Daily Health Partners: Fruit Juices

Summer is the time to indulge in fresh, succulent juicy melon when they are in season and deliver an array of nutrients, vitamin and minerals. It is also incredibly hydrating (up to 92% water!) and is naturally low-fat. Make this melon a part of your daily diet and you will reap amazing benefits that range from improving cardiovascular health to nourishing your eyes and revving up your immune system. The long list of healthy or beneficial effects of watermelons are mainly derived from its unique nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and organic compounds. These include significant amounts of vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, fiber, protein, and a very large amount of potassium. Furthermore, they contain vitamin A, vitamin B6, niacin, thiamin, and a wide variety of carotenoids and phytonutrients, including lycopene. These components of watermelons contribute to its major impact on health; let’s explore some more details of those benefits below.

11. Health Benefits Of Watermelon

1. Controls Blood Pressure

The good amount of potassium and magnesium that is present in watermelons is very beneficial in terms of bringing down blood pressure. Potassium is considered a vasodilator, meaning that it releases the tension of blood vessels and arteries, thereby stimulating increased blood flow and reducing the stress on the cardiovascular system. The carotenoids present in these fruits also prevent hardening of artery walls and veins, thereby helping to reduce blood pressure and the chances of blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, and atherosclerosis.

2 . Cardiovascular & Bone Health

The lycopene in watermelon is especially important for our cardiovascular health and is now being recognized as an important factor in promoting bone health. Consuming large amounts of watermelon has also been correlated with improved cardiovascular function because it improves blood flow via vasodilation (relaxation of blood pressure). Dietary lycopene (from foods like watermelon or tomatoes) reduces oxidative stress which normally reduces the activity of osteoblasts and osteoclasts (the two major bone cells involved in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis) – this means stronger bones for those consuming lycopene-rich foods. Watermelon is also rich in potassium which helps to retain calcium in your body, resulting in stronger bones and joints.

3. Healthy Heart

To maintain a healthy heart needs to follow a diet lows in fat, cholesterol, and rich in antioxidants such as (lycopene), which works to fight free radical compounds. Thereby protecting the vessels and arteries from hardening. And watermelon red rich in antioxidants, citrulline compound. Which helps to maintain good levels of histidine-arginine. Necessary for the production of nitric oxide. Which plays an important role in maintaining the elasticity of the arteries and blood vessels by helping to curb the interactions of oxidative stress.

4. Diabetes

Diabetic patients, who are supposed to have a low energy and low sugar diet, often complain about starving since they don’t get to eat their staple diets, which gives them the feeling of being half fed. Watermelons can be a good supplement for them. In spite of being sweet in taste, a thick wedge will give you very few calories, since ninety nine percent of its total weight is composed of water and roughage. Moreover, the various vitamins and minerals such as potassium and magnesium help in proper functioning of insulin in the body, thus lowering the blood sugar level. Arginine, another component found in watermelons, is very effective at enhancing the impact of insulin on blood sugar. Diabetic patients can also have curries, steaks, and salads made from water melon rinds, which are even lower in sugar.

5. Immune Support, Wound Healing & Prevents Cell Damage

The vitamin C content in watermelon is astoundingly high. Vitamin C is great at improving our immune system by maintaining the redox integrity of cells and thereby protecting them from reactive oxygen species (which damages our cells and DNA). The role of vitamin C in healing wounds has also been observed in numerous studies because it is essential to the formation of new connective tissue. The enzymes involved in forming collagen (the main component of wound healing) cannot function without vitamin C. If you are suffering from any slow-healing wounds, up your intake of vitamin C heavy fruit!

6. Sexual activity

Natural Viagra by this name describes the researchers watermelon red, because it is a rich source of amino acid citrulline, which works to farther expand the blood vessels, thus allowing the passage of more blood vessels to the penis leading to erection. Dr. Patel from the University of Texas turns acid citrulline to acid arginine. This is a precursor for the production of nitric oxide, which helps to aneurysm.

7. Weight Loss

Watermelons make an excellent weight loss fruit, as it’s high in water content and low in calories. This sweet and watery fruit is high in fiber, making you full and helps to cut down on the calories. Watermelons contain citrulline, an amino acid that converts into arginine with assistance from the kidneys, that reduces the buildup of fat in our fat cells. When citrulline is absorbed in the body, it can convert arginine (an amino acid). When citrulline is consumed, it has the ability to block the activity of TNAP (Tissue-Nonspecific Alkaline Phosphatase), making our fat cells create less fat and prevents over-accumulation of body fat — making an excellent weight loss food!

8. Prevents Cancer

Watermelons have been in the public eye more and more in recent years, primarily because of their impressive level of lycopene, a carotenoid phytonutrient compound that is increasingly being linked to cancer prevention. As the years go by and the studies continue to bring in consistent results, lycopene has been shown to significantly reduce the risks of prostate, breast, colon, lung, and endometrial cancer. All in all, between the antioxidant potential of vitamin C and the impact of lycopene, watermelon is a great anti-cancer fruit!

9. Improves Eye Health

Watermelon is a wonderful source of beta-carotene (that rich red hue of watermelon = beta carotene) which is converted in the body to vitamin A. It helps produce the pigments in the retina of the eye and protects against age-related macular degeneration as well as prevents night blindness. Vitamin A also maintains healthy skin, teeth, skeletal and soft tissue, and mucus membranes.

10. Anti-Aging

Watermelons are a great anti-aging fruit, as it contains phenolic compounds that included flavonoids, carotenoids, and triterpenoids. These materials help deal with inflammation and gives protection versus free radicals. Plus, watermelons make your skin glow. Here’s a beauty tip: If your watermelon is organic, blend the entire melon (with the green skin, white membrane and red flesh) and rub it on your face. Or rub watermelon water on your face. This removes lines from the face, makes you look younger and tightens your face.

11. Muscle soreness

Watermelon and watermelon juice have been shown to reduce muscle soreness and improve recovery time following exercise in athletes. Researchers believe this is likely do to the amino acid L-citrulline contained in watermelon.

Fruit Juices Health Care

Health Benefits Of Watermelon

By R. Fajri Saturday, 17 June 2017

The grapefruit is a large orange-like fruit that belongs to the citrus family. It is a somewhat “new” addition to the family, deriving from a natural cross-breeding between orange and pomelo, thus its size.

Grapefruits are widely cultivated in China, United States particularly Florida, California and other semi tropical southern states .The fruit has a slightly thick and tough skin than that of oranges and inside, the flesh is segmented like oranges. The fruit is very juicy and acidic varying in colours ranging from white, pink and red. Some varieties are seedless and in some, there may be as many as 50 seeds of half inch in length.

Grape fruit is rich in Vitamin A, carotene and lycopene. It is often revered as the “fruit of paradise” for its health promoting benefits as well as disease healing properties. Pink and red grapefruits are rich in beta carotene. It is also a storehouse of polychemicals such as flavonoids, terpens and limonoids. Pink grapefruit contains a carotenoid called lycopene Folate. In addition to being rich in Vitamin C, grapefruits are also rich In Vitamin A, fiber, potassium and magnesium. Additionally it contains moderate levels of Vitamin B complex such as Folate, riboflavin, pyridoxine and thiamine in addition to some resourceful minerals such as iron, calcium, copper and phosphorus.

The fruit provides a number of health benefits owing to its huge content of essential vitamins and minerals.

Health Benefit of Grapefruit

1. Weight Loss

Grapefruits and grape juices are proven to help people lose fat and maintain a healthy weight. Popular dieticians and nutritionists always recommend including grapefruits in daily diet chart because there is scientific evidence that eating grapefruit on a regular basis helps to lose weight significantly. Doctors have found that eating grapefruits lowers insulin, thus instead of storing sugar and converting them to fats, it uses it as a fuel that leads to weight loss.

Grapefruit is very low in calories and consists of only 42 calories per 100 grams. Thus it is a good option for people who want to lose weight and health benefits of grapefruit are many. Foods with fiber leave you feeling full and grapefruit is rich in water soluble fiber. Like watermelon, grapefruit has a high water content which makes you feel full.

2. Influenza

Grapefruit is a valuable remedy for influenza, since it helps to minimize acidity in the system. The bitter properties arising from an essence called ‘naringin’ in grapefruits tones up the system and the digestive process. Naringin is also considered a flavonoid, which are powerful antioxidant sources in the human diet. They also have antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory qualities, making them one of the most important lines of defense in the immune system, protecting against influenza as well as many other serious conditions.

3. Cancer

As an excellent source of the strong antioxidant vitamin C as well as other antioxidants, grapefruit can help combat the formation of free radicals known to cause cancer. Lycopene intake has been linked with a decreased risk of prostate cancer prevention in several studies and foods high in vitamin C and beta-carotene have been shown to lower the risk of esophageal cancer in particular.

4. Cholesterol Problems

Antioxidants present in grapefruit also helps to reduce cholesterol level in a person. Millions of people suffer from cholesterol problems which can lead to dangerous consequences. Doctors always recommend dietary changes for people who want to reduce cholesterol. It is advisable to include grapefruit in your diet if you suffer from cholesterol problems. It is particularly helpful for those people who abstain from taking medication. Eating grapefruits can decrease cholesterol level up to 15 %and can decrease triglyceride levels up to 17%. Grapefruit also boosts heart health and reduces heart disease.

5. Malaria

The juice, or the fruit itself, contains valuable and natural ‘quinine’ which is advantageous for the treatment of malaria. Quinine is an alkaloid with a long history of treating malaria, as well as lupus, arthritis, and nocturnal leg cramps. It is not an easy component to find in many foods, so grapefruits are a beneficial and rare example. The quinine can be easily extracted from the fruits by boiling a quarter of grapefruit and straining the pulp.

6. Fever

The pulp or the juice of grapefruit helps patients recover quickly from fevers, and it reduces the burning sensation that occurs when the body reaches a high temperature. It is also known as a way to boost the immune system against colds and other common illnesses. Grapefruit juice, when combined with water, can quench thirst very quickly and can keep you hydrated longer. Most of these benefits come from the high content of vitamin-C in grapefruits, which acts as a general immune system defense system and can help the body fight to break fevers.

7. Infections

The flavonoid content in grapefruits help the body to fight off infections and keep the body safe from illness and diseases. Eating a grapefruit every day or drinking grapefruit juice daily provides immunity against cardiovascular diseases. The flavonoid and vitamin C and minerals present in grapefruit makes it a disease busting powerhouse that tastes great too.

8. Fatigue

Grapefruits are also beneficial in the treatment of fatigue, so it can help you to dispel your general tiredness caused from routine or boring work. Drinking equal amounts of grapefruit juice and lemon juice can be a refreshing and delicious way to quickly boost your energy levels. Nootkatone is a very rare and important compound found within grapefruits, and is probably its most valuable component in terms of extracting as an aromatic substance. Nootkatone improves energy metabolism in the body through AMPK activation. This results in higher endurance and energy, increased weight loss, and a reduction in the the chances of developing diabetes.

9. Diabetes

Diabetic patients can safely eat grapefruit, because consuming grapefruit can reduce the level of starch in the body. If a patient is diabetic, intake of grapefruit can help them to regulate the flow of sugar in their body, effectively handling the disease. recent studies have shown this beneficial relationship between diabetes and grapefruits to be due to the flavonoid content of grapefruits, along with a number of other healthy benefits from those compounds.

10. Liver Cleanser

Grapefruit contains a number of liver detoxifying and cleansing agents, among them are various antioxidants and phyto nutrients called limonoids that help to excrete toxic from the liver by making them more water soluble. As mentioned earlier, grapefruit also contains naringenin which causes the liver to burn fat rather than store it.

11. Constipation

A glass full of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice in the morning is a great remedy to control constipation. The juice stimulates the colon and other parts of the body relating to the digestive system. This is due to the stimulating effect of fiber on the secretion and stimulation of gastric juices that ease the constriction of the digestive tract and induce a bowel movement.

12. Acidity

Fresh grapefruit juice creates an alkaline reaction after digestion. The citric acid of the fruit is contained in the human body and thus, increases the effect of the alkalinity reaction after digestion. The juice extracted from the grapefruit is beneficial in preventing acid formation and many other diseases that arise due to the presence of excess acidity in the body.

13. Flatulence

10 to 20 drops of grapefruit juice, taken before all three meals of the day, can work as an appropriate pro-biotic and digestive enzyme, and will relieve excess flatulence and stomach discomfort. Further research needs to be done on the exact mechanism behind this phenomenon, but again, people believe it relates to flavonoid content in citrus fruits like grapefruits.

14. Insomnia

A simple glass of grapefruit juice, if drunk before going to bed, can promote healthy sleep and alleviate the irritating symptoms and repercussions of insomnia. This is due to the presence of tryptophan in grapefruits, the chemical we often associate with becoming sleepy after big meals. The levels of tryptophan in grapefruit juice lets us nod off peacefully to sleep.

15. Grapefruit For Hair

Grapefruit and its extracts are a good source of Vitamin C. Adequate consumption of Vitamins is imperative for health and growth of hair. Vitamin C has strong antioxidant properties that helps to enhance the immunity system and strengthens the connective tissues within hair follicles and protects their integrity.

Our hair follicles often get clogged due to dandruff and dry flaky skin. This can damage the hair follicles if not treated and also inhibits hair growth. Grapefruit seed extracts can help to fight the bacteria on the scalp. It helps to soothe the skin and ward off the dandruff. This helps to get rid the follicles debris and encourage new hair to grow.

Grapefruit juice is loaded with vitamin C and Vitamin A which is imperative for hair’s health. It boosts blood circulation in the scalp which promotes hair growth.

16. Grapefruit For Skin Care

Grapefruit contains high amount of Vitamin A and C, minerals and anti-oxidants that benefit the skin through the grapefruit consumption or a homemade mask.

The vitamin C and the antioxidant effects protect the skin from environmental hazards. It also stimulates the production of skin collagen that brings smoothness and elasticity to the skin. The retinol antioxidant gives your skin softness and, renews damaged skin and treats skin pigmentation.