Eating Watermelon with Diabetes: Benefits and Considerations

Watermelon is one of the best fruits – for many people, it is their summertime favorite. It has some excellent nutrients and excellent health benefits for most people. However, much like with other food, it is trickery for people with diabetes.

Watermelon for Diabetes: A Comprehensive Guide

Watermelon can be eaten raw or as part of several excellent dishes. However, people with diabetes must be careful about what they eat as they can not consume too many carbohydrates.

1. Carbohydrate content

Unless consumed in large quantities, watermelons don’t have a very high carbohydrate content – that is because much of the fruit is water.

2. Nutritional content

Watermelon is rich in Vitamin C, which is a valuable vitamin that can help prevent medical problems relating to Diabetes, especially, heart complications, which are often linked with diabetes.

3. Hydration

As their name suggests, watermelons have a high water content. Thus they are an excellent way of staying hydrated. Apart from that, the water content means that one ends up eating less than most people and that helps in weight management. Weight management is particularly troublesome and also of critical importance for people with diabetes.

4. Antioxidants

Watermelons have some lycopene – an antioxidant that is known to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. As mentioned above, people with diabetes are at a higher risk of heart complications – and consuming moderate amounts of watermelon can help prevent that.

5. Glycemic index

The glycemic index or GI is a measure on a scale from 1 to 100 that measures how quickly will the sugar in the blood breaks down. The glycemic index of watermelon is high at 72. This means it can cause glucose spikes in the blood, which is something that can be detrimental to the health of people with diabetes.

6. Glycemic load

The Glycemic load or GL is another excellent measure. It is a better measure in that it combines GI with actual carbohydrate content. An item can have high GI yet it won’t create a spike in glucose if it didn’t have high carbohydrates. If food has high carbohydrate content but low GI, it still won’t create a spike. If it is below 10 is considered low, between 10 to 19 it is considered medium. Above 19, it is considered high. The GL of watermelon is 2, which is very low suggesting that people with diabetes can safely eat watermelons.

FAQs

There are several questions that people tend to have relating to watermelons and other fruits and whether and how people can eat them. The following are some of the most Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.s) :

Question: What are some of the most diabetes-friendly fruits?

Answer: A lot of people tend to assume that people with diabetes should stay away from all sorts of fruits. However, that is not true. People can eat several fruits, especially citric fruits such as plums, peaches, oranges, apples, apricots, pears, berries, etc. However, these fruits should only consume fresh and not in form of juices from markets that come with artificial sweeteners. Dry fruits and some sweet fruits should be avoided.

Question: What are some other good food items that people with diabetes can eat safely?

Answer: As long as consumed in moderate amounts (and this is a caveat that should not be taken lightly), people with diabetes can also eat honey, beetroots, sabudana, etc.

Question: Should I not avoid carbohydrates altogether if I have diabetes?

Answer: No. That is because although being diabetic means that one is at a higher risk of getting high glucose levels and related complications, it is always possible to have clinically low glucose levels which can also lead to dire consequences on the health of a person. Thus, one needs to maintain glucose in a healthy range and that can only be done by eating the right amount of carbohydrates. Additionally, one also needs other nutrients and a person can not have other nutrients without consuming some carbohydrates. The best strategy is to come up with a balanced diet plan with help of a dietary expert and stick with it,

Question: What are some of the precautions that should be kept in mind while adding watermelons to the diet of a person with diabetes?

Answer: The following are some of the points that must be kept in mind while adding to the diet of someone with diabetes:

• Watermelons and other fruits should only be consumed fresh and in moderate quantities.
• The above information is generic and may not apply to a specific case.
• This article should not be considered a substitute for the advice of a medical practitioner. It is critical to get the approval of one’s medical practitioner before making changes to one’s diet.

If the reader has any other questions, they should feel free to ask them here.

The Bottom Line

One can easily wrap up the above discussion by concluding that watermelons are a tasty and healthy food even for people with diabetes as long as they are consumed in the right way.