The Los Angeles Times and Orlando Sentinel reported that, according to a study published in the American Journal of Hypertension, there is “evidence that eating watermelon could reduce … blood pressure.”
In fact, “in a small, pilot study led by food scientists at Florida State University, researchers found that eating six grams of watermelon extract a day for six weeks lowered blood pressure in all nine middle-aged subjects with prehypertension.”
The study authors “suggest that watermelon may prevent prehypertension from progressing to full-blown hypertension.”
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “Health & Science Today” blog quoted one of the study authors, who explained that “watermelon is the richest edible natural source of L-citrulline, which is closely related to L-arginine, the amino acid required for the formation of nitric oxide (which is) essential to the regulation of vascular tone and healthy blood pressure.”
So, from those of us from the south, this is good news — our beloved watermelon is found to be highly healthy in yet another way.