Thursday, June 28, 2007
Nutritional Value of Water Melon
There are more to Watermelon Than We Think
Watermelon is a fruit that has lot of nutritional value. It is summer time, watermelon is a thirst quencher. Don't think that watermelon is high in calories,contains only sugar and water but, this sweet red fruit does pack more than we think!
A watermelon contains about 90% of water and about 50 calories.Approximately 44 of these calories do come from sugar, but this is a natural, healthy fruit sugar. Let me tell you that sugar is a vital nutrient for fueling our energy, and it is the sole source of fuel for our brain. Along with water and sugar, watermelon also contains vitamin C, has just a trace of fat without cholesterol. Not a bad deal I think, but the best news is about its color.
Watermelon contains the phytochemical lycopene, one of our colorful disease preventing cartenoids! Watermelon is red, because it contains nature's chemicals in the form of red pigments just like the tomato.
"Watermelon is fat free and it contains vitamins A, B6, C, and thiamin. A cup and a half of watermelon contains about 9 to 13 milligrams of lycopene. On average, watermelon has about 40 percent more lycopene than raw tomatoes. Red, ripe flesh is the best indicator of the sweetest and most nutritious watermelon, though it's hard to choose the ripest melon when it's uncut".
Watermelon definitely packs more than sugar and water. It packs a lot of Lycopene even when it's raw! Want to up your intake of lycopene and not eating spaghetti and meatballs tonight with tomato sauce? Try a cup of fresh sweet red watermelon!
Labels: Nutritional value of WaterMelon, watermelon
