Watermelons are delicious, naturally-sweet and incredibly refreshing. Our tropical fruit smoothie has the added melony flavour of a plump Galia melon and the sweet-sharp tropical taste of the exotic passion fruit. Together this summer watermelon smoothie made with just 3 easy to find ingredients is quick to prepare for an on the go breakfast or as a hydrating tonic after your workout. Made in less than 5 minutes, this super easy watermelon smoothie is perfect to nourish you in the sunny summer months.
3-ingredient watermelon smoothie
It is easy to over-complicate fruit combinations so a trio of unique flavours such as these three easy to find tropical ingredients work in unison with each other beautifully. Not only does the juicy red flesh of watermelon make the smoothie colour deliciously deep pink, the plant compounds responsible for this colour makes it super antioxidant. The Galia melon adds a perfumed, sweet flavour that combines smoothly with the watermelon and we add a fresh lip pursing fruitiness of passion fruit that gives it the sharpened boost it needs. With a huge amount of water content too, all in all, this is the perfect summer smoothie that is simple to prepare is filling, hydrating and incredibly antioxidant.
Tropical watermelon smoothie made under 5 minutes
To make this watermelon smoothie all you need is a good blender and only a quarter of a watermelon, half a Galia melon and six passion fruits. Make sure all the fruit is washed properly before cutting them up.
Start by cutting a medium-sized watermelon straight through the middle and take one of the halves to cut again in half to get the quarter, keep the rest of the fruit for another time or freeze. Remove the black seeds and skin with a knife and discard. Take the Galia melon and cut in half. Remove the seeds in the middle with a spoon and also discard. Now use a spoon to scoop out all the fruit from the skin and put it into the blender. You can actually cook melon skin as it contains huge amounts of nutrients too but it is not used in this watermelon smoothie recipe.
For the passion fruits, cut them all in half and squeeze the juice into the blender. You can add the passion fruit seeds as well if you don’t mind the bits, but squeezing over a sieve gives the smoothie a luscious silky finish.
Useful tips
Ideally, we need the watermelon to be cold to avoid adding ice into the smoothie as ice dilutes the flavour of the melons. So make sure you put it in the fridge for a few hours before making the smoothie. The best thing to do is to put the melons in the fridge overnight ready for blending in the morning.
So, let’s get onto the health benefits of our watermelon smoothie and why we should drink it.
Watermelon is full of nutrients
Watermelon is surprisingly very nutritious despite being 92% water as it contains several important nutrients including vitamin C, vitamin A and magnesium. The high water content effectively hydrates you and will also give you a full feeling which can aid with weight loss.
Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that is needed for a huge amount of metabolic reactions in the body including the production of major structural proteins which are the primary building blocks for the body. One protein, collagen is essential for the growth and repair of healthy skin, bones, teeth and reproduction. Vitamin C amongst being able to regenerate other antioxidants such as Vitamin E and help its absorption of Iron, it has numerous other benefits such as protecting cholesterol against oxidation. Oxidised cholesterol is associated with the hardening and furring up of arteries that can raise the risk of strokes and heart attacks.
Vitamin A is an important fat-soluble vitamin which we can get from two sources, pre-formed which only comes from animal foods or from carotenoids which are the pigments found in orange / red fruits and vegetables which are then converted into this Vitamin A content. It has a hormonal action in the body that aids the body fight inflammation and boosts the immune system. Several studies have shown that natural dietary intakes of Vitamin A have been linked with reducing the risk of several cancers and heart disease. These studies have suggested specifically that natural dietary intake is beneficial with little evidence that supplements have the same effect.
The beautiful red colour in watermelons come from an antioxidant called lycopene which is a carotenoid. This specific carotenoid is also the prevalent plant compound in tomatoes that give them their health benefits. The riper the watermelon is, the more lycopene it contains. Research has shown that it may actually be the content of lycopene rather than the prevalent beta-carotene that may actually be responsible for the antioxidant capabilities against cancers.
Health benefits Galia melon
Watermelons are renowned for being very liquid, hence the name “water” melon but Galia melons contain almost the same amount of water. They too, are incredibly hydrating and also contain many important electrolytes such as potassium, magnesium, sodium and calcium. Electrolytes help balance your fluid levels. Magnesium and calcium are also nutrients essential for healthy bones.
Galia melons are also high in Vitamin C too and just 1 cup of melon will serve you over half your RDI of Vitamin C.
Passion fruit is antioxidant
Passion fruits are also high in Vitamin C making this smoothie seriously antioxidant. When preparing passion fruit, cut it in half and scoop out the seeds and the pulp. These are the edible parts of the fruit. To obtain just the juice you can strain or squeeze over a sieve but if you include the pulp and seeds in their entirety or blended then you will capitalise on the fibre content which is exceptionally healthy for digestion and to help extract toxins out of the body.
Studies have shown that people with a high fibre diet have a lower risk of coronary disease. Another beneficial factor of passionfruit is that it has a low glycemic index. Fruits, on the whole, are naturally high in sugars including melons so consuming passion fruit in this smoothie lowers the overall sugar content.
Have you made this hydrating exotic watermelon smoothie?
We’d love to see your smoothie creations! Please leave a comment below, share or tag using @anticancerkitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #anticancerkitchen.
More healthy smoothies on the blog
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KALE AVOCADO SMOOTHIE
Ingredients
- 1/4 of a medium-sized watermelon
- 1/2 of a Galia melon
- 6 passion fruit
- Ice (optional)
Instructions
Wash all the fruit.
Cut the watermelon straight through the middle and take one of the halves to cut again in half to get the quarter, keep the rest of the fruit for another time or freeze.
Remove the black seeds and skin with a knife and discard. Put the watermelon meat into the blender.
Take the Galia melon and cut in half. Remove the seeds in the middle with a spoon and also discard. Now use a spoon to scoop out all the fruit from the skin and put it into the blender.
For the passion fruits, cut them all in half and squeeze the juice into the blender. You can add the passion fruit seeds as well if you don’t mind the bits, but squeezing over a sieve gives the smoothie a luscious silky finish.
Now blend for 1-2 minutes until smooth.
Pour into 2 glasses and serve with a slice of watermelon or melon.
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