Wonderful Watermelon

A friend of mine is very pregnant, and she has been obsessed with watermelon for the past few weeks. When I say obsessed, I mean that she’s sent her husband all over town looking for the sweetest, ripest watermelons to satisfy her craving—several times over.

Pregnancy aside, however, watermelon is pretty darn delicious. Plus, it’s a healthy summer snack that will keep you hydrated all summer long.

Why eat watermelon?
As its name suggests, watermelon is made up of a lot of water—approximately 92 percent, in fact! With temperatures soaring this summer, many of us are likely not consuming enough water.  Juicy fruits such as watermelon can top up our water intake, reducing our risk of dehydration and heat stroke.

Watermelon is also packed with the free radical-fighting antioxidants vitamins A and C. Just one cup of watermelon contains 18 percent of our daily intake of vitamin A, an essential vitamin necessary for immune function, reproduction, and vision. The same serving size provides a whopping 21 percent of our daily recommended intake of vitamin C, which is crucial for tissue growth and repair.

Also found in high concentrations in watermelon is the carotenoid lycopene. Lycopene is the red pigment found in a variety of fruits and veggies such as tomatoes, grapefruit, and guava. Among lycopene’s claims to fame is its potential to protect the body against cancer, macular degeneration, and cardiovascular disease.

A word of warning
While watermelon does provide our bodies with ample nutrients, many of its calories come from sugars (10 g per 1 cup serving); therefore, it’s important we treat watermelon as more of a summer treat, and not a main food group.

To incorporate sweet, summery watermelon into your diet, try out one of these alive-tested recipes.

• Minty Watermelon and Cucumber Refresher
• Wonderful Watermelon Juice
• Watermelon Rooibos Frappe
• Watermelon and Cucumber Soup with Seared Summer Sea Scallop
• Melon Meets Its Match
• Greek Watermelon