What is useful watermelon for the human body

For many people, watermelon is a taste of childhood. At one time, even the writer Mark Twain called this juicy and fragrant fruit angel food - it is hard to disagree with it.

This berry has a lot of useful properties that improve human health. The composition of watermelon contains in the proper amount antioxidants and other substances that are so important for the body. It is impossible, interested in proper nutrition, to pass by this wonderful product.

What does a watermelon consist of?

This fruit is an annual herbaceous plant, and belongs to the pumpkin family. We will deal with the chemical elements of the berry: the product consists of about ten percent of sucrose, glucose and fructose. And if the last two substances are formed after the fruit ripens, then watermelon accumulates sucrose gradually during long-term storage of the berry.

The pulp contains:

1. A large amount of proteins, pectin, phosphorus, potassium and organic iron.
2. A lot of B-group vitamins and folic acid.
3. Do not forget about ascorbic acid, magnesium salts, iron and alkaline elements.
4. A quarter of the composition in watermelon seeds is an oil similar in appearance to almond oil.

Thus, one plate filled with pulp contains more than fifteen percent of vitamins A- and B-groups, which are necessary at the daily rate for a healthy lifestyle. Do not forget about useful minerals, without which the body can not do. And, of course, watermelon contains lycopene, which works like an antioxidant, and is not contained in such a volume in any other product (be it a vegetable or fruit).

Watermelon has an extremely low calorie content (about forty units per total volume), contains about 10 grams of sugar and zero percent fat.

Detailed analysis of beneficial properties

Watermelons grown in the normal period have healing properties: cleansing the body, saturating with a complex of vitamins and water. It can serve as a substitute for sweet foods for patients with diabetes, and also contributes to the "retention" of weight.

For medicinal purposes, in addition to pulp, peel and watermelon seeds are used.

1. The berry is valued for its strong diuretic properties, while the product does not harm the kidneys and urinary tract.
2. It is also good against inflammation and to reduce fever, choleretic and general strengthening effect.
3. Eating watermelon leads to the normalization of metabolic processes and increased intestinal motility.
4. Thanks to the conclusion of cholesterol, it is suitable for a fasting diet for diseases such as gout, arthritis and obesity.
5. Beneficial effect on the liver (elimination of toxins, the fight against cirrhosis, cholelithiasis, chronic type cystitis, type A hepatitis).

To summarize the main benefits of this fruit:

• normalization of digestive processes;
• reduced calories in the diet;
• fight against toxins and slags;
• improved blood formation (improves complexion);
• reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes;
• improving the condition of the skin (the skin becomes younger: it becomes smooth and soft like a baby);
• beneficial effects on the kidneys and liver (discomfort disappears);
• normalization of pressure (increased activity);
• suitable for fighting colds (due to vitamins).

In many respects, according to these properties (for example, improving the immune system), melon is similar to watermelon, but it contains a large amount of sugar, and this is contraindicated for diet food.

Watermelon juice

The whole berry itself, as well as its juice, have similar beneficial qualities, although freshly squeezed watermelon is not particularly popular in our area. This is rather strange because a liquid is more convenient than pulp when it comes to preventive therapeutic meals.

Rubbing ice cubes from watermelon liquid into the skin of the face and areas around the neck is very effective. After the procedure, you should wait a little more than ten minutes and then rinse off the juice, after which you should rinse the skin with water and apply a little face cream.

Against heartburn and heaviness in the stomach does not hurt to drink a mug of watermelon nectar. It should be drunk half an hour before a meal or in the intervals between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, for example, to restore the body from the consequences of a heavy meal. Juice reduces edema, removes kidney stones, restores water-salt balance, eliminates constipation and salt deposits in the skeleton, and saves from toxins during chemotherapy courses.

Watermelon seeds

Protein, unsaturated fat that removes excess cholesterol, mineral and vitamin complex - this is an incomplete list of the advantages of watermelon seeds.

For gourmets, you can fry dry seeds, previously washed with saline, in a pan without using oil until they are blackened. The finished product is suitable for dressing salads and soups.

Watermelon peel

1. This part of the fetus helps with poor urination, but does not harm the urinary tract and renal system. Crusts must be dried, crushed (in the amount of two tablespoons per 250 ml), pour hot water and wait until they are infused. The tool is taken orally to cleanse the urinary system three to four times a day for half a glass.
2. With a headache, a fresh crust is applied to the forehead, and with excessive tanning of the skin or from the effects of insect bites, the affected areas are wiped with a moist crust.

Can I use watermelon for pregnant women?

The fruit is perfect for women during pregnancy, and during critical days and colds, the berry eliminates weakness and pain.
Watermelon has a moisturizing and nourishing effect, both outside and inside.

A pregnant woman, eating watermelon as a food, will saturate the body with folic acid, which restores energy, removes heartburn and puffiness - frequent companions during pregnancy.

However, there is a risk of poisoning, so care must be taken. In addition, the abuse of watermelon for women with a stomach, who already have compression of the bladder, leads to increased intestinal functioning.

As for young children (up to the age of three) - it is better not to feed them this sweetness because of a possible allergy.

Purchase Precautions

Everything that was described above is related to quality fruits, because if the watermelon has damage, nitrates and other harmful elements, then the consequences of using the product will not be the best. Dishonest producers and sellers can add various chemical compounds to the ground when growing fruit, or fill the fruit with syrup and dye, for this reason you can come across a watermelon harmful to the body. Consequences: poisoning, inflammation, an allergy attack.

What is important to pay attention to when choosing:

1. If a watermelon lies on the ground under open and harmful sunlight or near a dusty road, it is likely that many microbes, heavy metals and various carcinogens of all kinds will enter the fetus.
2. Inspect the watermelon: if there is a bruise, if the goods are cracked. Damage leads to the penetration of hazardous dirt.The fruit should be clean, the crust is usually shiny. The berry should have a natural rounded shape for the fruit without curved sides.

If you follow these simple tips, the likelihood of buying a quality and tasty product will increase several times.

How to determine the ripeness and taste of the fetus

First of all, it is worth taking a look at the appearance of a watermelon. It should be large and not very heavy, have a dry peduncle, a small yellowish speck may be present on it, and the stripes should be clear and bright. Knock on the crust - the sound must be deaf. If you squeeze the fetus - it should begin to crack loudly. The shell is shiny and without damage (cuts and deformations). Sounds, the state of the tail and the brightness of the picture are the main signs of a ripe and tasty watermelon.

Berry is popularly called a girl, if the bottom of the fruit is flat, there is a brown middle circle. Such a product is sweeter and has fewer seeds. Boys have a convex lower part with a small circle.

Can a watermelon harm health?

This treat is contraindicated for eating with the following health problems:

• malfunctioning of the genitourinary system;
• if the kidneys contain stones of a large phosphate type;
• exacerbated a severe disease of a chronic type;
• bloating;
• berry allergy.

Like other fresh fruits, this fruit often leads to abdominal pain.

Please note that this delicacy should be consumed before the main meal or for its place, so as not to overfill the stomach. The reason is simple: the stomach digests the fruit too quickly, and other foods slower, which leads to the creation of the so-called congestion.

Watermelon grown in early autumn can be stored until the end of the year. The best choice: goods from Astrakhan and Volzhsk, they have good indicators against other varieties. Storage temperature: just over one degree. Humidity should not be small, and the best place to put fruit is a balcony. Watermelons do not put in the refrigerator!

The best way to preserve the berry is to smear the fruit shell with melted paraffin, and, wrapping it in a net, hang it on a hook to the ceiling so that the watermelon does not deform over a long period.

Observing all the rules of purchase and storage, you can easily feed the whole family with a sweet and healthy delicacy!

Video: the incredible effect of watermelon on the body