How To Prepare Watermelon
Watermelon can be found in most grocery stores, health food stores, co-ops, and farmerâs markets. Many pick-your-own fruit farms provide the opportunity to select and harvest watermelons.
Some people prefer to grow watermelon in their own gardens. The fruit grows best in warm or hot climates. Success in growing watermelons is also more likely if the plants receive plenty of space and water.
When purchasing watermelon at the store, select one that feels heavy for its size. Look for a creamy yellow splotch, formed wherever the watermelon previously rested on the ground.
Many people use a knocking technique to determine watermelon ripeness. Under this method, the fruit should produce a hollow noise instead of a dull thud.
While watermelon is best enjoyed when sliced fresh and eaten on the spot, you can also add it to a variety of recipes. Feel free to give these ideas a try:
- Create a watermelon puree and add to molds to be frozen to form a healthy alternative to popsicles
- Add frozen watermelon to a smoothie with banana, yogurt, milk, and any other fruits you desire
- Include watermelon on sandwiches with mozzarella cheese or even bacon.
- Add watermelon to a fresh fruit salad with pineapple, blueberries, and cherries
- Create a memorable Mediterranean salad with watermelon, cucumbers, Feta cheese, and red onion
- Pair watermelon with prosciutto for a delicious snack
- Use watermelon as a base for gazpacho
Show Sources
WorldAtlas: âTop Watermelon Producing Countries In The World.â
Health Benefits Of Lemon Juice
Like all citrus fruits, lemons are excellent sources of vitamin C. The juice from one lemon, which is a little more than an ounce and the amount often used to make 1 cup of lemonade, provides about 19 milligrams of vitamin C, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Of course, you may get a little more or less, depending on the amount of lemon juice you consume, but its sure to make a good contribution to your recommended dietary allowance. Women should get 75 milligrams of vitamin C daily, while men need 90 milligrams.
Vitamin C is well known as an antioxidant that neutralizes reactive molecules free radicals before they damage tissues. As an antioxidant, vitamin C also protects molecules such as proteins, fats, carbs and DNA from damage by free radicals. Higher intakes of vitamin C are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Your body also needs vitamin C to produce collagen, which is the connective tissue that supports and strengthens muscles, ligaments, skin and organs.
Our Final Take On Nutritious Lemonade
Lemonade is undoubtedly an excellent source of vitamins, particularly the all-important Vitamin C, which our bodies need to function There is also a wide range of lemonade health benefits, including hydration, re-energization, and immune system boosts.
We cant forget how invigorating a cup of fresh, ice-cold lemonade is on a hot summer day!
But if your lemonade is too sugary, it can be detrimental to your health. Too much sugary lemonade could lead to weight gain, potential chronic diseases, and poor dental health.
In moderation, though, the benefits of a healthy homemade lemonade thats low in sugars are going to outweigh the negatives.
Why not save our guide to lemonade nutrition for next summer?
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Citrus Bioflavonoids Provide Benefits
Lemons contain a group of plant-based flavonoids called flavanones. Like flavonoids found in other fruits and vegetables, the flavanones in lemon juice hesperetin, naringenin and eriodictyol function as antioxidants and help fight inflammation. Hesperetin shows promise for preventing cancer by inhibiting tumor growth. It may also help treat diabetes and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by lowering high blood pressure and blood levels of lipids, according to a review published in Life Sciences in March 2015.
Citrus fruits are the exclusive sources of flavanones, which is why you may also see them referred to as citrus bioflavonoids. Fresh lemon juice is unique among the other citrus juices because it has the potential to have the lowest and the highest amount of flavanones, with a range of 2 to 175 milligrams per 100 milliliters, or 3.5 ounces. For comparison, fresh orange juice has 5 to 47 milligrams. The wide range is due to differences in storage, preparation and processing, which may cause loss of flavanones.
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How Much Vitamin C Is In A Lemon
For most adults, the recommended daily intake of vitamin C is about 80mgm but in some instances, the requirement for vitamin C will be higher. It is believed that you get more vitamin C in the peel of the lemon 129mg per 100g of the peel.
How much vitamin C is in a lemon? As already mentioned, you get 53mg of vitamin C with the juice in the same serving size. Most people go for the juice of the lemon as opposed to eating the peel, so the most relevant vitamin C content is from the juice.
According to the Worlds Healthiest Foods, 2 ounces of lemon juice can give you a 31% of the RDA of vitamin C. An entire lemon has 139% of what is the recommended vitamin C intake.
To benefit most from lemons, food experts encourage us to buy certified organically grown foods to avoid fruits exposed to heavy metals and pesticides. Lemons stay fresh when kept at room temperature for about a week.
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What Should I Sweeten My Lemonade With
Some people say honey is sweeter than sugar, but that depends on the type of honey it is To be fair, wed say theyre all relatively sweet.
While table sugar is nothing but sucrose, honey has trace amounts of enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They are small in quantity, but in the long run, they can do you good.
You can try it using our lemonade recipe without refined sugar and see if you prefer it with only honey.
Although, honey has a distinctive fragrance while table sugar doesnt. If you prefer the smell of honey, you can adjust the honey-sugar ratio .
What About Watermelon Juice
While watermelon juice made fresh at home isnt taboo, do keep in mind the amount of fruit thats going into a serving. You may be better off eating a small serving of the whole fruit instead of strained juice, which has less fiber and will deliver more calories and sugar without your realizing it. Fruit juices are naturally high in sugar. About 8 oz of natural fruit juice with no added sugar could contain as much sugar as 8 oz of some sodas!10
The American Diabetes Association cautions against drinking highly sugared concentrated fruit juices or fruit flavored drinks. So be sure that you have your juice fresh if you must and perhaps combine it with fiber-rich fruits or vegetables that are low in carbs and sugar.11
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Highest Amount Of Vitamin C Per Serving
Please remember that the above gives an accurate value in 100g for high vitamin c foods in your diet. For example 100g of Lemonade, powder contains 39.9 mg of vitamin c. However, there are other factors to consider when you are assessing your nutritional requirements. You should also take into account portion sizes when you are considering the vitamin c nutritional content.
The food with the highest vitamin c content per typical serving is Lemonade, frozen concentrate, white, prepared with water which contains 9.63 mg in 1 serving 1 cup 8 fl oz . The percentage of the recommended daily value for this serving is 16 %. For this serving the Calories content is 98.8 kcal, the Protein content is 0.17 g, the Fat content is 0.1 g and the Carbohydrate content is 25.74 g.
Dont Throw Away The Lemon Peel
As a rule of thumb, the peel of fruits contains most of the nutrients. Lemon is no exception. Lemon peel is the richest part in vitamin C. 100g of lemon peel has 129 mg of vitamin C. Practically, just a teaspoon of lemon peel contains 2.6 mg of vitamin C and a tbsp has up to 8 mg of vitamin C. Thats 10% DV. The peel of a medium lemon can fill a tablespoon.
Therefore, try to add lemon peel in recipes. Also, you can dehydrate it and use it to flavor your tea or make lemon water!
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Nutrition Benefits Of Lemons
When life hands you lemons, say Thank you. Lemons are often an afterthought, used as a garnish on a fish fillet or a light addition to your iced tea. What you might not realize is that lemons are loaded with nutritional benefits that go far beyond the role of a garnish. To partake of the benefits in lemons and lemon juice, add more of it into your daily routine by squeezing some on your green salads or mixing it with a cup of plain warm water for a daily wake-up drink.
Other Good Sources Of Vitamin C
If the idea of sucking on a lemon doesn’t appeal to you, opt for raw acerola, aka west Indian cherries, if you can find them they have the highest vitamin C content of any fruit. More common fruit sources of vitamin C include guavas , European black currants and gold kiwis . Also excellent are frozen peaches , persimmons , pummelo and papayas .
References
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Lemonade Is A Source Of Energy
While there is always talk of too much sugar, we can use sugars in moderation as a source of energy.
Lemonade can provide these sugars, of course, which our body can use as fuel to meet its daily needs. Lemonade is a great way to stay energized and to keep your blood sugar levels within an acceptable range, especially if youve been active.
Comparing Lemons To Oranges
The main difference between lemons and oranges is most obviously how we eat them. Most people dont snack on full lemons because they are acidic and sournot necessarily fun to bite into. They arent as sweet as oranges, making it less enticing to munch through to get all of the nutritional value.
Luckily, fresh-squeezed lemonade with pulp or shaving the peel on top of dishes are ways to get the benefits of the lemon into your body.
Lemons and oranges both contain most of their vitamin C in their peels, but overall an orange will have more nutritional value when eaten whole. You will find, however, that lemon juice contains more vitamin C than orange juice. Lemons also are lower in sugar than oranges, so if you are trying to cut back on sugar, lemons might be your best choice!
If you like a bit more tang, try adding more lemon into your diet! Its delicious and versatile. Yes, it can be sour, but there are ways to enjoy more tame versions of it. Try a glass of warm tea with lemon and honey, homemade lemon vinaigrette, freeze lemon wedges into ice cubes and add to your drinks, squeeze lemon over chicken or fish, or make lemon butter sauce for your pasta.
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Is Keto Lemonade Healthy
Absolutely, this homemade keto lemonade recipe is very healthy. Lemons have vitamin C, fiber, potassium, and vitamin B6. It doesnt matter if youre drinking or eating the lemons you will get the nutrients either way.
Vitamin C is so essential to be healthy and gives your immune system of boost. Another fantastic thing about fresh lemons is there a low calorie, and they provide natural sweetness to foods and drinks.
Do Seltzers Give You Hangovers
White Claw and other spiked seltzers contain alcohol, and they’re not magic. This means, like any alcoholic beverage, they can definitely give you a hangover if you drink enough. And that hangover especially compared to a beer or wine hangover might make your stomach feel like it’s inhabited by aliens.
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Mixing A Healthier Pitcher Of Lemonade
Remember lemonade? You know, that old-fashioned thirst quencher from the days before Orange Strawberry Guava Twister and Spirulina Smoothie? That drink that kids used to sell from rickety tables on lazy, hot summer afternoons before their lives were organized on Filofaxes?
Lemonade is still alive and selling, and for many, its a nostalgic refresher that cant be beat. But in this era of nutritional correctness, how does it rate?
A lot of people think of it as closer to orange or grapefruit juice than to soft drinks, says Bonnie Liebman, director of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group. But its only a smidgen better than soda, Liebman said.
In fact, when it comes to calories and sugar content, most lemonades are almost identical to Coke. Eight ounces, or one cup, of Coke has 100 calories and 27 grams of sugar, pretty close to most store-bought lemonades. Thats equivalent to about seven teaspoons of sugar.
But at least lemonade gets across the idea that we should be consuming fruit, said Liebman, although most lemonades have very little lemon juice in them. Whether theyre ready-to-drink or made from concentrate or powder, they range from about 5% to 15% juice.
If you really want to split hairs in search of vitamin C, opt for lemonade made from frozen concentrate. Many contain 20% of the recommended daily allowance for vitamin C per serving other types of lemonade usually contain less than 2%.
Lemonade Raises Blood Sugar Levels
Too much of that sugar also causes a problem for your body, as well as your teeth. While we need sugars for energy, too much sugar can lead to a rise in blood sugar levels.
Over time, this can cause raised blood pressure and chronic illnesses such as adult-onset diabetes. These conditions are dangerous if left untreated and can lead to heart disease and other serious illnesses in later years.
Excess sugars also cause us to put on weight, particularly when combined with a sedentary lifestyle.
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Varieties Of Agave Nectar
Different types of agave nectar with multiple profiles of flavor and appearance are given as:
- Light nectar: This is a neutral flavor that wont affect other flavors in your lemonade.
- Amber nectar: it is a mild caramel flavor that will provide a slight flavor to your foods.
- Dark nectar: it is pretty good for intensely flavored desserts and foods also.
- Raw agave nectar: it is produced under 119 Fahrenheit temperature, and it has a mild and very fine flavor.
How Much Vitamin C Is In A Glass Of Lemonade
Why would you like to know this info? Are you concerned if you can provide enough vitamin C for your body? Or youre afraid of causing harm to yourself by over-dosing? And what is enough? By RDA an adult person dietary need is between 75 and 155 mg of vitamin C a day. Is that the truth?
Ill try to answer all of these questions and a bit more.
Well, to give you a short answer to this question is not easy, as it depends on many factors. If all the circumstances are perfect, I mean like its a fresh fruit, made at home and consumed right after cutting and squeezing, then making a glass of lemonade out of one whole lemon could contain around 50 mg of vitamin C. Bottled lemonades have no or not significant vitamin C content, unless theyre fortified.
As I said, its not the exact truth, as vitamin C content depends on many variables, and if youre interested what actually your body can use out of it and why, then this article is for you.
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Highest Vitamin C Content Per 100g
Using the list below for the 10 different lemonade nutrition entries in our database, the highest amount of vitamin c is found in Lemonade, low calorie, with non-nutritive sweetener, powder which contains 394 mg of vitamin c per 100g. The associated percentage of RDA is 657 %. For this 100g serving the Calories content is 332 kcal, the Protein content is 3.6 g, the Fat content is 0.3 g, the Carbohydrate content is 83.7 g.
The lowest amount of vitamin c in 100g is in Lemonade, powder, prepared with water which contains 1.5 mg. This gives as percentage of the recommended daily allowance 3 % of the RDA. For this 100g serving the amount of Calories is 14 kcal, the amount of Protein is 0 g, the amount of Fat is 0.04 g, the amount of Carbohydrate is 3.59 g.
The difference between the highest and lowest values gives a vitamin c range of 392.5 mg per 100g. The range for the other nutrients are as follows 318 kcal for Calories, 3.6 g for Protein, 0.26 g for Fat, 0 g for Carbohydrate.
It Could Help Protect Against Certain Types Of Cancer
Watermelon can credit its gorgeous pink-red hue to the aforementioned antioxidant lycopene. âLycopene is an antioxidant and anti-cancer nutrient that can be consumed raw and is bioavailable ,â says Isabel Smith, MS, RD, CDN, the founder of Isabel Smith Nutrition. Of course, watermelon alone wonât safeguard your health, but the nutrient can play a helpful role as part of an overall healthy diet.
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Tips For Making Keto Lemonade
Use fresh lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice has a different acidity level and it can add a funny taste.
You can use your sugar-free sweetener of choice. We used Swerve in this keto lemonade recipe.
Make sure the cut-side of your lemon faces the holes in the squeezer, otherwise you will make a mess as the juice tries to escape the squeezer from the wrong side.
If you’re going to make a big batch of keto lemonade table I recommend using a top squeezer, like you see in bars. Electric juicers are also good options.
Bonus ââ¬â Peel some of the lemons before juicing and use the peels to make your own keto limoncello using the same low carb sweetener.
Just throw the used peels in with vodka of your choice and let soak for a week before adding syrup made with the low carb sweetener.
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