning the pages, one after another, and trying out their unique recipes one by one. Let’s be honest here—if you try to replace soda with water, adding a few slices of lemon is not going to cut it. The right combination of fruit and vegetables, plus your favorite glass or water bottle can get you started on the right foot.

In this post, I am going to share one of the twelve infused water recipes from their book, Lemon-Aid. Based on the ingredients, I call it Cucumber Lemon Water with Carrots and Celery. I really dig the complex flavor combination in this recipe. The cucumber and lemon make your water crisp and refreshing. The carrots hint a little sweetness, then the celery gives you a little punch on the palate in a surprising way. Who knew water could be this interesting?! 

Whether you want to try cutting back on soda by replacing it with infused water, or you simply just want to make drinking water more enjoyable, the health benefits of infused water are undeniable. Let’s take a close look at the benefits of cucumber lemon water. 

The Health Benefits of Cucumber Lemon Water

According to Healthline, there are seven health benefits of cucumber water and seven health benefits of lemon water. I did a cross-reference check and found that there are four shared benefits. So why not double it down and put both cucumber and lemon in your water? It tastes even better anyways.

1. It keeps you hydrated because the enhanced flavor makes drinking water less boring.
2. It helps with weight loss. 
3. It provides antioxidants.
4. It supports healthy skin. 

On top of that, the additional benefits from each include boosting bone health, lowering blood pressure, preventing kidney stones and cancer, promoting fresh breath, and keeping your digestive system moving properly.

What You Need to Make Cucumber Lemon Water with Carrots and Celery

What you need to make this particular recipe is probably also what you need to make all the water infusion dreams happen, which is not much, really.

You’ll need a vessel such as a large pitcher, fresh ingredients, a knife, a cutting board, and a veggie peeler.

Vessel

Chances are you’ve already got a large pitcher in your house. That’s not only perfect for margarita rounds but also for making flavored water. If you are more serious about building a habit of drinking water (flavored) throughout the day, which for most of us is stepping out of our comfort zone, pick something you adore. Well-considered choices will set you up for success in forming the habit, which will help you reach your health goals.

In my case, I love the pictured long and tall one-liter glass jars I got in a department store here in Hong Kong. Seeing the vibrant colors of my ingredients through the glass makes me want to drink the water all the time. 

JW and Simona dedicated the entire chapter in Lemon-Aid to list out practically every single possible vessel on the planet to hold your precious water—from bottles made of glass, stainless steel, and plastic to infusion devices like top chamber, bottom chamber, mesh infuser, skewer infuser, pitchers, and other dispensers. 

Fresh Ingredients

For this particular recipe, the ingredients are pretty much listed in the name already: cucumber, lemon, carrots, celery, and of course, cold water. Alternatively, you can add a few fresh mint leaves or a couple of sprigs of thyme or rosemary as well. 

Essentials

A knife and a cutting board are essential, but a vegetable peeler is optional. I used the most basic vegetable peeler from IKEA to make carrot and cucumber slices for this recipe. You can just use your knife, or if you have a mandoline/julienne slicer, that will help create really thin and beautiful slices. 

How to Make Cucumber Lemon Water with Carrots and Celery

Step 1: Make the cucumber and carrot slices. 

Start by peeling the cucumber and carrot with a veggie peeler, then continue “peeling” off two long strips of each lengthwise. (Two slices of cucumber and two slices of carrots are recommended for each liter of water.) Sinoma says in the recipe notes and directions that both your cucumber and carrot can retain their peels if you’d like to minimize the process by cutting out a couple of steps of work. Use a knife and cut them both from one end to the other with the level of thinness left up to you. 

Once the slices are ready, stack them and roll them up, then place the cucumber and carrot roll in your selected vessel so they can spiral along inside once the water is in. If you are using a shorter vessel, you can simply fold the cucumber and carrot slices, making sure they fit in nicely with room to “breathe.”

Step 2: Add the lemon and celery stalk. 

This step is as straightforward as can be—prepare one fresh lemon slice and cut one celery stalk in half lengthwise to expose its surface and maximize the flavor. 

But the authors introduced a fun technique: poke a hole through the slice of lemon with the celery and penetrate until you are one inch through. Drop the skewer-like stalk into your vessel so the lemon is closer to the bottom. This step will make sure your subtle hit of lemon gains maximum infusion, as it won’t float towards the top as you fill your vessel with water. 

Step 3: Add water. 

With all the ingredients inside your vessel, fill it up with water. Room temperature water is fine, but moderately iced water works better. Let it sit or refrigerate for 30 minutes and enjoy it with more ice cubes (if desired) throughout the day!

The Lemon-Aid Book 

If you like this recipe, in Lemon-Aid, you will find another 11 really unique and interesting infused water recipes that will change the way you feel about water forever. This book is not just about the recipes though. In the authors’ own words, Lemon-Aid is about… 

How fruit and vegetable water infusions are helping us better manage our addiction to soda and recreational sugar.

JW Gu & Simona Mok

This book not only opened my eyes to science-backed information and numbers (maybe you are a little nerdy like me), but it is also full of interesting pointers on practically every single ingredient that can potentially be a good candidate for veggie and fruit infused water. Along with the authors’ tried and true recipes, this is by far the most interesting publication I have ever read on the topic of water or as some would say, how to quit soda cold turkey!

In addition, I really appreciate that the authors openly shared their life-long sugar addiction before having their second son. Their story is a good reminder to us parents, especially new parents, that it’s normal to be imperfect and flawed. It’s what we decide to do with our self-awareness that matters. And by modeling for our children, they can bring the best out of us!

P.S. Prepare to have some good laughs as you read the authors’ life stories and learn a thing or two about Chinese culture with their wicked sense of humor.

Full disclosure: I met Joey and Simona in 2010 in Shanghai, China through a non-profit organization called BEAN Shanghai. Over the past decade, life took all of us to different places and gave us different experiences, but our friendship remains. I’ll have to say that this is probably the funkiest and dopest couple I have ever known. You’ll see from their book, their love-and-not-love story with fruit and vegetable water, and how they’re better at managing sugar addiction because of it. 

To learn more about the authors and how they manage a multicultural marriage and work full time while raising two adorable boys in mainland China, follow them on Instagram and Twitter.

​​Here you have it – a refreshing drink that’s guaranteed to increase your water intake. Whether you consider it a detox drink to reset your digestive system or simply flavored water that has more vitamin a and vitamin c, plus anti-inflammatory benefits, I hope you give this cucumber lemon water a try and let me know what you think in the comments below. Looking forward to hearing from you.

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