Many Health Benefits of eating Watermelon
Watermelon has everything you need to beat the scorching summer heat. Wonderfully delicious, thirst-quenching melons are the great source of much needed water and electrolytes to beat the tropical summer temperatures.
Botanically, the fruit belongs to the family of cucurbitaceae of the genus: citrullus, and is related to the other plants such as cantaloupe, squash, and pumpkin that grow as vines on the ground. It is widely grown across many tropical countries where it is one of the major commercial crops.
Botanical name: Citrullus lanatus.
Watermelon works like Viagra
Another incredible health benefit of eating watermelon flesh is, "Watermelon may be a natural Viagra", according to webmd.com. This fruit contains citrulline. This amino acid "...relaxes and dilates blood vessels much like Viagra and other drugs meant to treat erectile dysfunction
Source of several vitamins
Watermelons are an excellent source of several vitamins: vitamin A, which helps maintain eye health and is an antioxidant; vitamin C, which helps strengthen immunity, heal wounds, prevent cell damage, and promote healthy teeth and gums; and vitamin B6, which helps brain function and helps convert protein to energy.
Fight against cancer
Lycopene, which is the pigment that gives watermelon flesh its color, helps fight against prostate cancer, oral cancer, breast cancer, endometrial cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancers.
Powerful antioxidant Values
Tomatoes have been highly touted as a great source for lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that helps fight heart disease and several types of cancer — prostate cancer in particular. Watermelon, however, has the highest concentrations of lycopene of any fresh fruit or vegetable.
Source of potassium
If your little ones don’t dig into their swiss chard, lima beans or spinach — all great sources of potassium — consider offering them a serving of watermelon instead. It is a great source of potassium, which helps muscle and nerve function, helps maintain the body’s proper electrolyte and acid-base balance, and helps lower the risk of high blood pressure.
Maintain arteries and blood flow
Watermelon also contains the amino acids citrulline and arginine, which can help maintain arteries, blood flow and overall cardiovascular function.
Health Benefits of Eating Watermelon Seeds
In fact, watermelon seeds are rich in protein and nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, iron, phosphorous, and more.
Rich in electrolytes and water content
Melons are nature’s gift to beat tropical summer thirst.
Low in calories
Watermelons are very low in calories (just 30 cal per 100 g) and fats yet very rich source of numerous health promoting phyto-nutrients and anti-oxidants that are essential for optimum health.
Nutrition Value in watermelon
| Principle | Nutrient Value | Percentage of RDA |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 30 Kcal | 1.5% |
| Carbohydrates | 7.6 g | 6% |
| Protein | 0.6 g | 1% |
| Total Fat | 0.15 g | 0.5% |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0% |
| Dietary Fiber | 0.4 g | 1% |
| Vitamins | ||
| Folates | 3 mcg | 1% |
| Niacin | 0.178 mg | 1% |
| Pantothenic acid | 0.221 mg | 4.5% |
| Pyridoxine | 0.045 mg | 3.5% |
| Thiamin | 0.033 mg | 3% |
| Vitamin A | 569 IU | 19% |
| Vitamin C | 8.1 mg | 13.5% |
| Vitamin E | 0.05 mg | 0.5% |
| Electrolytes | ||
| Sodium | 1 mg | 0% |
| Potassium | 112 mg | 2.5% |
| Minerals | ||
| Calcium | 7 mg | 0.7% |
| Copper | 42 mcg | 4.5% |
| Iron | 0.24 mg | 3% |
| Magnesium | 10 mg | 2.5% |
| Manganese | 0.038 mg | 1.5% |
| Zinc | 0.10 mg | 1% |
| Phyto-nutrients | ||
| Carotene-ß | 303 mcg | -- |
| Crypto-xanthin-ß | 78 mcg | -- |
| Lutein-zeaxanthin | 8 mcg | -- |
| Lycopene | 4532 mcg | -- |
New Research-How Watermelon shown to boost heart health, control weight gain
Eating an apple a day may keep the doctor away, but eating watermelon may just keep the cardiologist at bay. A study from Purdue University and University of Kentucky showed that mice fed a diet including watermelon juice had lower weight, cholesterol and arterial plaque than a control group. The findings, reported in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, suggest that citrulline, a compound found in watermelon, plays a role in cardiovascular health.
We were interested in citrulline because previous studies showed that it may lower blood pressure,” said Shubin Saha, a Purdue Extension vegetable specialist and study co-author. “We didn’t see a lowering of blood pressure, but these other changes are promising.
The researchers fed two groups of mice diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Half the mice received water containing 2 percent watermelon juice, while the others received the same amount of water supplemented with a solution that matched the carbohydrate content of the watermelon juice.
The mice that consumed watermelon juice gained about 30 percent less weight than the control group and had about 50 percent less LDL cholesterol – the so-called bad cholesterol. The experimental group also had about a 50 percent reduction in plaque in their arteries, as well as elevated levels of citrulline. “We know that watermelon is good for health because it contains citrulline,” said Sibu Saha, a professor of surgery at the University of Kentucky. “We don’t know yet at what molecular level it’s working, and that’s the next step.”
The scientists are interested in finding a secondary market for watermelons in nutraceuticals, which are foods or food components that also offer health benefits. Shubin Saha said that about 20 percent of each year’s watermelon crop is wasted either because the fruit is visibly unappealing to consumers or because some growers find it too expensive to pay for harvesting as prices drop during the height of watermelon season. “We could use the wasted melons that can’t go to market for extracting beneficial compounds,” Shubin Saha said. “Growers are putting energy into these crops, so if we can do something to help them market their additional product, that would be a benefit to the industry and consumers.”Shubin Saha said he would continue to look at how concentrations of citrulline and lycopene, another compound found in watermelon, affect health. He will also test other varieties to determine whether particular watermelons have more health benefits. The National Institutes of Health, through the University of Kentucky’s Center for Biomedical Excellence In Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease, funded the study. Watermelons were provided by Milne Fruits Products Inc.
