#CALORIES IN WATERMELON FREE#

Toast watermelon seeds and add to salads or in place of pumpkin or sunflower seeds in recipes. Or, leaving the rind on, grill wedges (about 2 minutes per side) to caramelize the fruit’s sugars, and serve plain or with a sauce made from honey, garlic, and chili oil or chili crisp. Try combining watermelon with peaches, mint, a little feta cheese, and farro for a summery whole-grain dish. You can also spice it up with salt, pepper, lime, or chili as a snack or to add to a salad. You can freeze watermelon chunks or crushed watermelon to make ice cubes to use in drinks or smoothies, or partly freeze it to make a cool, refreshing, slushy treat. It is also uniquely rich in a compound called L-citrulline, which can help relax blood vessels, thereby improving blood flow and helping to control blood pressure.Įat watermelon fresh off the rind, mix it into a cold tomato-watermelon gazpacho, or crush it into juice. The redder and sweeter the flesh, the more nutritious the melon, the USDA says.īeyond lycopene, USDA researchers have identified 1,500 phytonutrients in watermelon, many of which have anti-inflammatory properties. According to the USDA, watermelon has an average of about 40 percent more lycopene than raw tomatoes (although cooked tomato products are the best source). Tomatoes, pink and red grapefruit, and guava are among the other lycopene-rich foods. In fact, watermelon is unique in that it’s one of the few foods that are packed with this pigment.

“It may also help protect against heart disease.”

#CALORIES IN WATERMELON FREE#

Antioxidants help fight free radicals, which can cause cell damage. “Like all phytonutrients, lycopene appears to protect against some cancers, such as prostate cancer and breast cancer,” Sasson says. However, the nutrient watermelon is most known for isn’t a vitamin or a mineral, Sasson says, but a phytonutrient called lycopene-a powerful antioxidant that gives the fruit’s flesh its characteristic reddish-pink hue. At just 40 calories, a cup of watermelon will give you about 13 percent of the daily value of vitamin C and small amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin A.

Calories in watermelon