Two new studies in the journal Nutrients suggest that watermelon consumption can increase nutrient intake and overall diet quality in both children and adults, and protect vascular function during hyperglycemia.
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a member of the gourd family Cucurbitaceae and falls under the Food patterns equivalents database (FPED) category of citrus, melons, and berries.
While in the past watermelon was typically thought of as a seasonal fruit in the United States, now watermelon is available year-round.
It contributes certain nutrients, with 100 g providing 112 mg of potassium, 8.1 mg of vitamin C, 28 µg of vitamin A, 10 mg of magnesium, 3 µg of folate and 0.4 g of dietary fiber contributing upwards of 4% of daily potassium, 11-37% of vitamin C, and 4-10% of vitamin A as well as greater than 1% of magnesium and dietary fiber recommendations in adults and children.
Additionally, watermelon has high bioavailability of antioxidant components including lycopene and l-citrulline.
While the nutrient intake and diet quality benefits of fruits has been well studied, a focused study of the impact of watermelon intake on these variables is lacking.
“Our goal was to assess the differences in nutrient intake and diet quality of watermelon consumers and non-consumers in a large sample size representative of the U.S. population,” said Nutrition Impact researchers Kristin Fulgoni and Victor Fulgoni III.
In their study, the researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and found that total diet quality was higher in watermelon consumers as compared to non-consumers.
According to their results, children and adult watermelon consumers had higher intakes of dietary fiber, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C and vitamin A as well as lycopene and other carotenoids, while they had lower intakes of added sugars and total saturated fatty acids.
In addition to the study, another new study builds on previous work in…
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