There are probably no vegetables, fruits or berries in the world that overweight people would not try to use for weight loss. Watermelon is no exception. Many sites say that it helps to lose weight, cleanses the body of toxins, supplies it with vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Is this true or fiction? Let's think about this topic.
Properties of watermelon
Watermelon is a treasure trove of vitamins and minerals that provide huge benefits to your body. Have you ever come across similar phrases while surfing the internet? Probably yes. But watermelon is not really a treasure. Rather a small puddle. It contains few vitamins and minerals. To get at least some of them in daily doses, watermelon will need to be absorbed in kilograms.
Watermelon has a pronounced diuretic effect. Surely 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 likelihood of urolithiasis. Forced to disappoint you - this is unlikely.
The buds are regularly "washed" without watermelon. There is little chance with its help to actually reduce the risk of developing urolithiasis. But first, to see this from your own experience, you will need to eat one watermelon every day for several years. Second, no one knows for sure whether watermelon prevents urolithiasis, as this information can only be obtained in the course of clinical trials that no one has yet conducted.
The benefits of watermelon for weight loss
Watermelon is a food product. It has little nutritional value. It contains carbohydrates, although not many of them. Therefore, it would be foolish to say that watermelon contributes to weight loss. No, you can get better from it, as from any other food. If you eat watermelon in kilograms, you will not see a slender figure.
Of course, watermelon does not burn fat. The more you eat it, the rounder your belly will become. But if you look at watermelon not as a means to lose weight, but as a dietary product, you can find some undeniable advantages.
- Low calorie content.Obviously, the fewer calories a food contains, the more attractive it is for overweight 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. After eating 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, the water provides a large volume of watermelon. When you eat it, you feel that there is something in your stomach. Thus he satisfies hunger, albeit for a short time. Second, a person who is trying to lose weight should drink plenty of water, but often forget about it. Lack of fluid in the body reduces the effectiveness of the diet. Along with watermelon a person gets enough 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 it must be remembered that most of the calories enter the body with carbohydrates. What's more, they are simple sugars that are easy to digest and pose the biggest 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 its biggest drawback. And this is the only reason watermelon is not consumed in too large quantities.
Among the disadvantages we 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. Watermelon has very little fiber, which could create the necessary volume and retain fluids in the digestive tract.
Watermelon can be a quick snack to kill your appetite. The simple sugars contained in its composition almost immediately enter the systemic circulation, 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.
Exit
With the help of watermelon you can lose weight, but only if you use it instead of other, more caloric foods. 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 bring you a lot of calories. In addition, these calories will enter the body with simple carbohydrates - the most dangerous nutrients for the figure.