Watermelon is an effective natural cure for a number of conditions, according to Earth Clinic readers, such as kidney stone and endometriosis pain, prostate issues and is said to be helpful for dengue fever.
Watermelons are approximately 92% water, which makes it an excellent fruit for hydration during hot summer months. Additionally, watermelon contains high levels of vitamins A, B6 and C, antioxidants, amino acids and, notably, lycopene. Between 15-20 milligrams of lycopene are in every 2-cup serving of watermelon.
Lycopene is a phytonutrient, a naturally occurring compound in veggies and fruits that reacts with your body to trigger healthy immune reactions. Lycopene is also the red pigment that gives watermelons their beautiful color.
Continue reading below for interesting feedback from our readers who have eaten watermelon to help a medical condition. Have you tried watermelon to cure an ailment? Please let us know how it worked out for you!
Like Maria from Sydney, I’ve had success with watermelon as well, the only pain-free period I’ve had in my entire life! My friend had experienced a great deal of relief as well by eating it. I’m currently trying to eat it daily in hopes of having a break from the dreaded cramps. I will report back and update on how it turned out!
I have been getting kidney stones for 25 years. I have one right now and have been taking stone breaker it works really well but it doesn’t always keep the kidney and stomach pain for that long. So doing some research online I came across an article about watermelon and kidney stones so I went and bought a watermelon, cut the whole thing up and just picked at it all day and I could not believe how it took the pain away all day.
I ate a small watermelon in twenty four hours. I peed all day. Going back to get another watermelon. I researched it more and found that you should juice the whole melon rind and all and that’s suppose to work even better.
I’m still taking stone breaker and drinking lemon water also kidney beans help too. I just thought I’d share hope this helps. Hope mine goes away because its sickening how much it cost to go get rid of a kidney stone at the hospital.
Trust me, watermelon does a great job. If you can finish a complete ball of watermelon you will be highly relieved. It suppresses BPH though you may have to repeat it when next you feel symptoms. In my own case, it suppressed it for about 5 weeks after eating a ball in two days.
Since I have kidney issues, the tomato paste is hard on me because of the high potassium level. I have just determined that watermelon has about 50% less potassium for the same amount of lycopene and the absorption seems to be just as good, without the need for oil – although coconut oil I believe is still good for you nonetheless. See the following from Dr. Weil’s site:
Watermelon for Prostate Cancer?
I love tomatoes on my salads, but I’ve read that tomatoes have to be cooked in order to reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Is this true?
Answer (Published 12/10/2002)
The compound in tomatoes that reduces the risk of prostate cancer is lycopene, which is the carotenoid pigment responsible for their red color. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that a number of large studies have shown is particularly good at protecting against prostate, colon and rectal cancer, as well as heart disease. It is true that lycopene is much more available to the body from cooked tomatoes than from raw ones. And since it is fat soluble, you need to eat your cooked tomatoes with some fat to facilitate absorption. That doesn’t mean eating all the pizza you can get your hands on. However, it does suggest that homemade marinara sauce would be a healthful staple. I make my marinara with olive oil and keep some on hand in the freezer.
However, if you don’t like tomatoes, you could try watermelon. Results of recent research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggest that watermelon contains 40-percent more lycopene than an equivalent weight of tomatoes. As a matter of fact, one study suggests that watermelon may be a better source of lycopene than tomatoes. The amount of lycopene provided in watermelon is as well absorbed by the body as lycopene from tomatoes. (And, of course, you don’t have to cook watermelon to get the same benefits that you get from tomatoes.)
This new information about lycopene comes from a study at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service laboratory in Maryland. Participants (all of them healthy) ate either a diet low in lycopene or one supplemented with cooked tomato juice or squeezed and frozen watermelon juice. Results showed that those who drank either juice doubled their blood lycopene concentrations by the end of the trial. Scientists say that this is the first study to show that the body takes up lycopene from raw watermelon.
The body converts about 500 different carotenoids into vitamin A. I recommend taking advantage of them all. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables, especially peaches, melons, mangoes, sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, and dark leafy greens – and now watermelon – can give you an abundant supply of these healthy pigments. (If you don’t get enough of these foods in your diet, you may want to use an antioxidant supplement. I recommend a mixed carotenoid supplement containing lycopene, lutein, alpha-carotene and zeaxanthin, as well as beta-carotene.)
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Dosage Update, October, 2004
In order to provide the most up-to-date health information, I may change my recommendations from time to time. Due to compelling new research on carotene, I now suggest that you take 15,000 IU of mixed carotenes. (My previous recommendation was 25,000 IU; please adjust your dosage accordingly.)
https://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA143002
A study shows that a nutrient called lycopene which is found in Guava, Watermelons, tomatoes, papaya, grapefruit etc, has been very helpful in helping women with endometriosis.
I don’t have endometriosis or at least my doctor doesn’t think I do but seeing so many women suffer with this just breaks my heart.
I heard a lot of women had success with tomatoes and watermelon, even someone on this site wrote that she found relief from watermelons.
It may take time and you may need to be patient, but I hope there is a cure out there and we can all be healthy and happy. Good luck everyone, God bless.
It’s a miracle! I’ve taken ACV & coconut oil for many years, herbs from an amazing Chinese herbalist who’s healed me for many ailments and nothing has worked. Endometriosis has been a persistent problem. I’ve eaten a quater of a watermelon a day for the past 2 weeks for no other reason than I was craving it. I’m on the second day of my period – NO PAIN and NO CLOTS!!!!!!! I just googled the two together, apparently it’s the Lycopene in watermelon, it contains more than tomato’s. I can’t quite believe it!
I can definitely can vouch for the watermelon doing its thing when the need arises! Eat nothing else but watermelon for a whole day (or longer if you wish) and the infection is gone. Easier in summer time when there is lots of them!
Fresh watermelon! Take as much as you can. Water melon is useful for dengue fever as water melon can boost your immune system and fight infection. Do not eat chilled watermelon!