Watermelon: A Natural Viagra?
Researcher Says
Popular Summer Fruit May Have Viagra-Like Effect on Blood Vessels
Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD
July 1, 2008 -- Men hoping for some fireworks in
their love life this Fourth of July may want to skip the burgers and beer at
the barbecue and eat plenty of watermelon.
Watermelon may be a natural Viagra, says a researcher. That's because the popular
summer fruit is richer than experts believed in an amino acid called citrulline,
which relaxes and dilates blood vessels much like Viagra and other drugs meant to treat erectile
dysfunction (ED).
"We have known that watermelon has
citrulline," says Bhimu Patil, PHD, director of the Fruit and Vegetable
Improvement Center at Texas A&M University, College Station. Until
recently, he tells WebMD, scientists thought most of the citrulline was in the
watermelon rind. "Watermelon has more citrulline in the edible part than
previously believed," he says.
How could watermelon be a natural Viagra? The
amino acid citrulline is converted into the amino acid arginine, Patil says. "This is a precursor for
nitric oxide, and the nitric oxide will help in blood vessel dilation."
So, the burning question: How much watermelon
does it take?
"That is a good question," Patil says.
Unfortunately, "I don't have an answer for that."
He does know that a typical 4-ounce serving of
watermelon (about 10 watermelon balls) has about 150 milligrams of citrulline.
But he can't say how much citrulline is needed to have Viagra-like effects.
He's hopeful that someone will pick up on his
research and study the fruit's effect on penile erections.
Watermelon's Viagra-Like Effects
On hearing about the Texas finding, Irwin
Goldstein, MD, editor-in-chief of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, was
underwhelmed. Suggesting a man feast on watermelon to boost performance, he
says, "would be the equivalent of someone dropping a beer bottle in
Minneapolis, where the Mississippi River starts, and hoping to see it make an
impact on someone in New Orleans."
"To say that watermelon is Viagra-like is
sort of fun," says Goldstein. "But to even vaguely hope that eating
watermelon will alleviate ED is misleading."
"The vast majority of Americans produce
enough arginine," adds Goldstein, medical director of Alvarado Hospital
Medical Center, San Diego, and clinical professor of surgery, University of
California San Diego School of Medicine. "Men with ED are not deficient in
arginine."
Though arginine is required to make nitric
oxide, and nitric oxide is required to dilate blood vessels and have an
erection, "that doesn't mean eating something that is rich in citrulline
will make enough arginine that it will lead to better penile erections,"
Goldstein says.
Goldstein has served as a consultant for many
companies that make ED drugs.
Calling watermelon a natural Viagra is
"clearly premature," says Roger Clemens, DrPH, adjunct professor of
pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences, University of Southern California,
Los Angeles, and a spokesman for the Institute of Food Technologists.
Clemens studied the amino acid arginine himself,
researching a supplement to improve vascular flow for patients with hardening
of the arteries or atherosclerosis. He has since abandoned that line of research,
he says.
It can require a lot of watermelon to boost
blood levels of arginine, he adds. In a study published in 2007 in Nutrition,
he says, volunteers who drank three 8-ounce glasses of watermelon juice daily
for three weeks boosted their arginine levels by 11%.
Watermelon is low in calories and provides
potassium and the phytonutrients lycopene and beta-carotene, in addition to the
citrulline.
Clemens' advice on watermelon and the Fourth of
July? "Put salt on it and enjoy."
Just don't expect fireworks anywhere but in the
sky.
There are many other links on this subject, too.
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