Overview
If you are a diabetic, not only are watermelons safe to eat, but you are encouraged to enjoy them as part of a healthy, balanced diet. While they have quite a few carbohydrates and natural sugar per serving, they are also low in calories and loaded with nutrients packed in juicy morsels. As long as you are following the guidance of your dietitian and health care provider, the American Diabetes Association recommends you enjoy watermelon as a fruit selection.
The Wonders of Watermelon
This large fruit comes from the gourd family, known for their hard green rinds and red, sweet and watery pulp. Watermelons naturally have no fat or cholesterol, and they are great sources of nutrients that may be beneficial to diabetics' health. These include vitamin A, B6, C and potassium. There's also a bit of fiber in a cup of watermelon. Watermelon also packs a wallop when it comes to the antioxidant lycopene, which is only found in a few red plant foods and may help prevent certain cancers.
Diabetes and Diet
Fruit may give you pause if you're diabetic because you may not be sure how they will affect your blood sugar. Fear not, says the American Diabetes Association. You can eat fruit, including watermelon. You simply need to count the carbohydrates it contains to account for it in your meal planning, but the association encourages you to replace your dessert with fruit like watermelon. In the aptly titled site, WhatAboutWatermelon.com, registered dietitian Elizabeth Somers, says when asked about the safety of watermelon for diabetics, "Even more important is that naturally occurring sugars in fruits like watermelon come packaged with so many other health-enhancing compounds, which make watermelon a healthy inclusion in all diets."
Hypertension Help
A small study on watermelon supplementation published in the "American Journal of Hypertension" demonstrated that an extract from watermelon could help reduce and prevent high blood pressure. The Florida State University researchers reported that watermelon is rich in an amino acid L-citrulline, which helps to build another amino acid, L-arginine. It's the latter amino acid that helps maintain artery function and can improve blood flow. Although they were using an extract in prehypertensive participants, they suggest watermelon may be a functional food that can prevent the condition from advancing to full-blown hypertension, a finding of note to diabetics. Watermelon's potassium content may also help. You'll get 170 mg in a cup of diced watermelon. Potassium helps blunt the effects of sodium on your blood pressure.
Cognitive Care
Diabetics are at increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia due to the oxidative stress and high potential for nerve damage with the disease. An animal study in the July 2008 "Life Sciences," however, may bode well for diabetics and watermelon. The Indian researchers said chronic treatment with lycopene significantly weakened the cognitive deficits in diabetic rats. They said their results may one day provide a treatment using lycopene against diabetes-induced learning and memory impairment.
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