There is probably no vegetable, fruit or berry in the world that overweight people would not try to use to lose weight. Watermelon is no exception. Many sites report that it helps to reduce weight, cleanses the body of toxins, supplies it with vitamins, minerals and other useful substances. Is this real or fantasy? Let us consider this issue.
Properties of watermelon
Watermelon is a treasure trove of vitamins and minerals that provide tremendous benefits to your body. Have you ever come across such phrases when surfing the Internet? Probably yes. But in reality, a watermelon is not a treasure. Rather a small puddle. There are few vitamins and minerals in it. To get at least some of them in daily doses, watermelon should be absorbed in pounds.
Watermelon has a strong diuretic effect. Surely, the fans of this product know that you can enjoy a good watermelon only if you are not far from the toilet. Some sources claim that due to its diuretic effect, watermelon "washes the kidneys" and reduces the chance of urolithiasis. He had to disappoint you - that is unlikely.
The buds are "washed" regularly without watermelon. There is a small chance that with its help you can really reduce the risk of 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 if watermelon prevents urolithiasis, as this information can only be obtained during clinical trials, which no one has yet done.
The benefits of watermelon for weight loss
Watermelon is a food product. It has little nutritional value. It contains carbohydrates, although not many. Therefore, it would be foolish to say that watermelon contributes to weight loss. No, you can get better at it, just like any other food. If you eat a watermelon in pounds, you will not see a slim figure.
Of course, watermelon does not burn fat. The more you eat it, the rounder your belly will become. But if you consider watermelon not as a means of weight loss, but as a dietary product, you can find some undoubted benefits.
- Low calorie content.Obviously, the fewer calories a food contains, the more appealing it is to obese people. Even a sweet watermelon contains less than 30 kcal per 100 g. This is less than most fruits or berries. The nutritional value of watermelon is lower than that of some vegetables. Having eaten a kilo of watermelon, you will probably not feel hungry, but at the same time, only 300 kcal will enter your body.
- High water content.Why is this good? First, water provides a large volume of watermelon. When you eat it, you feel that there is something in your stomach. Thus, it satisfies hunger, even for a while. Second, a person trying to lose weight needs to drink plenty of water, but often forgets. Lack of fluid in the body causes a decrease in the effectiveness of the diet. 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 dietary product. But we must remember that most of the calories enter the body with carbohydrates. In addition, they are simply sugars that are digestible 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 to fat. Watermelon has one of the highest glycemic indexes of all fruits and berries. This is its biggest flaw. And this is the only reason that watermelon should not be consumed in very large quantities.
Among the disadvantages, we also note the low content of insoluble dietary fiber. Watermelon can not satisfy hunger for long. It fills the stomach only for a short time, as it consists mainly of water, which quickly enters the intestines and then the blood. There is very little fiber in watermelon, which could create the necessary volume and retain fluids in the digestive system.
Watermelon can be a quick snack to kill your appetite. The simple sugars contained in its composition enter the systemic circulation almost immediately, interact with vascular receptors and dull hunger. But the feeling of fullness passes quickly, as the concentration of glucose in the blood quickly returns to normal.
Production
With the help of watermelon, you can lose weight, but only if you use it instead of other foods with more calories. You should not abuse watermelon, as it contains simple sugars and has a high glycemic index. It has low nutritional value, but consuming watermelon in large quantities can get a lot of calories. In addition, these calories will enter the body with simple carbohydrates - the most dangerous nutrients for the figure.