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Watermelon diet in pregnancy
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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A pregnancy diet consists of important nutritional rules, following which the expectant mother will be able to keep her weight under control, and after the birth of the child will quickly regain her shape. Today, many women prefer to use mono-diets aimed at effectively burning excess calories and requiring minimal costs.
The watermelon diet during pregnancy is one of the so-called "cleansing" mono-diets, since it is aimed at cleansing the human body of accumulated toxins, as well as excess fluid, which is achieved due to its effective diuretic effect. Naturally, you can't get carried away with such a diet, especially for a pregnant woman. This nutrition system is short-term and lasts no more than five days. After that, for 10 days, in order to consolidate the result, you can use the watermelon diet.
The essence of the watermelon diet during pregnancy
The watermelon diet during pregnancy consists of eating only ripe fruits, since early berries can contain nitrates, which often cause intoxication of the body. To check a ripe watermelon for nitrates, it is recommended to conduct the following test. Put a piece of watermelon pulp in a container with water and leave for a couple of hours. If the watermelon pulp really contains nitrates, it will dissolve a little, and the water will turn pink. A “healthy” watermelon will not color the water and will retain its shape. For consumption, nutritionists recommend choosing watermelons with an average weight of 6-8 kg. Before eating, the fruits must be thoroughly washed with warm running water and soap. One more fact should be taken into account: following a watermelon diet is optimal in the summer, since it is well tolerated in hot weather.
The watermelon diet consists of a mono-nutrition of watermelon pulp only, based on the calculation: 1 kg of this product per 10 kg of human weight. However, it is not recommended to consume more than 5 kilograms of fruit per day. A pregnant woman should very carefully monitor her health, since there are cases when the body reacts to watermelon nutrition with very unpleasant manifestations: flatulence, intestinal disorders, bloating. The diet can be continued only in cases where the pregnant woman does not experience any negative reactions. In case of acute hunger, it is allowed to take 1-2 pieces of black bread while eating watermelon pulp.
Before using such a nutrition system, the expectant mother must consult a doctor, because mono-diets are a real test for a person, because when following them, you have to deny yourself everything. When following a watermelon diet, a pregnant woman can add 150-250 g of cottage cheese (fat-free) to breakfast, which consists of 2-3 slices of ripe watermelon. The second breakfast should include 1-2 slices of watermelon, and at lunch you can eat a bowl of rice porridge. An afternoon snack consists of watermelon and low-fat cottage cheese, and dinner consists of the main ingredient with the addition of rice porridge.
After the 5-day "watermelon" diet, a watermelon diet is recommended, the main menu of which looks something like this:
- Breakfast. Oatmeal without added sugar, a couple of slices of hard cheese.
- Lunch. A piece of boiled fish, meat or poultry, a salad of fresh vegetables, a couple of slices of hard cheese.
- Dinner. Watermelon pulp (based on the calculation: 1 kg of watermelon per 30 kg of a person’s weight).
Benefits of Watermelon Diet During Pregnancy
The benefits of watermelon pulp have been known for a long time. First of all, it is necessary to note its low calorie content: 100 g of the product contains only 38 kcal. Watermelon can quickly saturate a person and effectively reduces appetite. The folic acid contained in it has a beneficial effect on the female body and normalizes metabolic processes. Watermelon is a storehouse of magnesium. To satisfy a person's daily need for this essential element, only 150 g of watermelon pulp is enough. The use of watermelon nutrition is recommended for people who have arterial hypertension. In addition, it has been established that watermelon pulp effectively removes "harmful" cholesterol from the body, thus preventing the development of cardiovascular diseases. Watermelon juice is also very useful: it can completely dissolve and remove slags and toxins from the liver.
However, it is necessary to remember that the watermelon diet during pregnancy should have an exclusively beneficial effect on the health of the woman. Therefore, it is necessary to know about those cases when the watermelon diet is strictly contraindicated. First of all, this concerns people suffering from chronic intestinal diseases. It is also recommended to abstain from such a diet in case of diabetes, as well as the presence of edema in the last trimester of pregnancy.