Melon: how healthy is it?

by Abbas Jahangir · June 15, 2024

Melon is an extremely popular fruit. The most well-known variety is the European melon, also called Cantaloupe.

Melons contain relatively few calories and many vitamins – an ideal combination if you want to lose weight or improve your health.

In this article we have listed the health benefits of melon for you.

You can read the effect of melon on you:

Skin
Blood pressure
Eyes
Moisture balance
Resistance
Bones
Weight

At the bottom of this article you will find the nutritional value of melon and a recipe with melon .

Facts about melon

The melon is related to the cucumber, zucchini and pumpkin.
Melons are officially a fruit vegetable.
The cantaloupe melon owes its name to the place where it was first grown: Cantalupo (Italy).
The Galia melon is a cross between the cantaloupe melon and the honeydew melon.
Melons are in season from June to August.

The health benefits of melon

Melon is rich in fiber, a lot of different minerals and vitamins A, C, K, B1, B3 and B6. These nutrients bring the following health benefits:

Beautiful and healthy skin

Melons contain a lot of vitamin C and beta-carotene: two substances that can improve your skin. For example, they help protect your skin against sun damage [1].

They also contribute to the prevention of skin aging and wrinkles [2,3]. This has to do, among other things, with the production of collagen (a protein that gives your skin structure and firmness). You need vitamin C for the production of collagen.

Summary: Eating melon helps you care for your skin from within and keep it healthy.

Good for your blood pressure

Eating fruit and vegetables is linked to healthy blood pressure [4]. Melon is no exception to this. This fresh fruit is rich in potassium: a mineral known to prevent high blood pressure [5].

A comprehensive analysis of 33 studies confirmed that potassium can lower blood pressure [6]. This makes melon a healthy and responsible snack for people with high blood pressure.

Low-sugar and low-salt snacks are recommended if you have high blood pressure. In this article you will find an overview of 77 healthy snacks .

Summary: Melon contributes to the prevention of high blood pressure, which helps keep your heart and blood vessels healthy.

Healthy eyes

The beta-carotene from melon is converted into vitamin A in your body. The substance is therefore also called provitamin A.

Vitamin A is crucial to keep your eyes healthy. In fact, it is so important that a deficiency can cause your vision to deteriorate.

Melon also protects your eyes in other ways. It contains lutein and zeaxanthin ( strawberries , avocados and mangoes also contain these). These substances can protect the eyes against macular degeneration [7]: an eye condition that is common among the elderly.

Summary: Eating melon can help you keep your eyes healthy.

Moisturizing

Melons help you keep your body well hydrated. They consist largely of water and supply important minerals such as potassium, magnesium and calcium.

Many people do not drink 2 liters of water per day. By eating melon you kill two birds with one stone: you get water and nourish yourself with healthy food that really contains something.

Do you have difficulty drinking enough water every day? Be motivated by this article in which I list the many benefits of drinking water .

Summary: Melons are hydrating thanks to the moisture and minerals they contain.

Good resistance

Your immune system protects your body every day against unwanted invaders such as viruses and bacteria. The better you take care of your immune system, the better it can do its job and neutralize diseases.

Melon is rich in vitamin C [8], which is necessary for good resistance. Your body cannot store this vitamin, so you must get it from food every day. Provitamin A also supports your resistance. Both vitamins can be found in melon.

Summary: The vitamin C and provitamin A from melon contribute to a strong immune system.

Good source of folic acid

Melon is a good source of folic acid, also called vitamin B11.

We need folic acid to produce white and red blood cells. There is also evidence that this vitamin may help reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease [9-12]. However, this still needs to be further investigated.

Are you pregnant or do you want to become pregnant? Then folic acid is extra important. It affects the development of the nervous system of the unborn child. A deficiency of folic acid also increases the risk of cleft lip, cleft palate and spina bifida.

Summary: The folic acid in melon protects you against various conditions and diseases.

Strong bones

Melons contain various substances that help keep your bones healthy and strong, such as magnesium, folic acid and vitamin K.

Several studies have been conducted into what exactly vitamin K does for our bones, with varying results. However, the European Food Safety Authority indicates that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that vitamin K plays a role in keeping our bones healthy [13].

It is important to know that not only calcium ensures strong bones. You also need other minerals and vitamins to maintain healthy, strong bones. You can find them in healthy food (such as melon).

Summary: Melon contains several substances that contribute to healthy, strong bones.

Responsible snack

You don’t have to be afraid of the fruit sugars in melon: you can safely eat melon while losing weight.

Melon is in fact a complete package of nutrients from Mother Nature. For example, it contains fiber, which is good for your resistance, intestines and stool, and ensures that you lose weight quickly and easily without feeling hungry.

Melon contains few calories and many vitamins and minerals. Also nice: the moisture from melon contributes to a feeling of satiety.

Make sure you don’t eat too much fruit. Otherwise you will consume a lot of fruit sugar and that can hinder weight loss. Two servings of fruit per day is a good guideline.

Summary: Melon is a good snack if you want to lose weight .

Nutritional value of melon

100 grams of melon contains the following nutritional values [14]: