Health Benefits of Cantaloupe

Health Benefits of Cantaloupe

The cantaloupe is one of the high-fiber fruits that are often not celebrated enough but does wonder for your health. Its famous cousins like the honey melon and squash with pumpkins get all the limelight with their Halloween-themed occasions, but after reading about the health benefits of this fruit, you will surely consider getting this from your grocery shopping next time.

The cantaloupe is basically a melon that is less mild in sweetness and has a lot of nutrients stored in it. Let’s see all the amazing health benefits of this fruit, along with some information about what it does to

Beta Carotene

Beta carotene, or vitamin A is usually found in yellow, orange, and brown-looking fruits and vegetables. As cantaloupe has a yellow and orange tint, it is packed with a lot of beta carotene. The US Department of Agriculture states that the fruit comes with more beta carotene than a lot of its yellow and orange counterpart fruits. These include grapefruit, orange, apricot, tangerine, nectarine, peach, and mango. What’s more, an early study on a variety of melons, including cantaloupe, concluded that it has almost the same quantity of nutrients as carrots.

Carotenoids are essential nutrients that are found in vegetables and fruits of bright colors. The carotenoids or the pigments, when absorbed in the body, convert to vitamin A, and act as antioxidant substances to fight the free radicals inside your body. Vitamin A is highly essential for the following:

• Better eye health
• Improved health of red blood cells
• Improved immune response

Ascorbic Acid

It is also stated by the USDA that a cup of cantaloupe cut into pieces has more than the required daily value of ascorbic acid, which is fascinating. If you want to improve the appearance of your skin tone or you want to prevent your gums from bleeding, then taking ascorbic acid through foods such as cantaloupe is a great option.

Ascorbic acid has different functions in the maintenance of the health of blood vessels, muscles, cartilage, and collagen in bones and gums. There is a lot of research going on considering the involvement of ascorbic acid in different diseases such as asthma, cancer, and diabetes. On the other hand, having foods rich in vitamin C might help in the reduction of your symptom time. For example, vitamin C may reduce the time span of your cold if you get it after using foods rich in this vitamin.

A Cochrane Library study found that ascorbic acid significantly decreased the overall span of the common cold in people by up to 8 percent. In the younger population, this time span was reported to be reduced by a percentage of 14 percent.

Folate

Folate is considered vitamin B9. It is usually present in legumes and red meat. The vitamin is critical for early life development as its deficiency has been directly linked to neural birth defects such as spinal Bifida. It might also help in reducing the risk of cancers, addressing memory loss through aging, and preventing the risk of cancer.

More studies published in various journals suggest that the compound might play a preventative role in the early stages of cancer and in people having a deficiency of folate. On the other hand, folate taken in high doses, such as excess supplementation, might have a negative impact on the development of cancers.

Mayo Clinic, women of reproductive age, may need to use about 600 micrograms of the substances on a daily basis. Men over the age of 13 should consume 400 grams of the compound daily. About two cups of cantaloupe have about 74 micrograms of the nutrient, which equals 19 percent of the recommended daily value.

 Water

As simple as it may seem, water is highly important for different metabolic reactions. Cantaloupe has around 90 percent of water. We can easily say that consuming cantaloupe helps in improving the state of hydration throughout the day. It is highly important for cardiac health. When you stay hydrated, your heart wouldn’t have to do a lot of work to pump blood into the body. Better hydration helps with digestion, blood pressure, kidney health, and more.

Mild dehydration can result in effects such as headache, dizziness, less frequent urination, dry mouth and skin, and constipation. On the other hand, severe dehydration may lead to serious consequences, for example, rapid heartbeat, lethargy, confusion, low blood pressure, unconsciousness, and shriveled skin. What’s more, kidney stones may develop as a result of severe dehydration. Cantaloupe contains a lot of free water that will help you with staying hydrated.

Fiber

Dietary fiber goes a long way in improving and maintaining health. It is now suggested that consuming fiber fruits such as cantaloupe helps in reducing your overall risk for developing heart disease as well as diabetes and helps you in losing weight by improving satiety levels in the body. It also helps you in reducing your risk of developing diabetes. The recommended intake of fiber is recommended 28 to 30 grams per day.

Potassium

A simple slice of cantaloupe contains around 4 percent of your daily requirement of potassium. This mineral is required for your overall electrolyte balance in the body. Potassium helps in keeping adequate water balance between bodily fluids and cells.

What’s more, potassium is considered an important mineral to maintain nerve health as well as muscle contraction. Having cantaloupes in your diet as a snack can help you get refreshed after performing a vigorous activity such as exercising.

Minerals and Vitamins

These are not the only nutrients that are found in cantaloupe. There are a lot of other minerals and vitamins in the fruit, such as 1.5 grams of dietary protein. What’s more, it also contains a lot of other minerals and vitamins than the ones mentioned.

These include niacin, choline, vitamin K, calcium, zinc, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, selenium, and others. All of these minerals and vitamins make this fruit quite rich in terms of nutrition.

Health Benefits

1) It Helps with Diabetes

The cantaloupe is high in fiber content, which makes it a perfect fruit for diabetic people. It doesn’t have a high Glycemic Index, which makes it activate a slow glycemic response in the blood. People struggling with diabetes can find such fruits to be helpful, as not only do they regulate the blood sugar levels but also give them good satiety. Adding some slices of cantaloupes at snack times can help to recharge you without increasing your blood sugar levels drastically.

If you want to improve your overall health, then do consider taking cantaloupe into your diet.

2) It Helps Improve Vision

Cantaloupe is a variety of melons that is high in beta carotene, which is evident from its mild yellowish orange shade. This indicates the presence of carotenoids in the fruit. The pigments get digested in the body and convert themselves into vitamin A, which is helpful for vision health. If you want to improve your vision significantly, then it is quite important to consider taking foods high in vitamin A. Adding yellow and orange colored fresh vegetables and fruits to your diet, such as cantaloupe, will help you get improved vision. In a better way, we may say that it helps in the prevention of eye diseases.

3) It Helps You Stay Fresh and Active

Cantaloupe contains a lot of vitamins and minerals, which are important for driving a lot of metabolic reactions in the body. What’s more, cantaloupe helps in improving the overall electrolyte balance in the body. So, if you are facing problems related to sweating and dehydration, instead of sticking to energy drinks, it is a much healthier option to include nutrient-rich fruits in your diet, such as cantaloupe in your diet. It wouldn’t be bad for your blood glucose levels, and it will provide you with sufficient electrolytes to feel energized after spending time in activities such as exercise.

4) It Prevents Heart Disease

It is now suggested that antioxidants, such as ascorbic acid and carotenoids, help in the prevention of cardiac diseases. We can say that cantaloupes help in the overall prevention of heart disease in the body. The rich fiber content in the fruit helps in stabilizing the blood sugar levels in the body, which prevents insulin resistance in the body, another element that may drive towards cardiac conditions. The fiber content also prevents cholesterol buildup in the arteries, which helps in the smooth supply of blood to different organs, including the heart, thus preventing heart attacks and heart failure.

Final Words

As you can see, taking cantaloupe can help you maintain and improve your health. It is because of the many vitamins, minerals, protein, and water present in the fruit that work together and provide various health benefits. These include better vision, improved heart health, prevention of diabetes, and improved energy levels and hydration in the body. So, you may want to take muskmelon in your diet regularly in order to get the best results.