There are probably no vegetables, fruits or berries in the world that overweight people would not try to use for the purpose of losing weight. Watermelon is no exception. Many sites say that it helps reduce weight, cleanses the body of toxins, provides it with vitamins, minerals and other useful substances. Is this true or fiction? Let us reflect on this topic.
Watermelon properties
Watermelon is a treasure trove of vitamins and minerals that provide tremendous benefits to your body. Have you ever encountered such phrases while surfing the internet? Probably yes. But in fact, a watermelon is not a treasure. Rather a small puddle. There are few vitamins and minerals in it. To receive at least some of them in daily doses, watermelon must be absorbed in kilograms.
Watermelon has a pronounced diuretic effect. Surely lovers of this product know that you can only enjoy a good watermelon if you are not far from the toilet. Some sources claim that watermelon due to its diuretic effect "flushes the kidneys" and reduces the likelihood of urolithiasis. Forced to disappoint you - that's unlikely.
The buds are "washed" regularly without watermelon. There is a small chance that with its help you can actually reduce the risk of developing urolithiasis. But first, to be convinced of this from your own experience, you would have to eat a watermelon every day for several years. Second, no one knows for sure whether watermelon prevents urolithiasis, as this information can only be obtained during clinical trials that no one has yet performed.
Benefits of watermelon for weight loss
Watermelon is a food product. It has little nutritional value. It contains carbohydrates, although there are not many of them. Therefore, it would be foolish to say that watermelon contributes to weight loss. No, you can also get better from it, just like from any other food. If you eat a watermelon in kilograms, you will not see a slim figure.
Of course, watermelon does not burn fat. The more you eat it, the rounder your stomach becomes. However, if you consider watermelon not as a means of losing weight but as a diet product, you may find some undeniable benefits.
- Low calorie.Clearly, the fewer calories a food contains, the more attractive it is to overweight people. Even a sweet watermelon contains less than 30 kcal per serving. 100 g. This is less than most fruits or berries. The nutritional value of watermelon is lower than for some vegetables. After eating a kilo of watermelon, you probably will not feel hungry, but at the same time, only 300 kcal will enter your body.
- High water content.Why is this good? First, the water provides a large amount of watermelon. When you eat it, you feel that there is something in your stomach. Thus, he gets to satisfy his hunger, albeit for a short time. Second, a person trying to lose weight should drink a lot of water, but often he forgets it. Lack of fluid in the body causes a decrease in dietary efficiency. Along with a watermelon, a person receives a sufficient amount of water.
Disadvantages of watermelon for weight loss
As mentioned above, watermelon has a very low energy value, which gives us reason to call it a diet product. But it must be remembered that most of the calories enter the body with carbohydrates. What's more, they are the simple sugars that are easy to digest and pose the greatest threat to your figure.
Watermelon contains glucose, fructose, sucrose. All of these carbohydrates are rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream and stimulate the release of insulin, which converts glucose into fat. Watermelon has one of the highest glycemic indices among all fruits and berries. This is his biggest mistake. And this is the only reason why watermelon should not be consumed in excessive amounts.
Among the disadvantages, we also note the low content of insoluble dietary fiber. Watermelon can not satisfy hunger for long. It only fills the stomach for a short time, as it mostly consists of water, which quickly penetrates into the intestines and then into the blood. There are very few fibers in watermelon that could create the required volume and hold fluid in the digestive tract.
Watermelon can be a quick snack to kill your appetite. The simple sugars contained in its composition enter the systemic circulation almost instantly, interacting with vascular receptors and dull hunger. However, the feeling of satiety quickly passes as the concentration of glucose in the blood quickly returns to normal.
Production
Using watermelon you can lose weight, but only if you use it instead of other foods with more calorie content. You should not abuse watermelon as it contains simple sugars and has a high glycemic index. It has a low nutritional value, but consuming watermelon in large quantities can give you many calories. In addition, these calories will enter the body with simple carbohydrates - the most dangerous nutrients for the figure.