Do eat: Watermelon
There’s a good reason you can find watermelon at most barbecues — not only is it delicious, but it also helps you stay hydrated, as it’s 92 percent water. Watermelon boasts numerous other health benefits, including lowering blood pressure and helping with muscle soreness. Watermelon contains a wide variety of nutrients, including vitamin C, potassium, copper, vitamin A, and vitamin B5.
Watermelon’s claim to fame, however, is the high level of citrulline you can find in the white part of the watermelon rind. In your body, citrulline turns into the amino acid arginine, which helps many of your internal organs, including your lungs and reproductive system.
If you’re looking to eat more watermelon, try tossing it with feta cheese, making gazpacho, or layering it with mozzarella for a sweet caprese salad. Yum!
Do eat: Apples
Apples are cheap, readily available, delicious, and healthy. They may be good for weight loss, as they contain a high percentage of water and are also high in fiber (there are 4 grams in a medium sized apple), so they fill you up without filling you with calories. One study found that subjects who had apple slices before a meal ate an average of 200 less calories during the meal.
Apples peels and flesh also contain polyphenols, a type of antioxidants that have been shown to reduce the risk of strokes and heart disease. There are five times more polyphenols in apple skin than in the rest of the apple, so don’t throw that part out!
If you’re wondering whether all apples have the same nutritional benefits, they don’t. Skip the green apples and go for the red ones, as most of the polyphenols are found in red apple skin.
There’s always room for more apples in your diet, and a million ways to cook with them. Add them to your sandwiches, make them into a tasty slaw, or add them to your bakes goods
