Watermelon juice is one of those unique juices which does not differ much from the actual food source, owing to the fact that watermelon as a fruit is almost 90% water. Not surprisingly, you do not lose nutrition when consuming watermelon juice instead of water, making it much more convenient to helping you get more of this superfood in your diet.
Wondering what some of the benefits of consuming more watermelon juice are? Let’s check them out now.
1. Rich Source Of Fiber
There are two fundamentally different types of fiber; the insoluble type, and soluble fiber. Watermelon contains approximately a 50-50 split of both types of fiber, but the type that makes it into the juice is the soluble variety. Soluble fiber acts as an important source of nutrition for the probiotic bacteria residing in your intestines, enabling them to fulfill their mandated functions.
Soluble fiber also plays a role in maintenance of healthy cholesterol levels, as it is able to remove bile acids from circulation, which in turn causes the utilization of cholesterol to increase.
2. Reduction In Asthma Symptoms
Asthma is a complex respiratory disease that is believed to have an underlying immune component. Normal airways do not become hyperspastic in response to common allergens, whereas an asthmatic is easily triggered by these very same allergens and a massive immune system response occurs.
Watermelon juice may help assist with management of asthma symptoms thanks to presence of vitamin C and assorted bioflavonoids which help reduce the frequency of asthma attacks experienced, or overall severity.
3. Management Of Blood Pressure
One of the most underrated, yet significant benefits that consumption of watermelon juice can help with is the management of your blood pressure. Watermelon is a rich source of the amino acid L citrulline, which is a potent vasodilator capable of increasing blood vessel diameter and allowing ease of circulation. This has a very positive benefit on reducing systolic blood pressure, allowing for a reduction in the need for medication.
The presence of copious amounts of potassium also does its fair share to help optimize blood pressure levels, as potassium and sodium have important regulatory effects on blood and fluid volume.
4. Excellent Source Of Rehydration
Following a bout of diarrhea electrolyte levels may be disrupted as a result of significant excretion. It is important to address rehydration via consumption of a rehydration salt, or by drinking watermelon juice. As previously alluded to, watermelon juice is a rich source of potassium, which along with sodium dictate fluid and electrolyte balance.
Sodium is widely abundant and found in a number of foods we often consume, but potassium is considered much rarer. However, you must let common sense prevail. In cases of acute dehydration medical intervention should be sought. We would therefore advise consumption of watermelon juice following less critical cases, such as following athletic exertion.
5. Promotes The Health Of Skin And Hair
The two things that have the most significant impact on causing premature aging have to be excessive sun exposure and a suboptimal diet. While watermelon juice will not necessarily safeguard you from the danger of the sun, it can help fortify your diet by ensuring your intake of vitamin A and C are enhanced.
Vitamin A is a powerful antioxidant that can reduce the impact of free radical damage on the skin, while vitamin C plays a necessary role in the synthesis of collagen-one of the body’s main structural proteins that help to make up skin, hair and other connective tissue. Not to forget that watermelon juice is extremely hydrating, and what you do is offer your skin very good nutritional support.
6. For Post Workout Muscle Soreness
The discomfort experienced the next day following a workout (better known as DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness) is unavoidable to an extent, but what you can control is how much pain you feel. Consumption of watermelon juice as part of your post workout nutrition and on the days following exercise can reduce the severity of pain by facilitating the removal of lactic acid and other metabolites that accumulate in muscle and trigger the start of inflammatory pain cascade.
This is made possible thanks to the citrulline found in watermelon that improves circulation to and from muscle cells.
7. Helps Benefit Heart Health
Watermelon juice benefits your heart in multiple ways, such as by helping to reduce cholesterol levels, optimizing your blood pressure and also decreasing your relative risk of experiencing stroke. The presence of numerous antioxidants in watermelon juice also decrease the likelihood of atherosclerotic blockages developing on the inside of your blood vessel walls, further reducing your risk of heart attacks.
8. Supports The Health Of Your Eyes
While watermelon juice may not be your first choice when looking for foods that support the well-being of your eyes, it contains two very important nutrients in the form of vitamin A and lycopene, both of which positively benefit visual acuity and reduce the natural progression of macular degeneration many people experience.
Age-related macular degeneration is accelerated relative to the rate of oxidative and inflammatory processes, but these two nutrients are effective antioxidants that can slow the rate of oxidative damage.
9. Natural Viagra
A closely guarded secret by a few men is the fact that watermelon juice is their safe, yet very effective natural version of the erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra. Much of its actions on improving erectile potency are due to citrulline, which has a mechanism of action not very different from prescription ED medication.
There is no stigma in drinking more watermelon juice either, is there? So are you waiting for, take the secret for a “test drive”.
10. May Reduce Cancer Risk
Consumption of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables is advocated as the best steps you can take to reduce your cancer risk, and while the risk reduction is not absolute, watermelon juice is especially beneficial on certain types, such as prostate cancer, owing to the presence of lycopene. Another beneficial compound is one by the name of Cucurbitacin E, found abundantly in bitter gourd, purportedly one of the best cancer preventing foods.
Be sure to combine watermelon juice with many other colored fruits and veggies (or juices) for maximal benefit.
11. Promotes Digestive Health
The soluble fiber as previously mentioned, is a great source of nutrition for the probiotic bacteria living in your intestines. The health of these bacteria coincide with your digestive health, and in turn your regularity, decreasing the likelihood of you experiencing constipation.
It also means that nutrient absorption from food is improved, so that deficiencies do not open up.
12. Reduces Risk Of Diabetes
Even though you may think that watermelon juice is sugar heavy, watermelons are in fact much lower in calories (and hence, sugars) that many other fruits. In addition to this, L citrulline is eventually converted into L-arginine, another amino acid which has a regulatory role on insulin sensitivity.
It is for this reason that watermelon juice is not contraindicated in the least when trying to manage/prevent diabetes.
Conclusion
Watermelon juice is extremely healthy and nutrient dense, which is why it makes sense to consume more of it. And why not? It is naturally sweet, available worldwide, and considered a favorite of people from all walks of life.
See Also
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