At a glance, you might assume it’s mostly sugar and water but watermelons have a vast array of nutrients that will offer you many potential health benefits.
By Dr. Chitalu Chilufya.
Lusaka, April 10 – The nutritional value of watermelons shouldn’t be underestimated. Even more impressive, they have potassium, an essential mineral that supports nerve and muscle function, and the fluid balance in your body. And in addition to vitamin C, they contain good amounts of vitamin A.
Disease-fighting antioxidants in watermelons like lycopene and cucurbitacin E, may help protect you from diseases such as cancer or diabetes. Lycopene is what gives watermelons their red colour.
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“Because they are full of nutrients like proteins, essential fatty acids, magnesium, and zinc; they may provide surprising benefits to our body, not to mention their ability to improve male fertility!”
Let’s look, in detail, at nine potential health benefits of watermelons:
1. Help you stay hydrated: Even a little dehydration can take a toll, causing fatigue, muscle cramps and headaches. Watermelons are 92% water, so they are an easy way to hydrate and support your body.
Try eating a little watermelon sprinkled with salt after physical activity or a strenuous workout to replenish your body’s electrolytes and carbohydrates. It’s amazing what it can do to restore your energy and quench your thirst!
2. Maintain a healthy weight: Watermelons can be a great option if you are trying to maintain or achieve a healthy weight, and resist the temptation of higher-calorie sweet snacks. Because they contain so much water, watermelons have few calories and can make you feel full for a long time.
3. Protect against disease: Early evidence suggests that regularly eating watermelons promotes good health and may reduce your risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer. This is likely thanks, in part, to their antioxidants, which help protect your body from stress and prevent or slow cell damage.
In fact, watermelons have more lycopene than any other fruit or vegetable, including tomatoes. They are also the highest source of the amino acid citrulline, which produces a molecule called nitric oxide that helps relax blood vessels.
The nutritional benefits of watermelons may help you combat blood pressure, cholesterol and inflammation that can lead to disease.
In one small study, researchers found watermelon extract lowered ankle blood pressure in middle-aged adults with early hypertension and obesity.
4. Support eye health: The nutrients in watermelons serve an especially useful purpose when it comes to your eyes. Antioxidants may help prevent or delay the formation of cataracts. They might even reduce your risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, which can cause blindness.
The vitamin A in watermelons also supports the health of your corneas. And it doesn’t take much: Just one medium slice of watermelon contains up to 11% of the vitamin A you need each day.
5. Boost your immune system: The generous dose of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in watermelons supports your immune system, which fights germs and infection, which may also help reduce your risk of developing cancer.
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6. Relieve muscle soreness: One specific benefit of watermelons is helping your body recover and feel better after exercise. This may be thanks to citrulline, which helps produce nitric oxide to improve blood flow and muscle function. Citrulline also removes ammonia from your body. This reduces the amount of a substance called lactate that builds up in your body during exercise and can lead to muscle soreness.
7. Aid skin health: Vitamin C in watermelons helps your body produce collagen, which supports your immune system, the health of your cells and your ability to heal from injuries. Collagen gives strength and elasticity to your skin and helps replace dead skin cells. This means eating watermelons could improve your skin and slow age-related effects.
Vitamin A produced by the beta-carotene in watermelons helps repair skin cells, preventing dry skin and flaking. Their vitamin B6 may help prevent acne. You aren’t off the mark if you’re thinking watermelons might even be a good ingredient for a face mask – they are.
8. Improve digestion: Plant compounds (polyphenols) in watermelons fuel good bacteria in your gut. This not only eases digestion, but may also boost your immune system and your gut’s production of essential nutrients.
9. Manage blood sugar: Watermelons provide a great alternative if you’re trying to keep your blood glucose levels steady or reduce your risk of diabetes. They have few carbs and a low glycemic load. That means watermelons enter your bloodstream and produce less glucose than other foods, so you can have a slice without a large spike in blood sugar.
10. L-citrulline and its role in sexual health: L-citrulline is an amino acid found abundantly in watermelon. It gets converted to L-arginine in the body and during this process, it releases nitric oxide. Nitric oxide relaxes and expands blood vessels. It improves blood flow in the body, including the sex organs. Thus, watermelon may aid sexual health.
Watermelon, as earlier stated, also has many antioxidants. These antioxidants fight harm done by free radicals, and may help reduce swelling, maintain hormonal balance, and functioning of blood vessels. All these properties may help watermelon aid sexual health.
About The Author: Dr. Chilufya, a PF presidential candidate, is a public health physician, Mansa Central Member of Parliament and former Minister of Health who led the radical transformation of the Zambia national health system in pursuit of Universal Health Coverage.
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