Medicinal value of watermelon

Watermelon is not only delicious, thirst-quenching and detoxifying, but also has certain medicinal value. Today, let’s reveal the medicinal value of watermelon:

1. Medicinal value of watermelon

Also known as the cold melon, it has the richest juice content among all fruits and is known as the king of summer fruits. Because it was introduced from the West, it is called watermelon.

According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, watermelon is sweet and mild in taste, cold in nature, and has the functions of clearing away heat and relieving summer heat, promoting body fluid and quenching thirst, and acting as a diuretic. For patients with "summer bitterness syndrome" who cannot eat in the hot summer and become thin, eating more watermelon can stimulate the appetite, aid digestion, promote metabolism, and nourish the body.

Modern medical research shows that watermelon contains a variety of nutrients and beneficial substances needed by the human body, such as a large amount of sucrose, fructose, glucose, rich vitamin C, organic acids, amino acids, and minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, and iron.

The medicinal properties of watermelon have been discussed in many medical books such as "Compendium of Materia Medica". Li Shizhen said that it has many effects such as "relieving restlessness and thirst, relieving stomach and lowering qi, promoting urination, and detoxifying alcohol".

Watermelon is a treasure from head to toe. Not only is the flesh the best fruit for preventing heatstroke, but even the peel can be used as medicine, and the peel has a more significant diuretic effect than the flesh. In addition, watermelon seeds also have medicinal value, with the effects of clearing the lungs and moistening the intestines, and quenching thirst.

Although watermelon tastes good, you should not eat too much of it. Because watermelon is a cold fruit, eating too much can easily damage the spleen and stomach, causing abdominal pain or diarrhea, especially eating spoiled watermelon, which is more likely to cause enteritis and other diseases.

2. Analysis of the medicinal value of watermelon seeds

1. The nutritional value of watermelon seeds and sunflower seeds is almost the same.

Watermelon seeds have the effect of clearing the lungs and reducing phlegm, and have auxiliary therapeutic effects on symptoms such as cough with excessive sputum and hemoptysis.

Watermelon seeds are rich in oil, which have the effects of strengthening the stomach and promoting bowel movements. When you have no appetite or are constipated, you might as well eat some seeds such as watermelon seeds.

It contains unsaturated fatty acids, which can lower blood pressure and help prevent arteriosclerosis. It is a suitable snack for patients with hypertension.

Watermelon seeds are also one of the most popular leisure foods and are the representative of daily snacks. After processing, watermelon seeds can be made into spiced seeds, cream seeds, multi-flavor seeds, etc. They are not only delicious, but also have medical effects such as benefiting the lungs, moistening the intestines, stopping bleeding, strengthening the stomach, and lowering blood pressure.

2. Unfavorable health factors of watermelon seeds

(1) The unit calorie is high, so it is not advisable to eat too much to lose weight

(2) Eating too many salty melon seeds can damage your kidneys.

(3) Eating melon seeds continuously for a long time will damage body fluids, leading to dry mouth and tongue, and even abrasions and ulcers.

(4) Relevant data show that eating watermelon without spitting out the seeds may also cause abdominal distension, constipation, urinary retention, intestinal obstruction, etc., which should arouse people's attention:

The shell of watermelon seeds is hard and difficult to digest. When watermelon seeds are eaten and mixed with food, they can be excreted with feces. When a large amount of watermelon seeds are eaten, the watermelon juice is absorbed by the body, and the watermelon seeds gradually gather into a mass with intestinal peristalsis, which can lead to constipation, abdominal distension, and even intestinal obstruction, urinary retention, appendicitis, etc. Therefore, when eating watermelon, parents should tell their children to spit out the watermelon seeds, or dig out the seeds before giving them to children.

If the above situation occurs, don't worry, you can do an enema with 400-600ml of warm soapy water, which can usually be cured in one time. If it doesn't work, you can use your fingers to insert into the anus to pick out the watermelon seeds or go to the hospital to remove them with an anoscope.

3. Seedless Watermelon

Seedless watermelon is made by first using colchicine to double the chromosomes of the seeds when the watermelon is in bloom. The pollen produced from the seeds is then used to pollinate ordinary watermelons, creating a triploid. Because chromosomes must be halved to produce seeds, a triploid cannot be halved to 1.5 and thus cannot produce seeds, and will have no seeds. The genes are only multiplied and there is no change in the genetic factors, so it will not affect fertility. Also, since the nutrients no longer produce seeds, the watermelon will be sweeter.