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3 Day Watermelon Detox(with seeds)
(Watermelon Detox Day! July 23rd, 201 Register & email me for your morning start instructions...we begin after the sun cools @ 5pm.. Call 404 244~5565 for your registration packet to be emailed to you... or register on the homepage under "Detox Day"
Why do a watermelon kleanze?
Because this is one of the foods that grow in our area that can provide a kleanzing effect for us and we enjoy !
I teach a life-way, called, "Living with the Seasons", that teaches us that we are living "naturally", when we eat and use the foods that grow in the area where we live. They keep us "grounded" to the region and this space that we draw our subsistence from....this is our very life blood and sole existence is drawn from the soil that we live on.
One very special kleanze of the season, one of my family's favorite, "The 3 Day Watermelon Kleanze" ooooo, wheeeeee....my favorite...
The Herb Lady’s -
How to Choose a Watermelon & Cantaloupe, too
My Tips from growing & choosing a “good melon”.
1. Pick up the melon, it should be heavier than it looks…it should make you go, “Whoa!” That means its’ full of water & juicy.
2. The vine should be dried and darkened…if its’ green, its’ picked too early.
3. The opposite end of the vine end, the smooth navel should have a “melon-y” smell.
4. The underside of the melon should be lighter, preferably yellow, this is the side of the melon, that sat on the ground. (Cantaloupes have a slightly brown or flat side.
5. The melon should have seeds…this is a natural part of watermelon and it has therapeutic aspects, (I swallow them..)
6. Make sure that you wash the outside of the melon before you cut it, so as to not slice into the melon, the bacteria that is on the external skin…
Watermelon Salad
Wash & core your melon, wash & dry your Romaine, Spinach, green onions, cilantro & iceberg lettuce… Wash up cucumbers & slice them in circles…Also, wash & cut green onions, & cilantro. Slice up an avocado & watermelon. Place them on the salad plate awaiting the tossed salad. Toss the salad greens, cilantro, green onions & cucumbers with olive oil…. Serve…delicious during the evening meal during the 3 Day Watermelon Kleanze or anytime!
3 Day Watermelon Kleanze (with seeds)
The Herb Lady’s
3 Day Watermelon Kleanze with Seeds
Great for weekends in June, July, August
(we don’t eat watermelon a week or so after Labor Day, (accounting for Global Warming, its’ out of season)
The key to an effective kleanze is to eat watermelon just before you get hungry.
If you allow yourself to get hungry, it may not satisfy you.
Be ready to use the bathroom (kidneys) urgently.
Watermelon is a great kleanzing food for the bladder, kidneys, bowels, prostate.
Watermelon is full of EFA’s (essential fatty acids) Omega 3 & Omega 9 fatty acids, which helps to heal the body, skin, and rebuild cells, balance hormones.
Eating the seeds, which you must swallow during this kleanze, helps to effect the colon, the same way that the fiber affects the kidneys. At some point, during the 3 days, you will have an incredible 1st bowel movement. It will continue to move massive amounts of waste from that 1st breakthrough. The bloating feeling that you have will go away and you will feel light. Watermelon seeds also kill worms by cutting them to shreds.
NOTE: If you have a blood sugar imbalance, you need to use the Watermelon Salad throughout the day, as an addition to your regular meal plan or diet, not just watermelon.
Cut your Watermelon 1st thing in the morning and do not plan to refrigerate it. Eat the entire watermelon before the day ends.
Do not buy pre-cut watermelon. It has lost some of its’ potency & it has been refrigerated.
I eat a ¼ to ½ of the watermelon in the morning for breakfast. I’m as full as a tick, and the bathroom trips start about 10 to 15 minutes afterwards.
(The watermelon texture changes after refrigeration and it is sweeter before refrigeration. This is why I prefer to buy them from Farmers’ on the side of the road or Farmers’ markets, they have usually been picked and sold, right away without refrigeration. I think it digests much better at room temperature, without your body having to warm it up, before using it.
I picked two luscious melons (with seeds) this week from Dekalb Farmers Market.
Has more potassium than bananas.
Watermelon has circulatory properties…you can tell from the strong urination pattern that begins so quickly after eating it.
Excellent for men & prostate.
Great for everyone for its’ cancer protection properties.
Here are some watermelon facts........
| People have loved watermelon throughout the world for centuries. Egyptians grew watermelons more than 5,000 years ago, decorating wall paintings with watermelon. From Egypt, watermelon's popularity grew as traders began selling seeds along Mediterranean trade routes. By the 10th century, watermelon made its way into China and by the 13th century, the Moors introduced watermelon into southern Europe. European colonists and African slaves are credited with bringing watermelon to North America. President Thomas Jefferson grew watermelons in Virginia and boasted they were sweeter than their counterparts in Paris. During the Civil War, the Confederate Army boiled down watermelon as a source of sugar and molasses. Modern varieties of the watermelon are derived from the native African vine Citrullus lanatus (or C. vulgaris). Cultivated for thousands of years in the Nile Valley, this species still grows wild in the arid interior where it supplies native people with water during drought seasons. Wild watermelons, called citron in Africa, have a spherical, striped fruit, and white, slightly bitter or bland flesh. The pale flesh tastes like the rind of a typical watermelon. The citron is also called "preserving melon" because the fruit rind is used in preserves, jellies and to make pickles or conserves. Because of its high pectin content, it is added to fruit juices to make them jell more rapidly. One plant may produce up to 100 fruits, which are commonly fed to livestock. |
| A fairly recent development is the seedless watermelon. Most people find the seedless melons to be more convenient, and the melons seem to have a longer shelf life, since there are few or no seeds to serve as loci of deterioration. Seedless watermelons are created by crossbreeding watermelons with different numbers of chromosomes. Standard watermelon cultivars are diploid designated 2X, which means that they have one pair of each chromosome. These are crossed with a tetraploid variety, which has two pairs of each chromosome (4X). Since each parent contributes half of its genetic material to the offspring, the resulting hybrid is a triploid, with a chromosome number of 3X. The seeds from this cross-breeding will germinate and grow into a plant that can bears flowers, but the flowers will not produce viable sperm-bearing pollen or eggs because of the odd number of chromosome sets. Because of this, seeds are not usually formed. Since seedless watermelons are self-infertile, a standard diploid variety is planted along with the seedless variety, so that the flowers can be fertilized. The normal cultivar chosen usually has a different rind color or pattern from the seedless variety, so that the two can be easily differentiated at harvest time. When home gardeners buy a packet of seedless watermelon seeds, they get two kinds of seeds, one for the fertile diploid plant and one for the sterile triploid. |
photo courtesy of Oregon State University
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| Mark Twain once said that watermelon was "chief of the world's luxuries, king by the grace of God over all the fruits of the earth. When one has tasted it, he knows what the angels eat." United States Department of Agriculture statistics show that Americans ate 17.4 pounds of watermelon per person in 1996. This is the highest consumption level recorded since 1958, when the average American ate 18.2 pounds of watermelon. The top-producing states for 1996, according to the USDA are Texas, Georgia, California, Florida, Arizona, Indiana, North Carolina, Missouri, South Carolina and Oklahoma. Although successful production depends greatly on the proper climatic conditions, honey bees play an important role in watermelon growth. The pollen of many members of the cucurbit family is heavy and sticky, and not transferred from one flower to another very effectively by the wind. Bees are essential for proper pollination to occur. When a seeded variety is close to harvest, the part of the rind touching the ground changes from white to pale yellow. In the U.S., most watermelons are harvested between April and October. All are hand-picked. |
nutrition facts courtesy of the USDA
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picture courtesy of Oregon State University
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FDA standards released in 1996 show that watermelons have become more nutritious than they once were. A two-cup serving has 10 fewer calories and more Vitamin A, fiber, calcium and iron. Watermelon is a good source of lycopene, which, recent medical research suggests, may help protect against certain forms of cancer. At 92% water, watermelon is the perfect treat in hot weather, replenishing body fluids lost in exercise. A survey by the National Watermelon Promotion Board Consumer Market Research conducted in September of 1996 shows that consumers are interested in watermelon's nutritional value and believe watermelons are a healthy alternative to processed snacks for their children. A two-cup serving of watermelon contains 80 calories, two grams of dietary fiber, 25% of the daily value of vitamin C, 20% of the daily value of vitamin A, 25 grams of sugar and 1 gram of protein. |
Watermelon May Have Viagra-effect
ScienceDaily (July 1, 2008) — A cold slice of watermelon has long been a Fourth of July holiday staple. But according to recent studies, the juicy fruit may be better suited for Valentine’s Day. That’s because scientists say watermelon has ingredients that deliver Viagra-like effects to the body’s blood vessels and may even increase libido.
“The more we study watermelons, the more we realize just how amazing a fruit it is in providing natural enhancers to the human body,” said Dr. Bhimu Patil, director of Texas A&M’s Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center in College Station.
“We’ve always known that watermelon is good for you, but the list of its very important healthful benefits grows longer with each study.”
Beneficial ingredients in watermelon and other fruits and vegetables are known as phyto-nutrients, naturally occurring compounds that are bioactive, or able to react with the human body to trigger healthy reactions, Patil said.
In watermelons, these include lycopene, beta carotene and the rising star among its phyto-nutrients – citrulline – whose beneficial functions are now being unraveled. Among them is the ability to relax blood vessels, much like Viagra does.
Scientists know that when watermelon is consumed, citrulline is converted to arginine through certain enzymes. Arginine is an amino acid that works wonders on the heart and circulation system and maintains a good immune system, Patil said.
“The citrulline-arginine relationship helps heart health, the immune system and may prove to be very helpful for those who suffer from obesity and type 2 diabetes,” said Patil. “Arginine boosts nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, the same basic effect that Viagra has, to treat erectile dysfunction and maybe even prevent it.”
While there are many psychological and physiological problems that can cause impotence, extra nitric oxide could help those who need increased blood flow, which would also help treat angina, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems.
“Watermelon may not be as organ specific as Viagra,” Patil said, “but it’s a great way to relax blood vessels without any drug side-effects.”
The benefits of watermelon don’t end there, he said. Arginine also helps the urea cycle by removing ammonia and other toxic compounds from our bodies.
Citrulline, the precursor to arginine, is found in higher concentrations in the rind of watermelons than the flesh. As the rind is not commonly eaten, two of Patil’s fellow scientists, drs. Steve King and Hae Jeen Bang, are working to breed new varieties with higher concentrations in the flesh.
In addition to the research by Texas A&M, watermelon’s phyto-nutrients are being studied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Lane, Oklahoma.
As an added bonus, these studies have also shown that deep red varieties of watermelon have displaced the tomato as the lycopene king, Patil said. Almost 92 percent of watermelon is water, but the remaining 8 percent is loaded with lycopene, an anti-oxidant that protects the human heart, prostate and skin health.
“Lycopene, which is also found in red grapefruit, was historically thought to exist only in tomatoes,” he said. “But now we know that it’s found in higher concentrations in red watermelon varieties.”
Lycopene, however, is fat-soluble, meaning that it needs certain fats in the blood for better absorption by the body, Patil said.
“Previous tests have shown that lycopene is much better absorbed from tomatoes when mixed in a salad with oily vegetables like avocado or spinach,” Patil said. “That would also apply to the lycopene from watermelon, but I realize mixing watermelon with spinach or avocadoes is a very hard sell.”
No studies have been conducted to determine the timing of the consumption of oily vegetables to improve lycopene absorption, he said.
“One final bit of advice for those Fourth of July watermelons you buy,” Patil said. “They store much better uncut if you leave them at room temperature. Lycopene levels can be maintained even as it sits on your kitchen floor. But once you cut it, refrigerate. And enjoy.”
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