The other day my dad was talking to me about how he thought he was gaining weight. We went through the list of causes and we figured out that the entire family had been eating a great deal of watermelon. Watermelon is so juicy and delicious. The flavor squishes on onto your tongue with every bite. And when you squeeze down with your soft palate, the sweet watermelon particles squish around your mouth. Watermelon is a great fruit because of its, fun texture and refreshing flavor.
At first I didn’t believe that watermelon could have many calories. But when my father emailed me this handy nutritional guide to a slice of watermelon, I was surprised. A whole watermelon is about 1300 calories. And according to this fact sheet people usually cut it into 16th’s. That’s about 80-100 calories per slice. That makes sense, because cutting a watermelon into four pieces then into fourths again is easy with any large knife. When cutting a watermelon, make sure to use a sharp knife that is large enough to cut easily through the melon’s oftentimes tough rind. I made the mistake once of using a dull knife to cut my watermelon and I cut my finger when the blade got stuck on the rind. This happened when I was trying to cut a smiling crescent out the melon. Don’t try and do any fancy cutting with your watermelon. Remember, you can always cut your watermelon so it has the white rind on it and then make more precise cuts later. You won’t feel like an “Iron Chef” for doing so, but at least your fingers won’t bleed like mine.
So what’s inside that 1/16th slice of your watermelon? Well, lots of good vitamins and minerals are inside most notably there is a great deal of vitamin A and vitamin C in each slice (About 35%). Watermelon also contains Potassium (9%), Magnesium (7%), Thiamin (6%), Pantothenic Acid (6%) and small amounts of other vitamins and minerals. Some researches say that watermelon can increase libido. But I’d have to say you’ll need to judge that for yourself.
Now these numbers may not seem much but when you take into account that the deliciousness of watermelon makes you want to eat slice after slice, you may actually be getting a great deal of nutritional value.
So are the calories in watermelon enough to make someone fat? That’s doubtful, watermelon doesn’t have any fat or saturated fat so all the calories are coming from natural sugar. This sugar can be burned off easily by anyone who has a non-sedentary lifestyle. But if you do find yourself sitting around a lot, you might want to reconsider eating slice after slice of watermelon, and replace it with a less sugary food like celery.
I recommend people who live in Southern California to try watermelon from Bristol Farms. This company provides their watermelons at an expensive price, but the flavor is oftentimes unmatched by other local groceries. Bristol Farms’ watermelons are also the usually the right shape and size and have few blemishes. A close second to Bristol Farms’ watermelons would be Trader Joe’s. A watermelon at Trader Joe’s is significantly cheaper than at Bristol Farms and the quality may not be exactly on par, but at least you can eat a watermelon from Trader Joe’s and not eat a face-full of rind every time you take a bite.
Speaking of Trader Joes, you might want to try watermelon juice from Trader Joes. The juice is extremely refreshing and comes in one of those containers that you’d expect to see if you were going to buy one of those “Red Machine” or “Vanilla Almondo” drinks.
Overall watermelons are fun and tasty fruits and I’d recommend them to anyone who enjoys a juicy good time.