One of the most delicious, valuable and dietary berries, which abundantly fills the shelves of shops and markets from the second half of summer, is a watermelon. Its nutritional value, benefits, as well as whether it is possible and how much it is allowed to use for people with high blood sugar, will be discussed in this article.

Did you know? The word "watermelon" comes from the Turkic word "harbuz", which translates as "donkey-sized cucumber."

Watermelon Characteristic

Watermelon is a grassy annual that is part of the Pumpkin family. The stems (creeping or curling) have a length of more than 4 m. The gray-green leaves on the long petioles are whole, but can also be dissected. A tenacious mustache grows from the axils of the leaves. The plant has a powerful root system - the core root penetrates the soil to a considerable depth, while the majority of small roots are located at no deeper than 0.5 m.Yellow flowers are male, female and bisexual. The plant is pollinated by insects. The fruit is a multi-seeded berry of a round, elongated or pear-shaped shape. The peel of a ripened watermelon is smooth, sometimes with small tubercles, light or dark green in color. Ripe berry with peel can reach a mass of 10–20 kg. The pulp is red or pink, and the seeds are white or dark brown.

Chemical composition

The pulp of the fetus mainly consists of water, as well as fructose, glucose, fiber and pectins. In 1 berry there are approximately 1000 seeds, which, in turn, are 25% fat. In addition, watermelon has in its composition valuable vitamins and elements. The nutritional value of 100 g of pulp of this fruit, as well as the content of vitamins and macro- and microelements are presented below.

The nutritional value:

Macro and microelements:

Vitamins:

Calorie Watermelon

The nutritional value of striped berries is from 27 to 30 kcal per 100 g of product. For comparison, calorie melon - 33 kcal per 100 g, strawberries - 41 kcal, strawberries - 41 kcal, pears - 42 kcal, banana - 96 kcal.

Did you know? The largest watermelon weighing 159 kg was grown in 2013 by the American Chris Kent. This achievement was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.

Watermelon Properties

Useful qualities of this product are difficult to overestimate. It has a number of valuable properties - choleretic, diuretic, antiflogistic, laxative and antipyretic. Regular consumption of berries enhances intestinal motility, normalizes metabolism. As a raw material for prevention and treatment, use the whole berry - both pulp and peel, and seeds. The healing qualities of watermelon help both the general healing of the body, and the healing of its individual organs and systems, the treatment of certain ailments. More on this in the next section.

What is useful

With hypertension, the measured consumption of watermelon normalizes pressure, improves overall well-being.

This effect is achieved due to some properties of the berry:

1. The presence of magnesium and potassium, which, acting on the cardiovascular system, contribute to lowering blood pressure.
2. Removing excess cholesterol, which, in turn, also normalizes the cardiovascular system, reduces the risk of stroke and heart attack.
3. Vasodilation, which improves blood circulation and reduces stress on the heart

Did you know? Watermelon helps relieve a hangover syndrome: its juice relieves headaches, normalizes the water-salt balance, slightly dilutes the blood, and the diuretic effect of the berry helps to eliminate toxins and reduces swelling.

In kidney diseases, a very low salt and acid content in the berry with a high alkaline content prevents the occurrence of kidney stones and contributes to the partial dissolution of previously appeared. The product is recommended for those who suffer from pyelonephritis, nephritis, cystitis. With liver ailments, watermelon juice removes poisons from this organ and thus “cleans” it.

This quality is especially valuable for intoxications, when juice from watermelon is recommended for use after a long course of powerful drugs or severe anesthesia. With problems with the pancreas and intestines, this berry will also be useful. Patients with pancreatitis suffering from constipation are recommended watermelon fasting days. A decoction of dried watermelon peels contributes to the rapid healing of ulcers, relieves inflammation.With gout, consuming watermelon pulp or juice relieves the suffering caused by this disease. Juice is able to partially remove poisons that have arisen due to problems in purine metabolism. With anemia and vitamin deficiency, a large amount of iron and vitamins in a watermelon helps to fill up the deficiency of these substances in the body.

In addition to the pulp itself, seeds also have healing properties. This is due to the fact that they contain unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Due to the content of elements such as selenium and zinc, seeds are extremely useful for men. In addition, seed oil is used to soften and naturally remove kidney stones.

Important! Before introducing watermelon into the diet of a person with diabetes, a doctor’s consultation is required-endocrinologist.

Contraindications and harm

Considering the properties of watermelon, its considerable benefits, it is impossible not to note its contraindications, as well as possible harm. Potential complications from eating this berry, as a rule, are an abundance of fluid. Excessive consumption of the product leads to swelling, and daily abuse of watermelon can lead to diarrhea and dehydration. With lactation, excessive consumption of watermelon pulp by a woman is fraught with the appearance of an allergy, colic and diarrhea in a child.

• In addition to the above, watermelon is strictly forbidden to people who have:
• prostate ailments - adenoma and purulent lesions;
• vesiculitis;
• joint diseases with edematous complications;
• individual intolerance;
• exacerbation of diseases of the digestive system.

Can I use with high sugar

In order to most fully answer the question of whether it is possible to use watermelon with high sugar or not, first you need to understand some concepts that endocrinologists and nutritionists use, namely, what is the glycemic index and the bread unit. The glycemic index (GI) is an indicator by which the carbohydrate load of food, as well as the rate of entry into the blood and glucose processing, is estimated.

Important! Drinking more than 90 g of fructose per day is hazardous to health — such a dose can provoke obesity.

A bread unit (XE) is a conventional unit that is used to roughly determine the amount of carbohydrates in foods. GI of pure glucose is 100 units, other products have this index from 0 to 100. Low index is from 0 to 39, medium is from 40 to 69, high is from 70 to 100. One XE equals 12 g of carbohydrates or 25 g of bread with crust (considering ballast substances). Glycemic load - the ratio of the glycemic index to the amount of carbohydrates per 100 g of product. Based on these concepts, the dietary characteristic of watermelon is as follows:

• the pulp of watermelon weighing 135 g is 1 bread unit (XE).
• the product is classified as low calorie.
• the glycemic index is 75.
• glycemic load - 6.9 g.

Another important question that should be clarified is whether the level of glucose in the blood rises after consuming watermelon. Yes - this product raises sugar levels, but for a short period, and such a fluctuation is not significant.

With increased glucose concentration

Typically, the level of glucose in the blood of an adult in the morning before eating is in the range of 3.3-5.5 mmol / L. Food for a short time increases this figure, but soon everything comes back to normal. However, there are cases when this indicator stably stays above the norm - hyperglycemia develops. It can be a sign of both diabetes mellitus (6.1 and more mmol / l), and prediabetes (5.6-6.1 mmol / l) - an intermediate state between the normal metabolism of carbohydrates and diabetes.In this condition, the body loses its ability to maintain normal sugar levels - hence the increased glucose level, although not as significantly as in diabetes. To prevent prediabetes from turning into diabetes, normalization of nutrition is important, among other things.

It should be reusable (5-7 meals per day) in small portions with a restriction of fats and a decrease in the dietary value. Sugar should be replaced with a harmless sweetener. And the watermelon in this case perfectly fulfills this function. Watermelon pulp without peel is allowed to be consumed portionwise up to 0.6–08 kg throughout the day.

With type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes mellitus, or, as it is also called, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, often occurs in pre-adulthood after 40 years and is characterized by the fact that the body continues to produce insulin, its blood content is normal, but at the same time, the body’s cells lose their ability break down carbohydrates. And this, in turn, leads to a variety of complications, such as damage to the cardiovascular system, human eyes and feet, and nerve damage.With this type of disease, there is no complete ban on the consumption of watermelon. It can be eaten, but strictly dosed and taking into account how much XE is in the general diet and what is the GI index of the foods used so as not to exceed the allowed norm of bread units.

Fructose contained in a watermelon is even useful for patients with this type of ailment, but provided that it receives no more than 40 g per day, which approximately corresponds to 200 g of watermelon pulp, which is better to consume with bread. This is due to the fact that the watermelon has a high glycemic index, at which the product is quickly absorbed and very soon can cause a feeling of hunger, which subsequently can provoke stress due to food restrictions.

Criteria for choosing watermelon for people with diabetes

As noted above, water-melon is not prohibited for diabetics, however, in order to bring them the maximum benefit, one should adhere to certain rules when choosing a berry, namely:

1. Acquire only those watermelons that are sold during their ripening period - from the last days of July to mid-September. Buying a berry sooner or later, you can purchase a fruit with artificial “filling” with chemicals.
2. Immediately before use (or even better - before purchase) you need to place a piece of pulp in water for a short time. If the color of the water does not change or slightly becomes cloudy - the fruit is not crammed with nitrates and can be eaten. If the water turns pink, red or orange, it means that the berry has a lot of nitrates and it is better not to use it.
3. In order to rid the acquired watermelon of various nitrates, itIt is necessary to completely lower for 1.5–2 hours in cool water.

So, there is no direct and categorical ban on the consumption of watermelon for people with prediabetes or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Consultation of doctors, strict adherence to their recommendations are the key to the fact that the use of this delicious and valuable berry will bring considerable benefits to a weakened ailment of the body, and also help smooth out some unpleasant manifestations of the disease.