Watermelon juice is not only a pleasant drink that can quench your thirst, but also benefits health. We learn the composition of juice from watermelon, its benefits and harms, how it can be used, how to make and store.

Characteristics and composition of juice

More than 90% of the fresh watermelon pulp is water. About 5.5–10% of it is easily digestible sugars (mainly fructose). It contains vitamins of group B (B1, B2, B4, B5, B6, B9), vitamin A and beta-carotene, ascorbic acid and vitamins E, K, PP, niacin.

Did you know? In the southern regions, juice from the pulp of watermelon is boiled to a state of honey. Such a product is called Nardek, and it contains up to 60% of sugars. To prepare 1 kg of the workpiece, up to 17 kg of sweet watermelons and not a gram of sugar are consumed.

Among the mineral constituents, potassium is most. Also contains calcium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, copper, selenium, fluorine, zinc. Watermelon juice also contains pectins and phytosterols.

Watermelon Juice Properties

Watermelon fresh has useful properties, but there are limitations and prohibitions on its intake.

Benefit

• The usefulness of this watermelon drink is as follows:
• helps to cleanse the body, removes toxins and toxins;
• low-calorie and is used in diets to lose body weight;
• Delivers easily digestible sugars to the body, gives a boost of vitality;
• lowers cholesterol;
• quenches thirst well;
• has a positive effect on the urinary system:
• has a diuretic effect, eliminates salts and uric acid;
• useful for anemia;
• has anti-inflammatory and healing effect;
• useful in febrile conditions, as it acts as an antipyretic;
• removes excess water and relieves swelling;
• has choleretic properties and improves liver function;
• contains antioxidants (including lycopene), which determines its oncoprotective properties;
• improves metabolism;
• can be used as a cosmetic product for the skin.

Watermelon fresh compares favorably with other fruit drinks in that it has an alkaline environment and is useful for high acidity, heartburn, and does not irritate the mucous membranes.

Possible harm and contraindications

There is often an allergy to this sweet gourd, and it should be used with caution in children and lactating women. Children under 2 years old do not give this product.

Important! Watermelons are prone to a strong accumulation of nitrates and can cause poisoning. As a result, it is better to refrain from buying early products and avoid fruits with signs of an excess of nitrates.

Diabetics should be consulted with a doctor before consuming watermelon fresh, as the product contains a lot of sugars and has a high glycemic index (75).

• Watermelon juice has the following contraindications:
• motile or phosphate kidney stones;
• pancreatitis
• bloating;
• diarrhea;
• adhesions in the intestine and prostate adenoma;
• individual intolerance.

Features of use

Watermelon juice can be used to treat various health problems and can prevent the occurrence of serious ailments and help to lose weight.

In folk medicine

Such a simple and tasty remedy is also used in folk treatment recipes. To get rid of ailments, a freshly squeezed product is used. Watermelon has a rich composition, but it is unlikely that your health will benefit from a product saturated with nitrates. Since the treatment consumes a large amount of the drink, its quality should not cause any doubt, since a poor-quality fruit can be poisoned. The most reliable way to use hand-grown watermelons.

Important! Watermelon juice can be drunk separately from other foods. Its digestion occurs in the intestine, and when eating food digested by saliva or stomach, it begins to ferment, emitting a lot of gases.

For heart health

Watermelon juice removes cholesterol, lowers blood pressure and positively affects the functioning of the entire cardiovascular system. Vitamin C strengthens blood vessels, sugars support heart function, and citrulline improves blood circulation. As a result, such a drink is recommended for people who have had a heart attack or stroke to recover.

With ischemia of the heart, it is recommended to take apple-watermelon juice in a ratio of 1: 1. Such a drink will be more beneficial for the heart than a monosock. It is enough to consume 2 glasses of such a drink per day.

For skin

Lotions of watermelon juice help with abrasions, cracks and bruises. If you wash the wound with it, then the healing processes will go more actively. Frozen juice is good for burns.

Cancer prevention

Antioxidants contained in watermelon prevent the onset of cancer. It contains more carotenoid lycopene, known for its anti-cancer properties, than tomatoes. Particularly noted is its ability to reduce the likelihood of prostate cancer.

Blood circulation improvement

Vitamins C and PP strengthen blood vessels, and iron increases hemoglobin. Citrulline, contained in the pulp of watermelon, promotes better blood circulation, which is useful for active loads or after illness.

To better saturate the juice with citrulline, not only the red, but also the white part of the watermelon should be squeezed.

Weight loss

With obesity per day, consume up to 1.5 liters of fresh watermelon.

Fresh from watermelon is low-calorie and contributes to weight loss, and also removes excess water, since it is an excellent diuretic. At the same time, the sugars and trace elements contained in it well support the body. It is good to use it to lose extra pounds.

You can go on a 5-day watermelon diet:

1. First day. Replace dinner with 0.7 liters of watermelon juice.
2. The second day. Replace fresh morning and evening meal.
3. The third day. Whole day drink juice in any quantity.
4. Fourth day. The same as the second day.
5. Fifth day. Like the first.

Important! Before this mono-diet, you should consult a doctor. The week before it, alcoholic beverages, fast food, fatty and fried foods should be excluded.

Reduces inflammation

Watermelon juice is indicated for colds and tonsillitis. It not only relieves fever, but also reduces inflammation and removes the infection. With these diseases, you can not only drink it, but also do a gargle 4 times a day for 4 days.

In cosmetology

Watermelon juice is successfully used in cosmetology. It makes home masks, tonics, lotions, refreshing baths. Such a product has a moisturizing and whitening effect for the skin, improves tone and gives a healthy color, helps with acne eruptions as an antiseptic.

For cosmetic purposes, watermelon juice is used as follows:

1. They rub skin to combat freckles and pigmentation. It also makes it velvety and supple, refreshing.
2. You can make a lotion by adding alcohol. It will cleanse the skin well and help against acne, as well as rashes.
3. When frozen, this product refreshes the face. They wipe the face with pieces of such ice without wiping, allow it to soak and rinse off after 10-15 minutes.
4. A good effect for oily skin gives a mask of mixed in equal proportions of watermelon juice and cucumber.
5. Watermelon liquid can be applied to the hair before washing for 20 minutes. Then rinse with shampoo. This procedure will make the hair shiny and more elastic.
6. The following mask can be made against aging: mix 2 parts of watermelon juice with 1 part of honey. Apply this mixture to the face and rinse off after 15-20 minutes.

How to make watermelon juice at home

The finished product is currently being sold in stores, but it's best to do it yourself. Making juice from a watermelon at home is not difficult.

Did you know? You can determine that a watermelon is ripe by tapping on top of it. The sound should be sufficiently sonorous, not muffled. Too loud a sound indicates that the fetus is overripe. In a ripe specimen, the tail should be dark, a little lethargic, and the skin should be resilient.

Before squeezing fresh, the fruits must be washed. Then cut into pieces that are peeled.

The pulp fluid is squeezed in a juicer (plain or auger). It is better to choose a screw - it makes the spin better, leaving the cake almost dry. When using other juicers, the cake can be pressed a second time through several layers of gauze. You can add others to such juice - apple, cherry, cucumber. This drink should be used during the day, the next day it will no longer be suitable.

Alternatively, you can wipe the watermelon pulp through a sieve or grind it in a blender, having previously cleared it of seeds.

Video: Watermelon juice with a juicer

To stock up a watermelon drink for the winter, it can be preserved. Such preparations should be done in season and before purchasing products for preservation, make sure of its quality.

Ingredients:

• 7 kg of watermelon;
• 200 g of sugar;
• 5 g of citric acid.

Cooking according to the classic recipe step by step:

1. Cut the watermelon, separate the pulp, removing all the seeds.
2. Drive through a juicer. Then it is necessary to strain with a sieve, and the cake is additionally squeezed through cheesecloth, which is folded in several layers.
3. Bring the resulting liquid to a boil, removing the foam. Then toss sugar, citric acid and keep on low heat for 6-7 minutes.
4. Put the liquid in jars and seal with tin lids.
5. Pre-cans should be washed with soda and steam sterilized, boil the lids.
6. Preservation is left in the room for 10 days. If during this time the juice does not become cloudy, and there is no bloating under the lid, then preservation can be moved to a place for storage.

Did you know? It is believed that the ancestor of the watermelon is the species Citrullus ecirrhosus, called the “tsamma melon”. This species grows in the African Kalahari desert and is an important source of moisture for the Bushmen.

You can make juice in a juicer. The product will be more transparent, and sugar can not be put on or added to taste. In such a device, it is convenient to make a blend of watermelon and apple in order to preserve an even more useful drink.

Methods and shelf life of watermelon juice

Fresh juice should be used within 24 hours. In canned form, such a product is placed in a dark, dry place for storage. The temperature of the room also affects how much watermelon juice will be stored. It is believed that it is better to choose a cool room (basement, underground) for storing such a workpiece.

Watermelon juice can be frozen. It is used for cosmetic purposes and as ice for cocktails. To do this, watermelon liquid is poured into ice molds and placed in a freezer.

Watermelon juice can be used to prevent and treat many diseases. There is a mono-diet on this drink, allowing you to lose extra pounds.