Watermelon is more than just a summer treat—it’s a powerhouse of hydration, nutrients, and antioxidants. With its high water content, watermelon keeps you hydrated and supports vital bodily functions. Packed with vitamins A and C, potassium, magnesium, and lycopene, it offers a range of health benefits.
Studies have shown watermelon may promote heart health, reduce inflammation, and support healthy digestion. Lycopene and cucurbitacin E, found in watermelon, have potential anti-cancer effects, and beta-cryptoxanthin helps protect bones and joints from inflammation-related conditions. Additionally, citrulline can improve exercise performance and relieve muscle soreness.
Enjoying watermelon not only satisfies your taste buds but also contributes to skin health, eye health, and overall wellness. It’s truly the superfood of summer!
Helps you stay hydrated:
Staying hydrated is essential for your body to function properly. Adequate hydration supports various bodily processes, including regulating body temperature, ensuring normal organ function, delivering nutrients to cells, and maintaining alertness.
Consuming foods with high water content can help meet your hydration needs. Watermelon, for instance, is mostly water and can be an excellent choice for daily fluid intake.
Additionally, its high water content contributes to a low calorie density, meaning it provides very few calories relative to its weight. Eating low-calorie-dense foods like watermelon can aid in weight management by helping you feel full for longer.
Packed with nutrients and beneficial plant compounds:
Watermelon is rich in various nutrients, including potassium, magnesium, and vitamins A and C, while also being relatively low in calories.
Here are the nutrients in 1 cup (152 grams) of raw, diced watermelon:
- Calories: 46
- Carbs: 11.5 grams
- Fibre: 0.6 grams
- Sugar: 9.4 grams
- Protein: 0.9 grams
- Fat: 0.2 grams
- Vitamin A: 5% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Vitamin C: 14% of the DV
- Potassium: 4% of the DV
- Magnesium: 4% of the DV
Watermelon is a rich source of citrulline, an amino acid that may enhance exercise performance. Additionally, it contains antioxidants such as vitamin C, carotenoids, lycopene, and cucurbitacin E, all of which are beneficial for your health.
These compounds help combat free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can damage your cells if they accumulate in your body. Over time, this cellular damage may contribute to conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Anti-cancer effects:
Several plant compounds found in watermelon, including lycopene and cucurbitacin E, may have possible anticancer effects.
While study results are mixed, lycopene intake may be associated with a lower risk of some types of cancer, such as prostateTrusted Source and colorectalTrusted Source cancers.
Lycopene is believed to work by lowering Trusted Source blood levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF), a hormone that promotes cell division. Notably, cancer forms when cell division becomes uncontrollable.
Additionally, cucurbitacin E may inhibit Trusted Source tumour growth by promoting your body’s process of destroying and removing cancer cells.
All the same, further human research is necessary.
Improve heart health:
Several nutrients in watermelon may supportTrusted Source heart health.
Heart disease is a leading causeTrusted Source of death worldwide. Lifestyle factors, including the foods you eat, may lower your riskTrusted Source of heart attack and stroke by reducing your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Research suggests that lycopene may help Trusted Source lower cholesterol and blood pressure, both key in cardiovascular health.
Watermelon also contains citrulline, an amino acid that may increaseTrusted Source nitric oxide levels in your body and help your blood vessels expand to lower blood pressure.
Other vitamins and minerals in watermelon include magnesium, potassium, and vitamins A, B6, and C — all of which are healthy and can help your heart and overall health.
Reduce inflammation and oxidative stress:
Inflammation is a key driver of many chronic diseases.
The combination of antioxidants, lycopene, and vitamin C in watermelon may help lowerTrusted Source inflammation and oxidative damage.
This animal studyTrusted Source, noted that watermelon powder given to rats to supplement an unhealthy diet developed less oxidative stress and lower levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein than those in the control group.
Additionally, an 8-week study Trusted Source gave 31 people with obesity and high inflammatory markers 500 mg of vitamin C twice daily. They showed a significant decrease in inflammatory markers compared with the control group.
As an antioxidant, lycopene may also delay the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. But more research is needed on that topic.
Benefits for bones and joints:
Somewhat connected to the effects on inflammation in your body, watermelon may also benefit your bones and joint health.
The fruit contains a natural pigment called beta-cryptoxanthin, which may protect your joints from inflammation. Though it’s limited, research even indicates that over time, less inflammation could help protectTrusted Source you from developing conditions such as osteoporosis or rheumatoid arthritis.
More research is needed.
Help prevent macular degeneration:
The watermelon compound lycopene may have benefits for your eyes.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common eye problem that can cause blindness in older adults.
Lycopene’s role as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound may help prevent and inhibit Trusted Source AMD, though research is limited. This studyTrusted Source, treated eye cells with lycopene found that it decreased the capacity of inflammatory markers to damage cells.
Keep in mind that more research is necessary.
Relieve muscle soreness:
Citrulline, an amino acid found in watermelon, may have benefitsTrusted Source that include improving exercise performance and reducing muscle soreness.
It’s also available as a supplement.
One review Trusted Source found that regular intake of citrulline for at least 7 days improved aerobic performance by increasing the body’s production of nitric oxide, which helps expand blood vessels so that your heart doesn’t need to work as hard to pump blood through your body.
What’s more, some evidence suggests that watermelon itself, not just citrulline, may aid your body after exercise.
Still, more research is needed.
Aid skin health:
Vitamins A and C, which are found in watermelon, are important for skin health.
Vitamin C — either when eaten or applied topically — helps your bodyTrusted Source make collagen, a protein that keeps your skin supple and your hair strong.
A higher intake of vitamin C from food or supplements may decreaseTrusted Source your chances of developing wrinkles and dry skin.
Vitamin A is also important for healthy skin since it helps Trusted Source create and repair skin cells.
Bear in mind that further studies on watermelon specifically are needed.
Helping digestion:
Watermelon contains plenty of water and a small amount of fibre, both of which are necessary for healthy digestion.
Fibre helps Trusted Source keep your bowels regular, while water more efficientlyTrusted Source moves waste through your digestive tract.
Does watermelon have a lot of sugar?
Watermelon does contain natural sugar, though it has less than other fruits. A medium-sized wedge (286g or roughly one-sixth of a watermelon) has about 17.7g of total sugarsTrusted Source in it. This is a healthy fruit or people with diabetes and those monitoring their blood sugar levels, though portion size and how much watermelon you eat are all important to keep in mind. The American Diabetes Association recommends eating fresh, frozen, or canned fruit without added sugars.
Is watermelon a superfood?
Yes, watermelon is considered a superfood. The term “superfood” was created for marketing purposes to help sell certain healthy foods, and it’s generally used for foods that have a lot of nutritional benefits while only having minimal calories. There is no hard or fast rule as to what foods meet that criteria, but they’re generally packed full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. That certainly appliesTrusted Sourc,e to watermelon.
Can you eat watermelon at night?
Since watermelon is mostly water and can help hydrate your body, you can eat this fruit before bed.
Watermelon is a tasty, thirst-quenching fruit that many people enjoy in the heat of summer.
It has a very high water content and provides nutrients like lycopene, citrulline, and vitamins A and C.
Studies suggest that this sweet, red melon may even boost heart health, reduce muscle soreness, and decrease inflammation, though more research is needed.
