The Tropical Fruit Juice That Can Prevent Prostate Cancer And Speed Up Muscle Recovery

Getting to the end of a tough workout may be mentally satisfying, but the exertion can leave your muscles feeling drained, achy, and rubbery. One way to regain lost post-exercise muscular strength is by consuming a recovery drink. And you don't have to look beyond the produce aisle for the makings of an all-natural beverage that will help your muscles recover while lowering your prostate cancer risk.

What ingredient could possibly produce such a beneficial recovery drink? Here's a hint: It's a green fruit with rosy flesh — and it's virtually impossible to resist on a hot day.

You guessed correctly: It's watermelon, which has numerous health benefits. Though watermelon can be sliced and eaten, it can also be quickly blended or juiced. Tossing watermelon chunks in the blender creates a thicker pink, tropical drink than you'll get from a juiced (or strained) version, but your blended watermelon slushie will retain more pulp. Either way you choose to consume watermelon juice, you'll have a powerful post-workout thirst-quencher that's naturally advantageous to your body.

As a post-workout drink, watermelon helps your muscles recharge due to the presence of an amino acid called L-citrulline. According to a 2013 study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, athletes who consumed watermelon juice with or without added L-citrulline supplementation experienced fewer muscle aches a day after working out than athletes who drank a placebo beverage. And after analyzing 13 studies, authors of a 2020 review in the Journal of Sport and Health Science concluded that taking citrulline supplements decreased muscle soreness after exercise.

Of course, muscle recovery is a short-term reason for kicking back some watermelon juice. A longer-term one is the fruit's potential ability to slow prostate cancer development thanks to lycopene, an antioxidant (and the key to why watermelon has an unexpected effect on your prostate health). In terms of its lycopene concentration, watermelon bests other lycopene-heavy food sources, including tomatoes – watermelon juice may contain 40% more lycopene than a comparable amount of tomato juice.

Per a 2014 article in EXCLI Journal, watermelon's high concentration of lycopene puts it in the category of a functional food due to its ability to reduce some of the effects of widespread systemic oxidative damage, including the development of cancer. A 2009 study in The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry found that men who had lycopene-rich diets were able to lower their risk of prostate cancer by 25%. (Read about other foods that can help prevent prostate cancer.)

A 2022 review in Nutrients shed even more light on the anti-cancer attributes of lycopene. Across more than 70 studies, lycopene consistently showed promise as both an anti-cancer preventative and therapeutic agent. In one of the studies mentioned in the review, animal subjects that had prostate cancer experienced slower cancer progression when they were given doses of lycopene.

If you have a prostate and you've been looking for a new way to recover after exercising, it could be worth drinking watermelon juice. Aside from making it at home, you can also purchase bottled watermelon juice in stores or online; just be sure to pick one without added sugars. Thanks to watermelon's abundance of natural sugars, the fruit's juice doesn't need any help to taste refreshingly sweet.