A great live fermented drink: watermelon!

Best buy in Perpignan France fresh watermelon juice from locally grown fruits

First buy a fresh non pasteurized non filtered watermelon juice. Or make it!  Let it fermented spontaneously at room temperature. Then after 24 h refrigerate it and begin to drink it after 12 hours. Obviously temperature humidity and other factors play a role in fermentation so the delay may vary... Adapt to your ecosystem. More for extreme low carb dieters the drink will change with time even at 6° Celsius because the sugar content decreases, so you can keep it in your frig... Try and do your own fermentation process. 

You got a fruit kefir! 

Health benefits of watermelon? the answer is yes, at least through L-citrulline! In watermelon Kefir the amount of L-Citrulline is less than in fresh juice because bacteria use free amino acids for their metabolism. But the amount is maily dependent of the cultivar of watermelon.

Am J Hypertens. 2012 Jun;25(6):640-3. doi: 10.1038/ajh.2012.20. Epub 2012 Mar 8.

Watermelon extract supplementation reduces ankle blood pressure and carotid augmentation index in obese adults with prehypertension or hypertension.

Figueroa A, Sanchez-Gonzalez MA, Wong A, Arjmandi BH.

Source

Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences, College of Human Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. afiguero@fsu.edu

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Ankle-brachial index (ABI) and ankle blood pressure (BP) are associated with increased carotid wave reflection (augmentation index, AIx). Oral L-citrulline and L-arginine from synthetic or watermelon sources have reduced brachial BP, aortic BP, and aortic AIx. A directly measured carotid AIx (cAIx) rather than aortic AIx has been proposed as a better measurement of central AIx. We evaluated the effects of watermelon extract on ankle BP and cAIx in individuals with normal ABI and prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension.

METHODS:

Ankle and brachial systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), cAIx, ABI, and heart rate (HR) were evaluated in the supine position in 14 adults (11 women/3 men, age 58 ± 1 years) with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension (153 ± 4 mm Hg). Subjects were randomly assigned to 6 weeks of watermelon extract supplementation (L-citrulline/L-arginine, 6 g daily) or placebo followed by a 2-week washout period and then crossover.

RESULTS:

Ankle and brachial SBP (-11.5 ± 3.8 and -15.1 ± 2.8 mm Hg), DBP (-7.8 ± 2.3 and -7.6 ± 1.8 mm Hg), and MAP (-9.8 ± 2.6 and -7.3 ± 1.8 mm Hg), and cAIx (-8.8 ± 2.6 %) decreased significantly (P < 0.05) after watermelon supplementation compared to placebo. Watermelon supplementation had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on ABI and HR.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study shows that watermelon extract supplementation reduces ankle BP, brachial BP, and carotid wave reflection in obese middle-aged adults with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension and normal ABI, which may reflect improved arterial function.

http://www.biotechnologyforbiofuels.com/content/pdf/1754-6834-2-18.pdf

Delicious whole fermented non pasteurized watermelon juice!  

http://m.jap.physiology.org/content/early/2015/05/22/japplphysiol.00192.2014