Watermelon for Weight Loss: Is Watermelon Good for Weight Loss?

Watermelon for Weight Loss: Is Watermelon Good for Weight Loss?

In my 12 years as a personal trainer, clients have frequently asked about the impact of different foods on health and weight loss.

Today I am answering the question is watermelon good for weight loss?

Watermelon is great for weight loss, and here are two big reasons why…

First off, even though it’s sweet, watermelon is low in calories.

Secondly, a whopping 92% of watermelon is water, so it not only keeps you hydrated but also makes you feel full, preventing you from overeating.

Watermelon is super popular because it’s not just sweet but also very refreshing.

Without further ado let’s take a deeper look at the health and weight loss benefits of watermelon.

Is Watermelon Good for You?

Watermelon isn’t just tasty; it’s a rich source of antioxidants and nutrients.

Aside from keeping you hydrated, it might also contribute to various aspects of health and help prevent certain health conditions.

Believed to have been first cultivated over 4,000 years ago in Northeast Africa, watermelon is a sweet and juicy delight, perfect for satisfying your thirst in the summer heat.

This sizable, round fruit features a green rind and vibrant red flesh, boasting a plethora of nutrients, including antioxidants, as well as vitamins A and C.

Watermelon Health Benefits

Here are ten key health benefits of watermelon…

1. Watermelon for Weight Loss

Watermelon can be a helpful addition to your weight loss journey.

However, it’s important to understand that no specific food can target weight loss in a particular area; overall weight loss relies on creating a calorie deficit.

Including about one to two cups of watermelon in your daily diet can support your weight loss efforts.

Try your best not to obsess over the exact amount you eat. Simply enjoy it as part of your meals or as a snack between them.

The great thing about whole foods like watermelon is that their filling nature makes it unlikely for you to overeat, unlike processed foods such as chips.

While it’s possible to lose weight by primarily eating watermelon, it’s not advisable to rely solely on it for weight loss.

A healthy diet should include a variety of foods, even when aiming to lose weight.

Relying on just one type of food puts you at risk of long-term malnutrition.

Even if watermelon could provide most of the nutrients you need, a diet exclusively focused on it wouldn’t be sustainable because it might not satisfy all your nutritional requirements and cravings.

2. Supports Hydration

Maintaining proper hydration is crucial for your body to work effectively.

Various bodily functions, including regulating body temperature, ensuring normal organ function, delivering nutrients to cells, and sustaining alertness, rely on sufficient hydration.

Consuming foods rich in water content can contribute to meeting your body’s hydration needs.

With its impressive 92% water content, watermelon stands out as an excellent choice for fulfilling your daily water requirements.

Moreover, owing to its high water content, this fruit boasts a low calorie density, meaning it provides very few calories for its overall weight.

Including foods with low calorie densities, like watermelon, in your diet may support weight management by keeping you feeling full for an extended period.

3. Might Help Against Cancer

Watermelon contains several plant compounds inside it such as lycopene and cucurbitacin E. These might help protect against cancer.

Scientists have looked into this, and they’re still figuring out if lycopene can really lower the chance of getting certain cancers, like ones in the prostate and colorectal area.

Lycopene seems to work by making the levels of something called insulin-like growth factor (IGF) lower in the blood.

IGF is like a helper that tells cells to divide. Too much dividing can lead to cancer.

Also, cucurbitacin E could slow down how tumours grow.

It does this by telling the body to get rid of damaged cells through a process called autophagy.

But, to be sure, scientists need to do more research with people to know if watermelon really helps prevent cancer.

4. Full of Nutrients and Plant Power

Watermelon is loaded with nutrients like potassium, magnesium, and vitamins A and C. It’s also not too heavy on calories, with just 46 in one cup (152 grams).

Here’s the breakdown for the nutrients in one cup (152 grams) of fresh, 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 also a great source of citrulline, an amino acid that might boost how well you perform during exercise.

And that’s not all—it’s packed with antioxidants like vitamin C, carotenoids, lycopene, and cucurbitacin E.

These special compounds help fight against free radicals, which can damage your cells if they build up in your body.

Over time, this damage caused by free radicals can lead to health issues like diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.

5. Might Help Reduce Inflammation and Stress

Inflammation is a big player in causing many lasting illnesses.

Watermelon has a mix of good stuff like antioxidants, lycopene, and vitamin C that could help bring down inflammation and stop harm from oxidative stress.

In one test, rats were given watermelon powder along with their not-so-healthy food.

They ended up having less stress from oxidation and lower levels of an inflammation sign called C-reactive protein, compared to rats that didn’t get the watermelon powder.

Also, in an 8-week study, 31 people dealing with obesity and having high inflammation got 500 mg of vitamin C twice each day. They saw a big drop in inflammation signs when compared to the group that didn’t get the vitamin C.

Lycopene, which is an antioxidant, might even slow down the start and progress of Alzheimer’s disease. More studies are needed for confirmation.

6. Might Boost Heart Health

Watermelon has various nutrients that could be good for your heart.

Around the world, heart disease is the main reason for people passing away.

It’s important to know that how you live, like what you eat, might lessen your chances of having a heart attack or stroke by bringing down your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Research suggests that lycopene could be helpful in reducing cholesterol and blood pressure. It might also stop damage caused by high cholesterol levels.

In watermelon, there’s citrulline, an amino acid that might increase nitric oxide levels in your body. Nitric oxide helps your blood vessels open up, which lowers blood pressure.

Watermelon is also packed with vitamins and minerals that are good for your heart, like magnesium, potassium, and vitamins A, B6, and C.

7. Could Help Your Digestion

Watermelon is loaded with water and has a bit of fibre, which are both important for digestion.

Fibre is like a traffic director for your bowels, making sure everything keeps moving smoothly.

And water? Well, it helps move waste through your digestive system more easily.

A study with 4,561 adults discovered that those who didn’t drink much and didn’t eat enough fibre were more likely to have trouble with constipation.

8. May Support Skin Well-being

Watermelon carries vitamins A and C, which play a vital role in keeping your skin healthy.

Vitamin C, whether you eat it or put it on your skin, helps your body produce collagen, a protein that maintains your skin’s flexibility and strengthens your hair.

Research suggests that having more vitamin C from food or supplements could lower the chances of getting wrinkles and dry skin.

Vitamin A is also important for good skin since it helps create and fix skin cells.

In one study, animals lacking vitamin A took longer to heal wounds compared to those on a well-rounded diet.

It’s important to note that more studies specifically focusing on watermelon are needed to confirm these effects.

9. Might Ease Muscle Soreness

Watermelon contains citrulline, a special amino acid that could lessen muscle soreness.

You can also find citrulline as a supplement.

In one study, taking citrulline regularly for at least a week made people better at aerobic exercises by increasing the amount of nitric oxide in their bodies.

Nitric oxide helps open up blood vessels, so your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood around.

In an older study, athletes had either plain watermelon juice, watermelon juice mixed with citrulline, or a regular drink. Both watermelon drinks led to less muscle soreness and a faster recovery of the heart rate compared to the regular drink.

More research is needed to be sure about these effects.

10. Could Guard Against Macular Degeneration

A substance in watermelon called lycopene might be good for your eyes.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common eye issue that could lead to blindness in older adults.

Lycopene acts like an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, and it might help stop and control AMD, although there’s not a huge amount of research on this yet.

In a test-tube study where eye cells were treated with lycopene, it seemed to lower the ability of markers causing inflammation to harm the cells.

More human studies are required.

Is Watermelon Good for Weight Loss? – Summary

Watermelon is a great snack for weight loss because it has lots of water and very few calories, which can make you feel full.

It also has useful compounds that might help lower body fat, keep your muscles strong, and ease muscle soreness.

But remember, relying only on watermelon for weight loss isn’t the way to go. It’s best to include it as part of a healthy lifestyle that includes a balanced diet and regular exercise.

Thanks for checking out is watermelon good for weight loss?

Keep pushing.

Speak soon.

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Danny Barrett is a personal trainer and body transformation specialist, but most of his clients come for his terrible jokes. Here’s how he’s spent twelve years helping people to burn fat without crazy workouts or restrictive diets.