3 Bad Habits of Eating Watermelon in Summer
Introduction: In the hot summer, watermelon has long been one of people's favorite fruits, so people tend to eat a lot of it. However, there are some precautions to take when eating watermelon; it's not something you can eat in any way you like. The following lists three things to be mindful of when eating watermelon.
1. It's a bad idea to eat watermelon as a main meal
Watermelon is over 94% water, but it is also high in sugar. A normal-sweetness watermelon contains about 5% sugar, making it very high in calories. The calorie content of watermelon is 250 kcal/kg. This means if you eat a very large watermelon every day, about 4 to 5 kg, you are consuming 1000 to 1250 kcal. In comparison, a small bowl of regular rice has about 200 kcal. In other words, eating one watermelon is equivalent to eating five or six bowls of rice.
Actually, you can't really blame the watermelon itself; the main issue is that people eat too much of it in the summer. If you eat watermelon in a portion size similar to an apple, it's not likely to cause significant weight gain.—The exact same logic applies to beer. Per 100 grams, beer seems to have low energy, but two bottles of beer (1500 grams) have the same energy as a bag of sliced toast (120 grams).
2. It's a bad idea to eat watermelon as a late-night snack
Watermelon is rich in sugar. If you eat too much before going to bed at night, insulin levels will rise, promoting fat synthesis. Most of the newly synthesized fat is stored in the abdomen. Furthermore, with reduced physical activity at night, fat is only stored and not burned. Over time, a pot belly will develop. So, don't think you can avoid gaining weight by having watermelon as a late-night snack. Weight loss doesn't allow for loopholes. Therefore, if you're trying to lose weight, you shouldn't eat late-night snacks, even if you think they won't make you fat. Just patiently get through the night.
3. It's a bad idea to not feel full from eating watermelon
Why do you feel extremely full after eating an extra bowl of rice, but rarely feel full after eating watermelon? Even after a full meal, you can still eat several pieces of watermelon, sometimes even half a one. Does our appetite suddenly increase when faced with watermelon?
Unlike apples, the sweetness of watermelon mainly comes from fructose. The lower the temperature, the sweeter the fructose, which is the main reason it is favored in various cool drinks. Research has long found that although fructose does not significantly raise blood sugar, it bypasses the body's appetite control mechanisms. In other words, drinking glucose water or sucrose water makes you feel full, but drinking beverages containing fructose does not. Since watermelon contains a large amount of fructose, it also has this characteristic of not making you feel full. Therefore, people find it difficult to control their portions when eating watermelon. So we must remember that watermelon can make you gain weight. Don't fool yourself by saying "just one more piece," because that one piece won't be your last.