Top 6 Health Benefits of Eating Watermelon
Watermelon is a delicious and refreshing fruit which helps in keeping your skin hydrated. It contains only 46 calories per cup but is high in vitamin C, vitamin A and many healthy plant compounds.
Here are the top 6 health benefits of eating watermelon.
- Helps You Hydrate
- Drinking water is an important way to keep your body hydrated.
- However, eating foods that have high water content can also help. Interestingly, watermelon is 92% water ().
- What’s more, the high water content is one of the reasons why fruits and vegetables help you feel full.
- The combination of water and fibre means you’re eating a good volume of food without a lot of calories.
2. Contains Nutrients and Beneficial Plant Compounds
As far as fruits go, watermelon is one of the lowest in calories — only 46 calories per cup (154 grams). That’s lower than even low-sugar fruits such as berries (2).
One cup (154 grams) of watermelon has many other nutrients as well, including these vitamins and minerals:
- Vitamin C:21% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
- Vitamin A:18% of the RDI
- Potassium:5% of the RDI
- Magnesium:4% of the RDI
- Vitamins B1, B5 and B6:3% of the RDI
Watermelon is also high in carotenoids, including beta-carotene and lycopene. Plus, it has citrulline, an important amino acid.
3. Contains Compounds That May Help Prevent Cancer
Researchers have studied lycopene and other individual plant compounds in watermelon for their anti-cancer effects.
Though lycopene intake is associated with a lower risk of some types of cancer, study results are mixed. The strongest link so far seems to be between lycopene and cancers of the digestive system ().
It appears to reduce cancer risk by lowering insulin-like growth factor (IGF), a protein involved in cell division. High IGF levels are linked to cancer ().
In addition, cucurbitacin E has been investigated for its ability to inhibit tumor growth (, ).
4. Helps You Lose Weight Faster
If you are trying to lose weight, you know that we all have those triggers that send us down the road of temptation, longing after something that we know isn’t the healthiest option. For many people, that thing is sweets. It isn’t just about the sweetness of sugary treats, but also about the texture and the mouthfeel. This is one reason why a strawberry might not satisfy you mentally in the same way as cheesecake.
5. Protection Against Diabetes
When you consume watermelon, your kidneys convert one amino acid, L-citrulline, into another amino acid, L-arginine. The one-two punch of these two amino acids has many health benefits, not the least of which is protection against the development of diabetes.
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Watermelons are good for your heart
Watermelons are high in vitamin C, which is well researched in its ability to prevent the hardening of the arteries, increase the elasticity of the blood vessels and decrease inflammation. All of these factors can help prevent high blood pressure and heart disease.
