Almost all dietary restrictions dictate the consumption of vegetables and fruits. At the same time, experts emphasize that the fruits are seasonal because they are the healthiest. At the end of summer comes the time for the huge sweet berry on which the watermelon diet is based.
Watermelon – history and short description
People were eating watermelons long before the beginning of our era. Of course, where the climate allowed them to be grown. Since this heat-loving crop does not tolerate long-term transportation, for thousands of years watermelons were consumed only where they were grown. Nobody ate watermelon for weight loss; it was a certain holy food. The ancient Egyptians, for example, placed watermelons in the grave because the fruit was considered worthy food for the afterlife.
As trade relations developed, watermelons became more widespread, including in the Roman Empire, where they were used both as a candy and as a pickle. Centuries later, the striped fruit came to China, where it has been actively cultivated since the beginning of the 10th century.
In Europe, the watermelon appeared only in the 17th century and from there it was brought to our country from overseas as a curiosity. It was only in the 19th century that watermelons began to be grown in the southern regions of our country, especially on fertile black soil.
Mineral composition and pharmacological properties
Although watermelon contains a lot of water, this fruit is very valuable for a healthy diet. After all, it contains almost all the microelements and vitamins necessary for humans. Most of these substances must be supplied in milligrams and micrograms for the normal functioning of the body, but without them it is impossible.
A ripe watermelon, ripened under the hot sun, contains not only a rich set of vitamins, but also minerals and the most important biochemical compounds. The table shows the approximate content per 100 grams of pulp. This is a very small piece, about half a slice. Especially with a watermelon diet, no one is usually limited to this amount, which means the nutrient supply is significantly higher.
Table of macro and microelements in watermelon
Product Name |
Quantity: 100g |
Daily norm |
% of daily value |
Vitamin A |
17. 00 mcg |
900 mcg |
1. 9% |
Beta carotene |
0. 1 mg |
5 mg |
2% |
Vitamin B1, thiamine |
0. 04 mg |
1. 5 mg |
2. 7% |
Vitamin B2, riboflavin |
0. 06 mg |
1. 8 mg |
3. 3% |
Vitamin B4, choline |
4. 1 mg |
500 mg |
0. 8% |
Vitamin B5, pantothenic acid |
0. 221 mg |
5 mg |
4. 4% |
Vitamin B6, pyridoxine |
0. 09 mg |
2 mg |
4. 5% |
Vitamin B9, folic acid |
8 mcg |
400 mcg |
2% |
Vitamin C, ascorbic acid |
7 mg |
90 mg |
7. 8% |
Vitamin E, alpha-tocopherol |
0. 1 mg |
15 mg |
0. 7% |
Vitamin K, phylloquinone |
0. 1 mg |
120 mg |
0. 1% |
Vitamin PP |
0. 3 mg |
20 mg |
1. 5% |
Potassium, K |
110 mg |
2500 mg |
4. 4% |
Calcium, approx |
14 mg |
1000 mg |
1. 4% |
Silicon, Si |
12 mg |
30 mg |
40% |
Magnesium, Mg |
12 mg |
400 mg |
3% |
Sodium, Na |
16 mg |
1300 mg |
1. 2% |
Sera, S |
6. 1 mg |
1000 mg |
0. 6% |
Phosphorus, P |
7 mg |
800 mg |
0. 9% |
Chlorine, Cl |
24. 7 mg |
2300 mg |
1. 1% |
Iron, Fe |
1 mg |
18 mg |
5. 6% |
Cobalt, Co |
2 mcg |
10 mcg |
20% |
Manganese, Mn |
0. 038 mg |
2 mg |
1. 9% |
Copper, Cu |
42 mcg |
1000 mcg |
4. 2% |
Molybdenum, Mo |
1. 8 mcg |
70 mcg |
2. 6% |
Selenium, Se |
0. 4 mcg |
50 mcg |
0. 7% |
Chromium, Cr |
0. 23 mcg |
50 mcg |
0. 5% |
Zinc, Zn |
0. 1 mg |
12 mg |
0. 8% |
As with any natural raw material, dates may vary slightly depending on the variety and where it is grown.
Calorie content and BZHU
However, the content of microelements is not the most important thing. Many people focus on the sweet taste of watermelon and therefore avoid it under any dietary restrictions. This is fundamentally wrong; Watermelon does absolutely no harm to those trying to lose weight. Because its main ingredient is water, which has no calories. And it contains 97% of striped fruits.
To the question of whether it is possible to eat watermelon while dieting, the answer is definitely positive. As for the nutritional composition, the pulp of a ripe watermelon is supplied to the body.
KBZHU table
Nutrient name |
Quantity per 100g |
Squirrel |
0. 7g |
Fats |
0. 1g |
carbohydrates |
5. 8g |
fiber |
0. 4g |
Water |
93g |
Calorie content |
27 kcal |
How to choose a ripe watermelon
The season for these berries usually begins in mid-July; Watermelons used to be not particularly tasty and, above all, not that healthy. If the watermelon is native, an unscrupulous producer could overfeed it with fertilizers and growth stimulants. If the fruits came from distant lands, they could well have been treated with chemicals to help them survive the long journey. Such watermelons are of no use in the watermelon diet or in your regular daily diet. On the contrary, you can get severe indigestion.
Choosing a delicious and sweet watermelon is easy; the main thing is to carefully examine the fruit and not be deceived by the seller's persuasion. Signs of watermelon ripeness:
- A fruit ripened on the ground always has a slightly flattened yellow side. It is as hard as the entire crust and may be covered with a network of shallow cracks.
- In addition, the tail of a ripe watermelon dries out; it should become dry and hard. If it is green and limp, such a fruit may be sweet but also completely unripe.
- If you tap a ripe watermelon with your knuckles, the sound should be ringing, as if there is emptiness inside. A dull pumpkin, as if there were cotton wool in a large pumpkin, shows that it is either an immature specimen or one that has begun to spoil.
But as a rule, watermelons are sold everywhere at the peak of the season and are already ripe. So when August is in full swing, you can safely take almost any of them with you, they will definitely be tasty and suitable for watermelon diet.
General rules of the watermelon diet
The watermelon diet shows excellent results when certain provisions are followed. To lose 3-5 kilograms of excess weight that arose after summer barbecues and ice cream, you need to remember the main rule: for every 10 kg of body weight, you need to eat 1 kg of watermelon pulp every day. This means that if you weigh 63 kg, you should eat 6. 3 kg of watermelon per day.
- Juice cannot be used as a substitute for pulp as it contains much less fiber and therefore can cause intestinal disorders.
- Despite the large amount of liquid in watermelon, additional drinking is required. The diuretic effect of striped fruits can cause the body to lose electrolytes.
- Before mass selling watermelons, it is better not to eat them in order not to be poisoned by nitrates, with which farmers often "feed" their melons in order to get a marketable harvest as quickly as possible.
As you can see, the watermelon diet for weight loss is not at all complicated, it is easy and tasty to follow for the required time.
Pros and cons of the watermelon diet
Before starting a restricted diet, it is advisable to study not only the positive aspects, but also the negative ones. The watermelon diet is no exception in this regard. Despite its effectiveness, it has certain disadvantages, which is why it may not be suitable for a particular person.
Benefits of the diet
One of the reasons why the watermelon diet has many fans is the excellent taste of the main component of the daily diet. The red pulp quenches both thirst and the desire to eat, making it an excellent source of energy on hot summer days. In addition, lovers of the watermelon diet note some other benefits:
- The watermelon diet really works and helps you get rid of a significant amount of body fat.
- You don't have to stand at the stove and count your daily calories.
- A large amount of watermelon pulp helps eliminate swelling, even if it is chronic.
- If you end the lock-in period correctly, the result will last for a long time.
Disadvantages of the diet
Of course, the watermelon diet has not only benefits, but also negative aspects. Firstly, this places a heavy load on the kidneys due to the abundant fluid intake. So you need to be sure of your health before experimenting with watermelon. Typically, the watermelon diet receives negative reviews for the following reasons:
- Insufficient saturation of food with the necessary nutrients – proteins and fats. Therefore, you cannot use this method for a long time and it is also better to repeat it rarely. Given the seasonality of sweet fruits, eating watermelon once a year for several days would be a good decision. A watermelon fasting day does not give such obvious results, so it can be repeated after 2-3 weeks.
- Not everyone can follow such a diet. So before you find out whether watermelon can help you lose weight, you need to check your own health.
- If you "jump" from the diet and do not get off smoothly, the lost kilograms can come back.
Who is the watermelon diet contraindicated for?
The large amount of fluid entering the body and the appropriate dose of sugar make the watermelon diet an unsuitable option for some groups of people.
- These are primarily those who suffer from kidney problems. There are many chronic inflammatory processes that require careful analysis and normalization of the incoming fluid.
- Chronic intestinal diseases can worsen with such amounts of fiber and moisture, you need to monitor this aspect.
- Being too young or too old is a contraindication to any mono diet, as it requires a balanced and complete diet.
- People who are allergic to striped berries should not follow this diet. In this case it can be dangerous to health.
It is worth noting that a strict watermelon diet is not suitable for all of the above cases. Eating one or two slices of aromatic sweet watermelon will only bring benefits and joy.
Is the watermelon diet allowed for pregnant women?
Particularly noteworthy is the watermelon diet for women in delicate situations. The fact is that expectant mothers often experience severe discomfort due to swelling, especially in the later stages. In this case, your doctor may limit the amount of fluid you drink per day.
You can try a watermelon fasting day to remove excess water from the body. In addition, the pulp contains many vitamins and fiber, which is also useful during pregnancy.
You should not make such a decision on your own, but you need the consent of a gynecologist, since a specialist can use tests and an examination to determine whether such discharge is not harmful.
Diet options
The diet that must be followed during the watermelon diet depends primarily on the duration. If a few days can pass without problems only on mononutrition, longer options require additional calorie intake into the body. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on deadlines.
Fasting day on watermelon
If the watermelon diet only lasts 24 hours, the entire menu consists only of the pulp of the ripe fruit. You can also add a few slices of whole grain bread, and other drinks include water and unsweetened tea. Water can be mineral or slightly salty. Everything else is strictly prohibited.
Diet for 2 days
If within a day the numbers on the scales on the watermelon have become more pleasant and the day itself has passed without problems, you can continue cleansing the body and extend it for 24 hours with the same diet. Watermelon pulp at the rate of 1 kg per 10 kg of body weight, divided into 4 or 5 parts and consumed at approximately equal intervals.
You can eat small pieces of wholemeal or rye bread with two meals.
For 3 days
More than 48 hours without the intake of proteins and fats no longer brings any benefit to the body, so the three-day marathon must be diversified with additional products.
The best option for this is cottage cheese. It contains a lot of protein and some milk fat. In addition, fermented milk products are easy to digest and help improve digestion.
For another three-day diet, it is allowed to consume a small amount of grains such as rice to slightly strengthen the intestines. The menu for three days looks something like this:
- Have breakfast – a cup of cottage cheese with a fat content of 1. 5-5%, no more than a few slices of watermelon;
- Snack – 2-3 slices of striped berries;
- Lunch – a plate of steamed rice and a few pieces of watermelon;
- For an afternoon snack – 2-3 tablespoons of cottage cheese and 2 large slices of watermelon;
- Dinner: water rice and watermelon.
In three days of such a diet you can see a good weight - up to 3 kilograms.
For 5 days
If the motivation is strong enough and the body perceives all restrictions completely normally, you can extend the 3 days by 5 days with approximately the same diet. The only thing is that it can be easily diversified with products from the same group.
For example, for those who don't like cottage cheese, cooked chicken breast is a complete source of animal protein. If you're tired of rice, porridge with water works just as well. Once a day you can treat yourself to a hard-boiled egg, which will provide you with the necessary fats necessary for the absorption of certain vitamins.
For 7 days
With a week-long watermelon diet, slightly different mechanisms begin to work. The red pulp itself removes the breakdown products of fat deposits, and weight loss is achieved by reducing daily calorie intake. In this way, the body receives complete nutrition with some deficiency, which helps to lose weight without losing muscle mass. And everything unnecessary is eliminated from the body with the help of watermelon.
For a period of seven days, it is recommended to stick to something like the following menu:
Breakfast: A cup of green tea and a portion of porridge steamed with boiling water, a hard-boiled egg;
Second option: Unsweetened tea or coffee, a bowl of cottage cheese, fresh fruit.
Lunch: Sliced fresh raw vegetables lightly seasoned with olive oil and a portion of steamed fish;
Second option: vegetable soup with dill and green onions, 200 grams of boiled chicken breast or beef, a few tomatoes.
Dinner: Strictly speaking, watermelon pulp, for 30 kilos of body weight you need to eat 1000 grams of berries. This must be done at least 3 hours before bedtime so that the urge to urinate does not interfere with your night's sleep.
For 10 days
The watermelon diet for weight loss is very well tolerated in most cases. Since the season of these fruits falls on the hottest time of the year, the appetite is already subdued. So, many people endure several days of restrictions quite calmly and are ready to continue in the same spirit in order to achieve even more noticeable results and find out from their own experience whether it is possible to lose weight with watermelon.
The principles of the ten-day challenge are similar to those suggested by the weekly routine:
- Have breakfast - porridge of brown rice or oatmeal stewed with boiling water, a few pieces of cheese;
- Have lunch - a portion of protein, it can be lean meat or fish, cooked in a double boiler, some vegetable salad or slices are added;
- For dinner you need to eat watermelon pulp, based on the same calculation as the seven-day diet.
If there is enough endurance to fully endure this period, the numbers on the scales will be 6-8 kg less than before starting the watermelon diet.
Options for a mixed watermelon diet
The watermelon diet is not limited to this melon plant. There are other varieties in which new ingredients are added to the watermelon. Sometimes these are additional vegetables or fruits that have approximately the same calorie content and similar effects.
For those who feel hunger during a mono-diet, the addition of a protein component is suitable so that the body does not lose muscle mass and the person does not feel a loss of strength. Typically, ectofermented dairy products are cottage cheese or natural yogurt.
The third option is suitable for those to whom an overdose of watermelon causes problems with the gastrointestinal tract. A large amount of liquid can cause malfunction. To avoid this, you can try adding carbohydrates to your diet, which slightly strengthen the intestines.
Watermelon and melon
This is a popular combination of two southern guests that hit our shelves almost simultaneously. Melons also have a relatively low calorie content, so you can successfully lose weight by eating both types of melons.
Experts recommend sticking to the melon-watermelon diet for six to nine days. To do this, you need to repeat the three-day nutrition cycle two to three times. The menu looks like this:
The first day:
- Breakfast – 100 grams of cottage cheese, 200 grams of melon and a few slices of rye bread;
- Lunch – a portion of stewed fish with a salad of green vegetables, 200 grams of melon;
- Snack – half a kilo of watermelon pulp;
- Dinner – a small cup of boiled rice, an apple, 150 grams of melon.
Second day:
- Breakfast – a few hard-boiled eggs, a cup of unsweetened tea, 150 grams of watermelon;
- Lunch – 400 grams of melon, 200 grams of steamed low-calorie vegetables;
- Snack – a glass of kefir;
- Dinner – a small portion of chicken breast, a few toasts and half a kilo of watermelon.
The third day:
- Breakfast – 400 grams of watermelon and a glass of drinking yogurt;
- Lunch – a plate of brown rice, a portion of steamed chicken breast, 300 grams of melon;
- Snack – green tea without sugar and a few slices of rye bread;
- Dinner – chopped vegetables, one medium baked potato, 400 grams of watermelon.
Watermelon and kefir
No less popular is the watermelon diet, which is combined with kefir. Fermented milk products are among the easiest to digest; they do not disrupt your diet, but only saturate the body with healthy protein.
There is neither a specific menu nor additional products for the watermelon kefir combination. You can only follow such a diet for 72 hours. During this period, the body is significantly cleansed of various toxins and toxic compounds.
A day you need to drink a liter of kefir and eat 2-3 kg of watermelon. To do this, drink a glass of drink and 400-500 grams of sweet pulp every three hours. Last time - three hours before bedtime.
Watermelon and cottage cheese
Cottage cheese is another product that is very popular among healthy food lovers. And this is deserved, because such a rich set of proteins and microelements cannot be found in any product. The main rule of watermelon and curd relief is not to eat them together, but alternately. For example like this:
- Morning – 200 g of cottage cheese;
- Lunch – 05kg. watermelon;
- Afternoon snack – 100 grams of cottage cheese;
- Evening – 05 kg. Watermelon
Three days of this diet will help you gain weight faster, especially in problem areas.
Watermelon and apples
Similar low-calorie relief is possible with a combination of watermelon and apples. It is particularly good to do this cleaning in the fall. You should eat 1. 5 kilos of watermelon and 1 kilo of baked apples per day. This allows the body to be completely cleansed in all directions.
The diuretic properties of watermelon pulp help flush the kidneys and rid the body of excess fluid. As a result, the body is renewed, strengthened and receives new strength. Baked apples contain a lot of pectin. In addition to being able to mechanically cleanse the intestines, it is an excellent adsorbent that attracts, captures and removes harmful compounds from the body.
Watermelon and buckwheat
The favorite muesli of everyone who wants to lose weight contains lots of protein, iron and vitamins. Therefore, the combination of watermelon with buckwheat porridge is optimal for everyone who wants to lose weight significantly, but cannot endure the periodic feeling of hunger.
In the evening you need to weigh 200 grams of dry buckwheat and steam it with boiling water overnight. You will get about 800 grams of porridge, which is about 800 calories. Add 2 to 3 kilograms of watermelon pulp and some green vegetables - you get the permitted daily ration.
This way you can lose weight without starving your body. You can stick to the buckwheat-watermelon diet for a week. If you want more, you need to add proteins and fats and reduce the amount of grains.
Watermelon with brown bread
If you combine a portion of watermelon calculated by weight with a few slices of brown bread, you can curb hunger. This diet is not balanced and therefore cannot be followed for a long period of time.
It is better to pre-dry the bread in a dry frying pan or in the oven, as such toasts keep you full longer. Instead of brown bread, you can also use whole grain bread or crispbread. It's good if the baked goods are yeast-free - this way you avoid fermentation processes in the intestines.
How to properly get off a diet
The peculiarity of the watermelon diet is that proper nutrition is important not only for maintaining results, but also for normalizing digestive processes. If the amount of solid food is limited for several days and plenty of liquid food is consumed, the body gets used to it and a sudden change to the usual diet can lead to a painful reaction in the gastrointestinal tract.
To avoid unpleasant consequences, you need to gradually add denser, but easily digestible food to each meal. These can be liquid porridge, normal-fat cottage cheese, starchy vegetables and bread. After a few days, you can introduce lean meats and fish.
It is better to avoid foods that are too coarse, spicy and fatty. The same goes for refined sugar. If watermelon fiber promotes the smooth absorption of carbohydrates, sweets in their pure form actually immediately increase blood sugar levels and cause a surge in insulin. The system built with the help of the watermelon no longer works.
You must stick to these restrictions and gradually remove them over a period of 7 to 10 days, then you can return to your normal lifestyle. However, if you start eating uncontrollably again, the chance of gaining weight again is very high.
Expert opinion
The very consumption of watermelon is welcomed by nutritionists, as the rich vitamin composition, plenty of liquid and fiber have the most beneficial effect on the body. There is some skepticism among experts regarding mono-diets and very strict options. Nutritionists point out that not all the nutrients the body needs can be obtained from watermelon, so such weight loss cannot be called healthy.
When it comes to giving up fatty foods, sweets and high-calorie foods and replacing them with watermelon pulp, any practitioner would welcome such a diet.
Diploma
The watermelon diet can only be practiced during the season and does not last very long. This must be taken into account when there are doubts about whether watermelon is suitable for losing weight or whether it is better to choose another menu. It is better to try it to understand whether this diet is really as good and tasty as people who have successfully lost weight write in reviews.