{"id":281,"date":"2010-04-27T12:06:04","date_gmt":"2010-04-27T12:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/personalpolishing.wordpress.com\/?p=281"},"modified":"2010-04-27T12:06:04","modified_gmt":"2010-04-27T12:06:04","slug":"relax-and-have-a-melon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/relax-and-have-a-melon\/","title":{"rendered":"Relax and Have a Melon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0by Carole Jackson<\/strong>, Bottom Line Health<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

As though anyone needs an excuse to indulge in a cool, juicy slice of melon on a hot summer day, these popular fruits — including watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew and casaba melons — are a rich source of potassium and a host of other nutrients as well. Refreshing and delicious, they also are a healthy, natural way to help lower your blood pressure, notes Lona Sandon, MEd, RD, LD, an assistant professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association (http:\/\/www.eatright.org<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Shake Off Blood Pressure Worries<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have salt-sensitive high blood pressure, you probably know already that you should watch your sodium intake. Too much salt — both from the salt shaker and from processed foods — causes fluid retention and blood vessel contraction that contribute to hypertension. What you may not know is that potassium also plays an important role in this equation. A study published last year in the Archives of Internal Medicine<\/em> noted that people with a low sodium-to-potassium ratio — that is, those who made a point of both consuming less salt and eating more potassium-rich fresh produce than is typical for the American diet — were less likely to experience high blood pressure. Because it is a vasodilator and helps get rid of sodium and water, potassium helps curb fluid retention and blood vessel contraction.<\/p>\n

According to the American Heart Association, the recommended daily intake of potassium for adults is 4,700 milligrams. Many people don\u00e2\u0080\u0099t normally consume this much potassium, but melons provide a tasty solution. Two cups of cubed melon contain more than 1,000 mg of potassium, or nearly one-fourth of your daily requirement.<\/p>\n

Other rich dietary sources of this mineral include apricots, artichokes, avocados, bananas, beans, kiwis, oranges, peas, potatoes, prunes, raisins, tomatoes, spinach, Swiss chard and other green leafy vegetables.<\/p>\n

Melon at Every Meal?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Melons are much more versatile than most people realize, and you can easily incorporate them into a wide variety of dishes. Instead of reserving them for breakfast or a snack, take advantage of the season\u00e2\u0080\u0099s bounty and put melons on your family\u00e2\u0080\u0099s summer menu of soups, salads and salsas…<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Melon soup:<\/strong> Puree chunks of ripe honeydew and cantaloupe with orange juice and chill.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Luscious melon salad:<\/strong> Combine small chunks of your favorite melon with raspberries, strawberries or orange sections and drizzle with honey and lime or lemon juice.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Fish or chicken with melon:<\/strong> Serve the grilled or broiled meats on a bed of diced ripe melon. Or make a melon salsa to accompany the main dish — combine finely diced honeydew and cantaloupe, diced tomatoes, minced red onion, orange juice, lime juice, cilantro and salt.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Grilled melon:<\/strong> Cube honeydew, and toss in lemon juice, brown sugar and ginger. Thread onto skewers and grill for three to four minutes or until slightly soft and beginning to brown.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/em><\/strong> Potassium affects the balance of fluids in the body, so too much can be a problem for older people and those with heart or kidney disease. If you take a diuretic drug or have issues with fluid retention, talk to your doctor before adding significant amounts of melon to your diet.<\/p>\n

Source(s):<\/p>\n

Lona Sandon, MEd, RD, LD, assistant professor, department of clinical nutrition, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. Sandon is a National Spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. www.eatright.org<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0by Carole Jackson, Bottom Line Health As though anyone needs an excuse to indulge in a cool, juicy slice of melon on a hot summer day, these popular fruits — including watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew and casaba melons — are a rich source of potassium and a host of other nutrients as well. Refreshing and delicious, … Continue reading Relax and Have a Melon<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4MGMb-4x","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}