Watermelon is a major summer fruit, hence it is also known as "summer melon"; it is juicy and has a high water content, so it is also called "water melon"; as it is a "cold" natured fruit that can clear heat and relieve summer heat, it is also called "cold melon."
Every part of the watermelon is a treasure. The pulp and juice of watermelon can supplement the nutritional needs of the skin, muscles, and hair during the hot summer. Especially the nutrients contained in watermelon, such as vitamins, enzymes, and amino acids, nourish the skin and stimulate the appetite. For people who are thin, have dry skin, and a haggard appearance, watermelon is a rare oral beauty product. Eating an appropriate amount of watermelon daily and reducing some food intake can help with weight loss and promote a healthy body shape.
Watermelon can prevent and treat prickly heat. Prickly heat is an inflammation around the sweat glands caused by sweat retention in the sweat ducts and being squeezed into surrounding tissues, which can produce small, blister-like red papules, affecting summer life. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that prickly heat is caused by high summer temperatures, poor sweating, and damp-heat accumulating in the skin. Because watermelon has a good effect of clearing summer heat, similar to the Baihu decoction, it can effectively prevent and treat prickly heat.
Applying watermelon rind externally to the face can externally supplement the skin's nutrition, promote the metabolism of facial skin, and help the skin stay moist and delicate, while also preventing facial pigmentation caused by excessive summer sun exposure. The method is to first wash the face with warm water, then gently rub the leftover watermelon rind on the face along the direction of the muscles, rinse the watermelon juice off with warm water after 15 minutes, and do this once or twice a day.
Watermelon seeds can be processed into various flavored seeds such as five-spice melon seeds, cream melon seeds, and multi-flavored melon seeds, which are not only delicious but also have medical benefits such as benefiting the lungs, moistening the intestines, stopping bleeding, strengthening the stomach, and lowering blood pressure. For example, taking 50 grams of watermelon seeds, crushing them with their shells, decocting them in water, removing the dregs, and taking it orally with rock sugar can treat hemoptysis from tuberculosis and bloody stools. Crushing the watermelon seed shells, decocting them in water, removing the dregs, and taking it with brown sugar has a significant effect on treating hematemesis, hemoptysis, and intestinal bleeding.
In addition to eating the pulp, the juice and rind of the watermelon can also be used to make healthy drinks and dishes. Here are some examples: 1. Watermelon and Tomato Juice:
Pit the ripe watermelon pulp, squeeze the juice through a clean cloth; peel and pit the ripe tomatoes, and squeeze the juice through a cloth. Mix the two juices together and drink. Prepare and drink on the same day, about 100 ml per day. 2. Cold Watermelon Rind Salad:
: First, peel off the red pulp and the thinnest, hardest outer layer of rind from the leftover watermelon rind, wash it, and cut it into thin strips. Add a little salt, marinate for a moment, squeeze out the excess water, then add appropriate amounts of minced garlic, soy sauce, sugar, monosodium glutamate, and sesame oil to make the salad. You can also stir-fry the marinated watermelon rind (strips) in a wok with seasonings to make stir-fried watermelon rind. 3. Watermelon Rind and Lotus Leaf Tea:
Use 250 grams of fresh watermelon rind or 100 grams of dried watermelon rind, and 30 grams of fresh lotus leaf. Decoct in water to make a tea to drink, and finish it on the same day.