About Watermelon

Watermelon originates from southern Africa; however, China produces almost 75% of the watermelon in the world.  There are more than 1,000 varieties of watermelon.

Nutrition Benefits of Watermelon

Watermelon is comprised of over 90% water.  It is filled with Lycopene – which is a carotenoid antioxidant that makes it red.  Watermelon actually contains more lycopene than tomatoes – which is the primary health benefit that tomatoes are known for.  Lycopene is thought to be the best of the carotenoids.

Watermelon also contains an amino acid called Ditrulline – which gets converted into arginine – which is converted into Nitric Oxide.  Nitric oxide helps relax your muscles and dilate your arteries to increase blood flow.  Therefore – it is linked to helping reduce blood pressure and helping athletes with energy and endurance.

Other benefits that watermelon has been linked to are relieving muscle soreness, stroke prevention, reducing risk of ovarian cancer, cardiovascular health, bone health, and anti-inflammatory.

Smoothie Tips

In our recipes that call for Watermelon – we are likely using this as the liquid source for the smoothie.

While you can eat watermelon rinds and they are very healthy.  But we don’t really like the taste of them in our recipes, so we don’t use the rinds ourselves.