This Summer Fruit Packs More Potassium Than A Banana
If there's one fruit that screams summer, it's watermelon. Biting into that refreshing, sweet flesh as the sun beats down is ingrained into millions of people's memories. While it's great for hydration (it is a watermelon after all), it's also one of several fruits that have more potassium than a banana. A couple of wedges of raw watermelon, weighing around 570 grams, will deliver roughly 640 milligrams of potassium, boosting our bodies in several ways, while one medium banana contains about 451 milligrams of potassium. It's recommended that adults get between 3,500 and 4,700 milligrams of potassium per day.
Watermelon is also packed with other nutritional goodies, including vitamins C and A, as well as magnesium, which is crucial for controlling blood pressure and bone development, to name just two physical benefits. The advantages of these glossy, green spheres don't end with our health, watermelons are one of a group of fruit and veggies we can eat every part of, so they offer good value for money too — pickled watermelon rinds are a Southern classic!
Vegetable or fruit, raw or cooked, watermelon is all good
Although seedless watermelons aren't actually a thing, there are around 300 different kinds, and the debate about whether they're a vegetable or a fruit continues. Known officially as Citrullus lanatus, it is part of the cucurbitaceae family, which also includes squashes and cucumbers, but it's so commonly used as a fruit worldwide that its veggie connections have more or less been shrugged off.
Instead, people have focused on its delicious flavor and versatility. Chop it into cubes or scoop out balls for a delicious addition to either a fruit or a green salad, cook up your watermelon on the grill, give it a touch of zing with this spicy seasoning, or grind it into a refreshing granita. To find the perfect fruit in the grocery store, check the rind carefully for any dents, cuts or bruising, give it a heft to feel the weight (the heavier it is the fresher), and look for a paler spot on the skin as proof it was ground-ripened. After you get it home, wash it, then cut a couple of slices for a dose of potassium and a taste of sunshine!