With summer quickly approaching, it seems fitting that we talk about a delicious summertime snack, watermelon.
This juicy watermelon is not only tasty, but it also cools you down very well on those hot summer days. No summer would be complete without it.
However even though I’ve eaten watermelon throughout my entire life, I always stuck to the tried and true method of “if it’s too good, then it’s not good for you”. But as you will see in this article, Watermelon actually has a lot of benefits that people may not have considered.
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I never even considered , but there are quite a few surprising ways that watermelon is even considered healthy for you. Of course, like all things, moderation is key, but if you enjoy watermelon as a small snack on those really hot summer days, you’re doing your body a lot of favors.
Why Watermlon?
So what is so incredible about watermelon?
Well it has to do with the nutrients contained in watermelon, including lycopene, viatmin A, citrulline, and vitamin C are all present in this fruit that manages to be both irresistibly delicious and healthy for your body! What exactly do these nutrients do? Scroll down below to see what these ingredients do to help keep your body in tip-top shape!
Benefit #1: Makes Your Skin Nice and Healthy
If you find that your skin just isn’t at its best all the time, or you want your skin to have that extra glow, adding some watermlon to your diet can be just the extra push you need!
According to the experts over at CureJoy.com, vitamin A, contained in watermelon can help increase your body’s tissue growth, meaning that your skin will be more fresh and moisturized.
Benefit #2: Improves the Health of Your Heart
As incredible as watermelon is, anyone who is suffering from any heart troubles, chest pains or other heart related problems should seek a professional doctor immediately. Watermelon can only truly help improve an already healthy heart.
For those with happy and healthy hearts already, the vitamin lycopene in watermelon will help improve cardiac functions across the board.
However that isn’t the only nutrient that can help your heart out! Nutrients like vitamin C, carotenoids and potassium will help reduce cholesterol, which can make it easier for your heart to push blood all throughout your body.
Benefit #3: Makes Your Kidneys Happy and Healthy
If you’ve ever, or ever known anyone who has had kidney stones, you probably know painful they can be. So it remains in everyone’s best interests to make sure their kidneys are healthy, even if it’s not an organ we always think about!
Watermelon, however treats all vital organs equally and is more than happy to make sure your kidneys, along with your heart and skin, all happy. According to LiveLoveFruit.com, watermelon will help increase your urine flow, without inducing any additional stress on your kidneys. Effectively, watermelon will allow you to “flush” your kidneys without putting anymore stress on them. This reduces the risk of kidney stones and other kidney health hazards.
Benefit #4: Improving Your Eyesight
As unbelievable as it is, simply adding watermelon to your diet can help your overall eyesight and eye health.
The vitamin A present in watermelon, according to LiveLoveFruit.com, can help “protect against age-related macular degeneration as well as prevent night blindness.”
Benefit #5: Supports Bone Health
We all know that milk is a fantastic drink for making your bones big and strong, but did you know that watermelons help keep them strong as you get older?
As it turns out, the lycopene and potassium, that helped with keeping your heart healthy, also make your bones and joints stronger, which will help lower the risk of bone related injuries and bone deterioration!
Benefit #6: Lowers Blood Pressure
As we talked about earlier in the blurb about the heart, watermelon can actually help lower your blood pressure!
Watermelon contains a good amount of potassium and magnesium that will help lower blood pressure. Just like with heart problems, if your blood pressure is dangerously high you should seek advice from your doctor, however for those with a slightly high blood pressure, watermelon may be what you need to regain control once more.
Benefit #7: Relives Muscle Soreness
If you’ve ever had an intense workout session you know how it feels to have sore muscles. Incredibly, watermelon also fixes that as well!
Dr. Joseph Mercola cited a study where subjects it was tested whether drinking watermelon juice prior to a workout had any effect in reducing muscle soreness and inflammation. The results? Those who drank the watermelon juice had reduced muscle soreness after just 24 hours versus those who had only taken a placebo!
Dr. Mercola also went on further to state that due to the high fructose in watermelon juice, as opposed to the fruit itself, it was better to eat the fruit rather than drink the juice.
Benefit #8: Helps Fight Asthma
Asthma is a a problem that affects up to 25 million people every year. With as many as 1 in 12 people being affected, watermelon’s ability to help fight off asthma and help those who suffer from it help manage it a bit better is an absolute life saver.
How does it do it? According to the experts over at Medical News Today, the vitamin C contained in watermelon can help lower “the risks for developing asthma.”
If you already have asthma, do not fret as watermelon also helps. The nutrients contained in watermelon can help improve general lung health, making your life just that little bit easier.
Benefit #9: Fights Prostate Cancer
While watermelon is certainly incredible, it cannot fight off cancer all on its own. Instead the nutrients inside it can help in the fight against cancer, but ultimately there is a lot more that goes into fighting cancer than just one food you consume.
But as Live Science puts it best, “Watermelon may be helpful in reducing the risk of cancer through their antioxidant properties.”
“Lycopene in particular has been linked to reducing prostate cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.”
For those who, like myself, absolutely love watermelon as a nice, refreshing and cool snack during the summer, these health benefits will only make it that much better. However for those who always passed over watermelon, hopefully this list will make you think twice. This delicious snack has managed to be both incredibly healthy for you as well as be delicious.
Tell us what you think! Are you going to consider eating more watermelon this summer? Did you know any of these benefits? Are there any benefits we missed that you think are important? Let us know down below!