Eat Watermelon Before Strenuous Exercise To Minimize Muscle Soreness
A plant-based diet keeps proving itself to be supportive of health because of their little compounds called phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are plant’s natural defense mechanisms against pathogens and a inflammation causing environment.
When we consume plant food we consume their phytonutrients which in turn protect us from pathogens and inflammation. Muscle soreness experienced after exercising is caused from micro tears in the muscle that leads to inflammation.
If the inflammation is not addressed right away it can lead to days of delayed-onset muscle soreness. You may be inclined to take a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), but though they do help to relieve pain in the short-term they can also trigger stomach ulcers and intestinal bleeding.
Many people are conditioned to look to drugs first to treat their ailments, but we need to look a plants first because most of our medicines are derived from plants.
Instead of using synthetic drugs to relieve muscle soreness you may want to load up on watermelon before a workout. Researchers[1] in Spain tested the effects of watermelon’s phytonutrients on soreness in a group of athletes.
The participants were given either two cups of blended watermelon juice or a watermelon-free placebo drink before an intense workout and the next day the group of men who drank the watermelon juice had significantly less muscle soreness.
Though it does help to consume watermelon and other plant foods periodically, it is far better to consume a whole food plant-based diet daily because you will keep your body saturated with phytonutrients, nutrients, and minerals that will keep inflammation under constant control.
[1] M P Tarazona-Díaz, F Alacid, M Carrasco, I Martínez, E Aguayo. Watermelon juice: Potential functional drink for sore muscle relief in athletes. J Agric Food Chem 2013 61(31):7522 – 7528.