A melon is a fruit that belongs to a plant from the Cucurbitaceae family. This fruit is fleshy and sweet. Typically, most people eat melon as a fresh fruit after cutting it and peeling of its skin. However, some people also preserve it in different forms like pickles as well. Melon is highly beneficial when it comes to health benefits and nutrition value. It is a healthy summer snack that is craved by many.
Melons are widely grown and cultivated in warmer regions of the world like Pakistan. I know you won’t believe it but, botanically, melon is a berry. Some people also call it Pepo. There several types of melons and each type may vary in shape, sizes, color, textures, and flavor. Furthermore, there are some distinctive indicators to identify the ripeness of different types of melons.
For instance, Cantaloupes and Netted Melons give off a sweet odor when they are ripe. Furthermore, they fall off from the stalk once they are ripe. On the other hand, Casabas and Honeydews change their color and turn yellow when they are ripe and ready to be cut from the vine. Besides that, they also ripen really late and mature slowly which is why they are known as winter melons. Now, let’s have a look at the countless health benefits of melon.
Health Benefits of Melons:
Since melons have higher nutritional value, they also have numerous health benefits. In this section, we will discuss some of the health benefits of Melon in detail. So, let’s dig into it!
1. Prevents Dehydration:
When it comes to the contents of melon, it consists of 90% water. This is the reason why it is a good source to eliminate dehydration. It prevents conditions like dehydration as well as constipation, headaches, and dizziness (which are major signs of dehydration). Since it contains 90% water, the water content replaces the need of water in our body and provides our body with hydration.
Furthermore, it promotes healthy kidneys and regulates blood pressure while making sure our body is well hydrated. To check if you are dehydrated make sure to check out for symptoms like less urination, dizziness, headache, painful urination, dry skin, etc.
2. Powerful Antioxidants:
Melons are a source of powerful antioxidants. Melons contain carotenoids, known as beta-carotene, which give melons its rich and vibrant color. Basically, 2 beta-carotene isomers convert into Vitamin A after digestion. As you know Vitamin A itself has very significant antioxidant properties.
These antioxidants help your body to fight free radicals which attack the cells in your body. Therefore, consuming melon offers benefits like eye health, a healthy immune system, and healthy red blood cells as well. The production of antioxidants may also help in fighting cancer cells and prevent the growth of tumors.
3. Provides Aid in Healing Sunburns:
Melon aids in healing sunburns when it is applied directly on to the sunburned area. It provides photo-protective effects. If a melon is applied directly onto the sunburnt area, the extracts increases antioxidant levels and reduce the number of sunburned cells. Melon contains certain compounds that helps to fight sunburns. It also increases the melanin levels on our skin which in return help fight the sunburn.
Although, if ingested for sunburns it might not work as proficiently. It doesn’t remove the need for sun protection. That way, it will only help our body to fight and help us recover from sunburns.
4. Lowers Blood Pressure:
Melon as a fruit help in regulating our blood pressure. Melons are one of the fruits that have low levels of sodium and higher levels of potassium. In 100g of melons there is about 182mg of Potassium and 9mg of sodium. This combination of nutrients helps reducing high blood pressure. Due to this fact, it can be really beneficial for people who have high blood pressure. In addition, this can also help reduce the chances of stroke and heart attack.
5. Promote Eye Health:
With nutrients like Vitamin C and A, melons also contain lutein and zeaxanthin. The combination of these two ingredients in melons help our eyes filter out the blue light rays. This is the reason why experts believe that it plays a very important role when it comes to eye health.
It protects the health of our eyes from deteriorating. This also helps us protect our eyes from Age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
6. Digestion:
Melon are rich in water as well as fiber. These two nutrients can help our body fight constipation and with that, promote digestion. It promotes the healthy functioning of our digestive tract as well.
According to a research conducted by Jo Ann Hattner, MPH, RD, the fiber contents in melon fuel up our colon cells which in return regulate our digestion. The fiber reaches our intestine and combines with water and creates soft bowel movement which makes it easier to pass stool. In addition to that, it also makes our bowel movements more regular and help in curing constipation.
7. Skin and Hair:
Melons are rich in vitamin A and vitamin C. Vitamin A promotes the growth of our tissues which includes are skin as well as hair. Vitamin C is a source of producing collagen in our body which is good when it comes to hair growth and reducing hair loss.
Aside from that, melons also have nutrients like vitamins E, vitamins B, folate, iron, selenium and zinc which also promote the health of our skin and hair. One of the major nutrient that is present in abundance is water which is great for our skin as it provides our skin healing properties as well as hydrating properties.
8. Anti-Aging:
The anti-aging nutrient that is present in melons is collagen. Collagen promotes the health of our skin, speeds up the healing process and fights aging cells as well. Collagen provides elasticity to our skins and also provides it with the properties to heal scarring and dryness.
There was a study conducted which proved that women who drank drinks mixed with collagen for 12 weeks said that they experienced more skin hydration and that their wrinkles started reducing as compared to the control group.
The consumption of collagen in the form of melon helps fight premature aging. This helps in keeping you look younger than your age!
9. Great Source of Lycopene:
Lycopene is essential for our body. Lycopene is usually found in tomatoes but when it comes to melons, they are really abundant with lycopene. Lycopene reduces the chance of heart attack and strokes. Along with that Lycopene also helps fight cancer in our body.
Lycopene also reduces LDL cholesterol levels which are bad for the health of our heart. Lycopene also increase HDL cholesterol levels which our beneficial for our hearts. This is one reason why it reduces the chances of heart attack in our bodies.
These are some of the major health benefits that are provided to us by the consumption of melons. There are also other countless benefits of melons which make them so “fruitful” (pun intended) for us!
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