More Reasons To Enjoy Watermelon

Watermelon is generally thought of for what it most superficially is: a refreshing, juicy, sweet summer fruit.

Now, its water content alone is actually highly beneficial in several ways, but research has highlighted more benefits than just that!

First let’s quickly touch on those “several ways”:

• One way is because enjoying food that contains water is generally more hydrating than just drinking water: Things Many People Forget When It Comes To Hydration
• Another way is that its volume (which is only possible because of its water content) increases satiety too: Some Surprising Truths About Hunger And Satiety

For how it goes beyond these benefits, though, let’s get to…

Worth its weight

Examining data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), researchers (Dr. Kristin Fulgoni et al.) found that people who enjoy watermelon in their diet tend to have higher overall diet quality and higher intake of fiber, magnesium, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, lycopene, and carotenoids.

You can read about it here: Watermelon Intake Is Associated with Increased Nutrient Intake and Higher Diet Quality in Adults and Children, NHANES

But that only shows the association, not that the watermelon brought all of that (although it does bring all those nutrients, but cannot be given the credit for the entire overall higher diet quality). So, what of watermelon’s proven benefits?

Another plucky band of researchers (Dr. Mônica Volino-Souza et al.) did a review of vascular health evidence reports that show how watermelon and its compounds, especially l-citrulline, support endothelial function and nitric oxide* production.

^{*For understanding why this is important, we recommend: The Nitric Oxide (NO) Solution – by Dr. Nathan Bryan & Janet Zand}

The reviewed clinical and experimental evidence also shows improvements in vascular function measures, including blood vessel dilation and circulation-related markers.

There were other indicators of even more extra benefits too, such as maintaining vascular function during hyperglycemia, but the evidence was at best preliminary from that particular study (remember, this paper was a review of studies, so this was just one study of many in the paper):

❝We acknowledge that while the sample size was small (18 healthy young men and women) and more research is needed, this study adds to the current body of evidence supporting regular intake of watermelon for cardio-metabolic health.❞

You can read this paper in full, here: Current Evidence of Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) Ingestion on Vascular Health: A Food Science and Technology Perspective

You may be wondering whether someone will kindly do both sets of science together, and the answer is yes, and for that we must look to Dr. Vania Paschoalin et al., whose narrative review focuses on watermelon’s nutritional composition, emphasizing its high water content, lycopene, vitamin C, and l-citrulline as key bioactive components.

They also discuss how l-citrulline and l-arginine contribute to nitric oxide production, which—as we’ve noted—is important for vascular relaxation and cardiovascular health.

One last thing this paper gets into is watermelon’s additional cardioprotective effects through antioxidant activity, as well as the improved vascular function that we talked about.

You can read this paper in full for free, here: Watermelon Nutritional Composition with a Focus on L-Citrulline and Its Cardioprotective Health Effects—A Narrative Review

Want to learn more?

Check out:

Lycopene’s Benefits For The Gut, Heart, Brain, & More ← tomatoes are famous for their lycopene content, but watermelon has more!

Enjoy!