Like ice in the sunshine – and watermelons!
Here we go, back to some news from the “knowledge base”! I associate hardly any fruit as much with summer as watermelons! For me, this pink-red fleshed fruit is simply the perfect refreshment on hot summer days. It is the perfect snack for in between, you can bring it to the barbecue or picnic, and almost everyone likes its taste!
When I think of watermelons, I also fondly remember my childhood, when my two brothers and I used to devour huge amounts together with our parents. And that has stuck with me: Watermelon is one of the most sociable fruits – I prefer to share it with friends! 🙂
10 facts about watermelons
- The nutritional bomb is in season from June to September and usually comes from Southern Europe, such as Greece. But its actual origin is in South Africa! With a CO2 balance of 40 g per 100 g, this one is in the green zone.
- Botanically, all melon varieties belong to the cucurbit family. This makes it related to pumpkins! In addition, it is also available with yellow flesh. They are also called “pineapple melons”, but they taste just like their red relatives. Sometimes I personally taste a slight honey note. 🙂
- It fully lives up to its name, because it consists of up to 95% of water and is therefore the perfect thirst quencher in the summer! Only a cucumber has a higher water content (about 97%)!
- It can reduce the risk of cancer because it has high amounts of lycopene. Lycopene is an antioxidant that is particularly effective in the fight against free radicals, and is present in hardly any fruit as much as in watermelon! Especially the yellow type contains a lot of lycopenes!
- In addition, it protects your skin and is good for your eyes, because it has high amounts of vitamin A. Since vitamin A is known to provide a beautiful skin and improved eyesight. With about 245 mg of beta-carotene per 100 g – the precursor of vitamin A, it contains 10 times more than the same amount of apple!
- Plus, it can help you lower blood pressure, as it contains plenty of potassium and L-citrulline. Potassium not only regulates our acid-base and electrolyte balance, but is also essential for our muscle contractions and blood pressure. L-citrulline is an amino acid that our body converts into arginine. Arginine ensures that our vessels relax and our blood can circulate more easily. This results in a significantly better blood circulation, but also our immune system and muscle building benefit from arginine. Especially for athletes and during pregnancy, arginine is an important nutrient. In addition, citrulline is also known to counteract erectile dysfunction and impotence! #justsayin
- You can eat the seeds – as with the papaya! However, you should chew them well! They contain important proteins and especially in a smoothie you can leave them in! Even the peel is edible – extraordinary, but theoretically edible!
- Whether a watermelon is ripe, you can figure out with “knocking”. If it sounds dull, it is ripe. If it sounds hollow, you should choose another one. In addition, the smaller the fruit, the more vitamins and minerals it contains. A yellow spot on the skin also indicates its ripeness.
- Their nutritional values per 100 g: calories 39, carbohydrates 8 g, of which sugar: 8 g, protein 1 g, fat 0 g, fibre 0 g. So you can see that it is not only low in fat, but also low in sugar.
- However, due to its high content of bitter substances, you should not consume too much of it, otherwise you could get stomach problems!
The perfect thirst quencher for the summer!
As you can see, the small, green balls contain a concentrated load of nutrients, which refuels you perfectly on hot summer days. Personally, I can hardly eat “heavy food” in summer. Sometimes I can’t even think about eating anything hearty. On those hot summer days, I prepare my recipe for a light watermelon feta salad! Especially for athletes, watermelons are great for compensating for sweat loss and rehydrating. Many studies prove that eating this red fruit prevents partly muscle soreness and aids you in regenerating faster.
If you need more reasons to indulge in them now without a guilty conscience, I don’t know what is! And if you’re looking for easy, vegan summer recipes, I’ve prepared a board for you on Pinterest – click!
Enjoy and stay nuts!
Yours, Rosa 🙂
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Scientific sources for this blog post
Collins, J. K., Wu, G., Perkins-Veazie, P., Spears, K., Claypool, P. L., Baker, R. A., & Clevidence, B. A. (2007). Watermelon consumption increases plasma arginine concentrations in adults. Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.), 23(3), 261–266.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2007.01.005
Cormio, L., De Siati, M., Lorusso, F., Selvaggio, O., Mirabella, L., Sanguedolce, F., & Carrieri, G. (2011). Oral L-citrulline supplementation improves erection hardness in men with mild erectile dysfunction. Urology, 77(1), 119–122.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urology.2010.08.028
Figueroa, A., Sanchez-Gonzalez, M. A., Perkins-Veazie, P. M., & Arjmandi, B. H. (2011). Effects of watermelon supplementation on aortic blood pressure and wave reflection in individuals with prehypertension: a pilot study. American journal of hypertension, 24(1), 40–44.
https://doi.org/10.1038/ajh.2010.142
Lewis, P. B., Ruby, D., & Bush-Joseph, C. A. (2012). Muscle soreness and delayed-onset muscle soreness. Clinics in sports medicine, 31(2), 255–262.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csm.2011.09.009
Medina, S., Domínguez-Perles, R., García-Viguera, C., Cejuela-Anta, R., Martínez-Sanz, J. M., Ferreres, F., & Gil-Izquierdo, A. (2012). Physical activity increases the bioavailability of flavanones after dietary aronia-citrus juice intake in triathletes. Food chemistry, 135(4), 2133–2137.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.07.080
Rimando, A. M., & Perkins-Veazie, P. M. (2005). Determination of citrulline in watermelon rind. Journal of chromatography. A, 1078(1-2), 196–200.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2005.05.009
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