- Watermelon has more lycopene than raw tomatoes. Lycopene is a powerful carotenoid antioxidant that gives fruits and vegetables a pink or red color. It is often associated with tomatoes, but watermelon has a more concentrated source.
Compared to a large fresh tomato, one cup of watermelon has 1.5 times the lycopene (6 mg in watermelon compared to 4 mg in a tomato).
- Watermelon juice may relieve muscle soreness. If you have a juicer, try juicing about one-third of fresh watermelon and drinking its juice prior to your next workout.
A study found that men who drank natural unpasteurized watermelon juice prior to their workouts had reduced muscle soreness 24 hours later, compared to those who drank a placebo.
- Watermelon is a fruit AND a vegetable! Watermelon is related to cucumbers, pumpkin and squash. That’s because it’s part vegetable and part fruit.
- You can eat watermelon rind and seeds. Most people throw away the watermelon rind. You can try putting it in a blender with some lime for a healthy, refreshing treat.
While many people prefer seedless watermelon varieties, black watermelon seeds are edible and healthy. They contain iron, zinc, protein and fiber.
- It’s mostly water. This might surprise you, but watermelon is more than 91% water. This means that eating watermelon on a hot summer day is a tasty way to help you stay hydrated.
- Some watermelons are yellow. The Yellow Crimson watermelon has yellow flesh with a sweeter, honey flavor than the more popular pink-fleshed Crimson Sweet. It’s likely that yellow watermelon offers its own unique set of nutritional benefits, but most research to date has focused on the pink-fleshed varieties.
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