As the weather gets hotter, the juicy and sweet watermelon can be considered the most popular "all-natural drink." In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), watermelon is known as the "natural Baihu Decoction." It is sweet and cold in nature, and has effects such as clearing heat and relieving summer heat, promoting the production of body fluids to quench thirst. Modern medical research has also found that eating watermelon often can have a diuretic, appetizing, and metabolism-boosting effect. Although watermelon is good, the daily amount should be controlled to 200-400 grams, and certain groups of people should eat even less.
People with oral ulcers: Because watermelon has a diuretic effect, if people with oral ulcers eat too much, it can lead to excessive excretion of water and some minerals from the body, which can easily aggravate ulcer symptoms.
Cold patients in the early stage: TCM classifies colds into two types: wind-cold and wind-heat. In the early stage of a cold, before determining which type you have, eating too much watermelon is likely to worsen the cold and lead to a deterioration of the condition. If you have already confirmed it is a wind-heat cold, accompanied by internal heat symptoms such as high fever and thirst, you can eat a small amount of watermelon to help clear heat and detoxify.
People with indigestion and a cold spleen and stomach: Watermelon is a raw and cold food. People with indigestion and a cold spleen and stomach are more likely to damage their spleen and stomach if they eat too much, leading to symptoms such as bloating, diarrhea, and frequent urination.
Diabetics: Watermelon contains about 5% sugar. If diabetics eat too much watermelon in a short period of time, it can easily lead to a rise in blood sugar. Such people should limit their intake of watermelon, eating only 100-150 grams at a time, and should eat it slowly.
Pregnant women: Pregnant women have relatively insufficient insulin and a reduced stabilizing effect on blood sugar. If they eat too much watermelon, the excessive sugar intake can cause the sugar concentration in the blood to become too high, which is detrimental to health. In addition, pregnant women are relatively weak, and eating too much watermelon can easily damage the spleen and stomach.
People taking certain medications: Watermelon is cool in nature. People taking warming and heat-clearing Chinese medicines (such as ginseng and astragalus) should not eat too much watermelon, as it can affect the efficacy of the medicine.
Elderly people: As people age, most have problems such as a cold spleen and stomach, and poor heart and kidney function. Eating too much watermelon can easily damage the spleen and stomach, causing physical discomfort and impairing health.
People who have just finished exercising: Eating watermelon immediately after a workout, especially chilled watermelon, can easily irritate the digestive tract and damage stomach health.
Patients with kidney insufficiency: For patients with kidney insufficiency, it is difficult to excrete excess water from the body. If these patients eat too much watermelon, it will not only worsen edema but also easily increase their blood volume, triggering acute heart failure.