Does Eating Watermelon Lower Blood Pressure?

A caller reappraisal explores whether watermelon’s people concentrated L-citrulline, particularly from nan rind, could connection a food-based way to support humor unit and vascular function, challenging nan request for synthetic arginine supplements.

Cardioprotective Health Effects—A Narrative Review. Image Credit: AtlasStudio / Shutterstock

In a caller communicative reappraisal published successful nan journal Nutrients, researchers successful Brazil collated and synthesized nan lit connected L-citrulline and cardiovascular health. Specifically, nan reappraisal investigated whether watermelons, a awesome earthy root of L-citrulline, peculiarly concentrated successful nan rind, could efficaciously support aliases complement commercialized L-arginine supplementation (with L-citrulline acting arsenic a precursor converted into L-arginine successful nan kidneys).

Review findings propose that watermelons tin efficiently boost physiological L-citrulline (and successful turn, L-arginine) levels, thereby enhancing nan accumulation of NO, a captious molecule that relaxes humor vessels. This process holds committedness for improving humor unit and vascular function, offering a imaginable natural, safe, and nutritional strategy for managing cardiovascular risk, peculiarly successful individuals pinch compromised endothelial usability and wherever capable intake levels (typically >2, 3 g/day of L-citrulline) tin beryllium achieved.

Background

Endothelial dysfunction is simply a terrible information characterized by chronic harm to nan endothelium (inner lining of humor vessels). Decades of grounds person linked nan information to impaired humor flow, a deficiency of nitric oxide (NO), and exacerbated oxidized stress, hallmarks of cardiovascular illness (CVD).

Mechanistic investigations person revealed NO arsenic a cardinal subordinate successful humor reside regulation, clotting prevention, and inflammation mitigation. NO is synthesized from nan amino acerb L-arginine by a people of enzymes called nitric oxide synthases (NOS), starring to nan logical conclusion that outer L-arginine supplementation should boost NO production.

This logic has resulted successful an unprecedented surge successful over-the-counter L-arginine supplementation, astir of which remains unsubstantiated by technological grounds and rigorous objective testing. Unfortunately, a increasing assemblage of grounds suggests that erstwhile taken orally, overmuch of nan L-arginine is surgery down successful nan gut and liver earlier it tin scope nan bloodstream, a arena known arsenic nan “first-pass effect.”

Consequently, identifying safe, natural, and effective alternatives is basal to trim nan important load that L-arginine deficiencies lend to CVD.

About nan study

The coming communicative reappraisal addresses this pressing request by critically examining nan existing assemblage of investigation connected watermelon’s heart-healthy potential. Watermelons are recognized arsenic nan richest earthy root of L-citrulline, nan amino acerb precursor to L-arginine. The communicative reappraisal synthesizes a wide assemblage of lit (124 cited references, though only a constricted number of objective trials) exploring nan biochemical, nutritional, and objective properties that whitethorn let watermelons to service arsenic a food-based attack alternatively than switch existing pill-based NO-boosting interventions.

The reappraisal focuses connected 3 cardinal aspects:

• The elaborate nutritional floor plan of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), including its pulp, rind (which contains higher concentrations of L-citrulline), and seeds.
• The in vivo metabolic pathways by which L-citrulline is converted into L-arginine and subsequently NO.
• The results from quality objective tests testing nan effects of watermelon supplementation connected cardiovascular wellness markers for illustration humor unit and arterial stiffness.

Study findings

The reappraisal highlights a important metabolic advantage that people ingested watermelons person complete accepted pill-based approaches, erstwhile ingested, L-citrulline is absorbed successful nan mini intestine, thereby bypassing breakdown successful nan liver (the astir important demerit of synthetic L-arginine supplements). L-citrulline past travels done nan bloodstream to nan kidneys, wherever it is efficiently converted into L-arginine. This pathway makes L-citrulline a highly bioavailable and effective precursor for boosting nan body’s L-arginine excavation and, subsequently, NO synthesis. Together, these findings propose that including watermelons successful dietary plans whitethorn service arsenic a promising dietary strategy, peculiarly successful pre-hypertensive aliases metabolically at-risk populations, alternatively than a physiological superior replacement to L-arginine supplementation.

The reappraisal besides notes that watermelon contains further bioactive compounds, including lycopene and polyphenols, which whitethorn supply complementary vascular benefits done antioxidant and anti-inflammatory pathways.

Unfortunately, objective grounds connected watermelon’s real-world benefits connected cardiovascular usability remains limited. Notably, studies involving pre-hypertensive aliases obese individuals person shown promising results. For instance, six weeks of supplementation pinch concentrated watermelon powder (providing ~4 grams of L-citrulline and ~2 g L-arginine) were recovered to importantly trim humor unit and arterial stiffness. In contrast, studies connected patient individuals, aliases those utilizing little doses of watermelon juice, often reported nary important improvements successful vascular function, suggesting that nan fruit’s benefits whitethorn beryllium astir pronounced successful populations pinch existing vascular dysfunction, wherever nan NO strategy is already compromised and wherever intake is capable to scope clinically meaningful citrulline levels.

Conclusions

The coming communicative reappraisal suggests that watermelon, chiefly done its remarkably precocious L-citrulline content, presents a promising, food-based strategy for improving cardiovascular health. By providing a much effective way to expanding L-arginine and NO production, nan popular, cheap, and accessible consequence whitethorn person nan imaginable to thief negociate precocious humor unit and heighten vascular function.

However, these findings stay inconclusive, attributed to short proceedings durations, heterogeneous dosing, and variability successful formulations. A often identified limitation of existent technological knowledge is nan short-term quality of astir objective trials.

Future investigation should attraction connected long-term, dose-response studies, particularly successful high-risk groups for illustration nan aged aliases patients pinch metabolic syndrome. Exploring nan usage of watermelon byproducts, for illustration rind powder, could besides connection a sustainable measurement to present a concentrated dose of L-citrulline, perchance achieving therapeutic doses much efficiently than caller consequence alone, turning a communal consequence into a functional instrumentality for bosom health.