Calories in Watermelon
Watermelon is a popular fruit that hardly needs any introduction. A great treat for a hot day, watermelon grows as a trailing vine on the ground and has its origins from the continent of Africa, but is now successfully grown all over the world. Chief watermelon-producing regions include China, USA, and countries around the Mediterranean Sea.
Watermelons are best eaten chilled and raw on a hot day, because they seem to have this remarkable ability to quench thirst. And that is because watermelons are mostly made up of water – Watermelons are 92% water.
There are many varieties of watermelons although the most usual one is the red fleshed Citrullus lanatus. Besides watermelons, there are other related melons like rockmelons or cantaloupes, honeydews, horned melons, and muskmelons, which from the nutritional point of view, are mostly similar. All melons have about 5% natural sugars, some carbohydrate or starch, and about 1% fiber. A few melon types have a little bit of protein, but it is negligible. There is also next to no fat content.
Watermelon seeds can be safely eaten too, and many people like to roast them and then serve them up salted just like pumpkin seeds. There are about 10 mg of zinc in every 100 g of watermelon seeds. There are also seedless watermelons now available for those who don’t like the seeds.
Watermelon contains good amounts of potassium, a lot of beta carotene, a lot of lycopene (one of the highest among fruits or vegetables), a little bit of vitamin C, plenty of fructose, but not much of other nutrients. Lycopene is the red pigment (a type of carotene) that gives watermelon its red color, and is a great antioxidant, which helps to protect your cells from the damaging effects of oxidation.
Watermelon juice is also high in phytonutrients, enzymes, and other trace elements, which make it useful as a nutritious fruit drink. It Asia, it is believed that drinking watermelon juice is good for the kidneys. The juice has a mild diuretic effect.
The rind of watermelon can also be eaten, and it contains the amino acid citrulline (from which watermelon derives its scientific name), which is believed to be able to relax muscles and blood vessels, leading some to speculate that it may have a Viagra-like effect!
A 100 g serving of watermelon contains approximately 30 calories, 6 g of sugar, 0.6 g of protein, trace fat, 0.4 g of dietary fiber, and 7 g of carbohydrate.
