Watermelon Juice Recipe

Unfortunately, these are going to be the last beautiful days of summer here in Berlin. So, I decided to head out and make one of my favorite summer juices. This juice is certainly for people with a sweet tooth, as it contains purely watermelon and a little bit of mint, but you can enhance it with veggies of your taste.

You can even sneak some healthy veggies into the juice without people (or kids!) noticing.

I personally use a masticating juicer to make this juice but of course, you can do this with any juicer you have or even a blender and a strainer. Works just as well. My Omega 8006 does a splendid job at crushing the last drop out of the watermelon.

What are the health benefits of watermelons?

Eating or drinking watermelons can have several benefits for your body. One of the main ingredients of a watermelon is lycopene which promotes cardiovascular health. Recently, scientists have more interest in the citrulline contents of watermelons. Citrulline is converted into arginine by our kidneys and helps with blood flow.

Here comes the best news: there are some studies that show arginine to be blocking access accumulation of fat in fat cells. But this effect has only been shown in animal studies so far. A lot more research has to be done before making any definite conclusions.

I love to drink watermelon juice when I’m working out because it hydrates my body and gives me enough fast sugar for more energy during beach volleyball or running. But it will help for any endurance sports.

Needless to say that watermelons do contain a high amount of vitamin C which is earth’s most powerful antioxidant and supports your immune system.

How to choose the best watermelon?

Choosing a watermelon is not so easy, especially when you buy it in a large grocery store where you can ask anybody to cut it open for you. Generally, we want the watermelon to be as ripe as possible because that’s when the nutrients have fully developed. But how can we identify such a beauty?

First, I’d look at the overall color. If it’s really light green or even white, I wouldn’t buy it. Instead, look for dark green colors. Of course, it’s perfectly fine to eat white fleshed watermelons, but the overall carotenoid content is lower than in the pink or red watermelons.

The bottom and top end should be of a green color to indicate ripeness. Avoid watermelons with white or light yellow top and bottom ends.

To thump or not to thump?

I personally find it hard to determine a watermelon by giving it a thump or not, I’m not always right even though I have tried many times. Much rather I let myself guide by the actual weight, a good, ripe watermelon will feel heavy for its size because around 95% of it is water. That’s why it has fabulous juice yield, much like a cucumber.

How to prepare for watermelon juice?

Did you know that the majority of phytonutrients of the watermelon is actually closer to the rind and in the rind itself rather in the red flesh? Well, that’s why I take great care in cutting my watermelon for juicing. First, I cut the watermelon in half and then I cut it in little cubes that fit perfectly into the rather narrow feeding tube of the Omega juicer.

But it also allows me to carefully cut and remove the rind without removing too much of the nutrient dense white flesh of the watermelon.

What to do with the mint?

There are a couple of options here. If you have a masticating juicer you can juice the mint. It will have very little yield and the taste of the liquid is very intense. If you like that, feel free to juice with your watermelon. For this recipe, I decided to squash the fresh mint with a wooden plunger and then add the watermelon juice on top. For decoration, you can add one or two sprigs when serving.

Doesn’t that look amazing?

Can you juice the watermelon rind?

The simple answer is, yes you can. But: please make sure you buy an organic watermelon. It may be more expensive but well worth it. The rind can be a little bit bitter, depending on the type of watermelon. Mine actually tasted more like broccoli.

You can create an amazing create an amazing green juice from the leftovers or just juice the rind and the flesh together. The color is not going to look as amazing, but we’re going after the nutrients anyway, aren’t we?

Here’s another idea that I came up with: make ice cubes from the watermelon rind juice and add it to any cold juice beverage as a nice extra green health injection.