The summer season is replete with vegetables, fruits and berries. And at the end of summer comes the time for watermelons. Many people associate summer time with watermelons. Especially in August, you want to constantly eat this tasty and juicy berry. But to enjoy it, you need to be able to choose it. If the watermelon was chosen incorrectly, it will not only be beneficial, but also harmful to the body. But, despite all the benefits of the sweet berry, eating it is not recommended for some people.
- Composition, trace elements and vitamins
- What can you eat?
- Pulp
- Seeds
- Watermelon peel
- What are the health benefits of watermelon?
- For men
- For women
- For children
- What problems does the berry help to cope with?
- Normalization of digestion
- Reducing caloric intake
- Cleansing the body
- Prevention of cardiovascular system and diabetes
- Improving metabolism and skin condition
- Normalization of pressure
- Diuretic effect
- Peculiarities of eating by pregnant women
- Contraindications
Composition, trace elements and vitamins
Watermelon is considered a dietary product due to its low calorie content. There are only 28 kilocalories per 100 grams.
Watermelon pulp contains:
- proteins – 0.6 grams;
- fat – 0.1 grams;
- carbohydrates – 5.8 grams.
In addition, the fruits contain a large amount of vitamins and microelements necessary for human life:
- calcium;
- magnesium;
- iron;
- B vitamins;
- vitamin A;
- vitamin PP;
- beta carotene.
The fruits contain all the nutrients necessary for humans. Regular consumption of pulp helps improve the functioning of internal organs.
Among the beneficial properties of watermelon pulp are the following:
- swelling goes away;
- blood plasma filtration improves;
- has a diuretic and choleretic effect on the body;
- the functioning of the intestinal tract and stomach improves;
- helps remove harmful cholesterol from the body;
- the resistance of the immune system increases;
- Watermelon contains lycopene, one of the antioxidants that has the greatest positive effect on the body;
- waste products are removed from the kidneys.
It is difficult to overestimate the beneficial qualities that the pulp has.
What can you eat?
Traditionally, only the red pulp is eaten. But the peel and seeds are thrown away. It is difficult to imagine that a person would like to eat seeds or watermelon rind. But, for example, watermelon seeds are considered a healthy product; they are no worse than pumpkin seeds. And the peel is often used to prepare potions according to folk recipes.Therefore, there is no need to rush and throw away the leftover watermelon. The peel and seeds may still be useful.
Pulp
It's no secret that watermelon pulp is very healthy. It is used not only as a delicious dessert, but also for weight loss. The pulp helps eliminate waste and toxins, eliminates swelling and removes harmful cholesterol from the body.
Including berries in the diet can improve the condition of the kidneys and liver, since the fruit has a diuretic and choleretic effect.
Thanks to the removal of cholesterol, blood vessels are cleansed and the functioning of the cardiovascular system is normalized. Watermelon acts as a preventative against heart attacks and strokes. Vitamin B, which is found in large quantities in the berry, improves brain function and has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the central nervous system.
Watermelon pulp is also used in cosmetology. It is used to make nourishing masks for hair and face. Watermelon juice is frozen in the refrigerator and wiped on the face. After 15-20 minutes, the juice is washed off. Thanks to watermelon masks, the skin acquires elasticity and a beautiful shade.
Seeds
But not only the pulp is beneficial for the human body. The seeds also have nutritional properties. Medicinal properties of seeds:
- Watermelon seeds contain amino acids that play an important role in the formation and growth of muscle mass.
- They remove heavy metals from the body, so they should be eaten by people who work in hazardous industries.
- Help strengthen the immune system and prevent allergic reactions.
- Improves the condition of the skin.
- Normalize blood pressure and improve the functioning of the nervous system.
- Improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
Medicines are prepared based on watermelon seeds according to traditional medicine recipes.
Watermelon peel
Few people know, but watermelon peel is also very beneficial for the human body. It should be used only if the watermelons do not contain harmful substances. Such berries are most often sold in early summer, when the season has not yet begun.
Nourishing facial masks are made from watermelon peel. They help moisturize the skin, regulate the functioning of the sebaceous glands and relieve swelling. In addition, peel masks have an anti-inflammatory effect.
What are the health benefits of watermelon?
The benefits of watermelon for humans have long been known. Based on it, detox diets are carried out, which remove waste and toxins from the body. The main thing is to choose the right berry, which does not contain a high content of nitrates and other harmful substances. Berry poisoning in summer is common.
For men
For men, watermelon pulp acts similarly to potency enhancing drugs. The berry contains citrulline and lycopene. These substances help dilate blood vessels and increase potency. In addition, regular consumption of watermelon helps cope with stress, normalize blood pressure and improve the functioning of the cardiovascular system. This is important for the male body, because, as you know, most deaths among men occur due to heart problems.
For women
Women can experience the benefits of watermelon if they eat it regularly. Positive effects of watermelon pulp on a woman’s body:
- Quickly saturates the body and promotes weight loss.
- Has a beneficial effect on facial skin.
- Removes harmful substances from the body.
- Folic acid has a positive effect during pregnancy.
- Rejuvenates the body.
Watermelon is often used in cosmetology to prepare face and hair masks.
For children
The usefulness of watermelon for children is due to the high content of vitamins and microelements in the pulp of the berries, which are necessary for a growing body. Watermelon is given even to small children, provided that it does not contain harmful toxins. The main thing is not to give children watermelons in large quantities.
Due to the fact that the pulp has a diuretic effect, this creates additional stress on the child’s kidneys, which are not yet fully formed.
What problems does the berry help to cope with?
Watermelon is considered one of the healthiest berries that can be eaten even by those who are on a diet. Watermelon pulp helps improve human well-being and remove toxins from the body. In addition, watermelon is considered a dietary and low-calorie product that helps reduce weight when consumed regularly.
Normalization of digestion
Watermelon pulp has the unique property of normalizing digestive processes. Thanks to the folic acid content in the berry, the intestinal microflora is restored. And beneficial microorganisms multiply more actively.
With regular consumption of watermelon pulp, the health of a person suffering from constipation returns to normal. If you eat 2 kilograms of pulp per day, you will be able to restore the functioning of the intestines and stomach. Watermelon juice is good for constipation. It is often used instead of a laxative.
Reducing caloric intake
For those people who want to lose weight, watermelon will become an indispensable product. Its caloric content per 100 grams is only 28 kilocalories. You can eat watermelons even before bed.The pulp quickly saturates the stomach, while no extra calories enter the body.
Cleansing the body
Watermelon pulp is often used to cleanse the body of toxins. In order to cleanse the kidneys, you need watermelon and black bread. But the procedure should be carried out only after the doctor’s permission. The course of cleansing is 5-7 days. For every 10 kilogram of a person's weight, 1 kilogram of watermelon is recommended. You should eat no more than 250 grams of black bread per day. This amount must be divided by 4 times. It is best to use bran or whole grain bread.
In the last two days of the watermelon cleanse at night (from 2 to 3) you need to take a hot bath - 30 minutes each. This measure is related to the peculiarities of the urinary system. Due to hot water, the urinary ducts dilate and blood circulates more actively through the blood vessels.
Prevention of cardiovascular system and diabetes
The berry is useful for those people who suffer from heart and vascular diseases, as well as diabetes. The fruits remove excess fluid from the body, thereby relieving the load on the heart and blood vessels.
The pulp helps reduce high blood pressure and strengthens the walls of capillaries and arteries.
Due to the high sugar content in watermelon pulp, it is not recommended for diabetics to abuse it. Preference should be given to not very sweet pink varieties.
Improving metabolism and skin condition
To improve your metabolism, you need to eat watermelon more often. If you periodically arrange fasting days on berries, you can remove toxins, waste, sand and excess moisture from the body. In addition, a watermelon diet helps eliminate excess mineral salts.
The berry also has a positive effect on the skin.Based on it, nourishing masks are made for the face, neck and décolleté. Masks help restore water balance and moisturize the skin. The skin becomes elastic and radiant. Watermelon pulp even helps with sunburn.
Normalization of pressure
Watermelon contains substances that normalize blood pressure. It maintains the elasticity of blood vessels and ensures their permeability. The content of minerals such as arginine and citrulline in the pulp of the berry helps stabilize high blood pressure.
Diuretic effect
Another useful property that the berry has is its diuretic effect. Thanks to the diuretic effect, it is possible to eliminate swelling that occurs due to heart failure, impaired lymphatic drainage and normalize kidney function.
Antioxidants that are part of the berry can become a preventative against cancer and also increase life expectancy.
Berry juice helps dissolve kidney stones and remove sand from the body. Those who want to cleanse their kidneys of stones and sand should definitely include watermelon in their daily diet. Just check with your doctor first.
If you have kidney disease, fasting days and cleansing of the body on a watermelon diet should be carried out under the supervision of a doctor. Otherwise, you can provoke a deterioration in your health.
Peculiarities of eating by pregnant women
It is beneficial for pregnant women to eat watermelon in the early stages. But first you should clarify this point with your gynecologist. Bans on the consumption of fruits are imposed extremely rarely, but it would be a good idea to play it safe.Most pregnant women experience nausea in the morning. Watermelons help improve well-being and relieve attacks.
It is not recommended to eat berries often in the last trimester of pregnancy. Due to the diuretic effect, a pregnant woman constantly experiences the urge to go to the toilet, and this leads to the fact that the overfilled bladder constantly puts pressure on the fetus.
Contraindications
Despite the fact that watermelons are one of the healthiest berries, they also have contraindications.
- diabetes;
- pancreatic diseases;
- pyelonephritis;
- urolithiasis disease;
- nephrosis;
- nephritis;
- diseases of the spleen.
It is not advisable to eat the pulp for people who are allergic to the berry. It is not recommended to give sweet pulp to newborn children. The berry causes colic in young children. It is also important to choose the right fruit. At the beginning of summer it is impossible to buy good berries. These watermelons have a high nitrate content. Therefore, people are often diagnosed with poisoning after eating early fruits.
Otherwise, watermelon is a healthy and tasty delicacy that has a positive effect on the body. You can eat it even late in the evening.