Watermelon Cucumber Juice

Watermelon: the iconic summer fruit turned into a refreshing and hydrating juice.With natural sweetness, watermelon cucumber juice is definitely a summer treat. Make it for your family to enjoy as the days heat up and you're in need of cooling down. Skip the bottled juices made from concentrated juice and unhealthy added sweeteners, colors and flavors. Mother Nature does just beautifully on her own.

Nothing Like Fresh Homemade Juice

While our daily juice routine consists of mostly green vegetable juices with a little low sugar fruit such as green apples and lemons, this watermelon cucumber juice is a wonderful summer treat. Refreshing on a hot summer day. And since yesterday was the first official day of summer, I had to share this recipe with you for your summer enjoyment.

Watermelon Cucumber Juice

Watermelon and cucumber are so good for you and delicious when combined. Lime is added for tartness to balance the natural sweetness. It takes 1 mini watermelon, about 5 pounds, plus either 1 English cucumber or 4-5 small Persian cucumbers, and 1 lime (peeled) to make two 18-ounce servings. Your yield will depend on if use just the watermelon flesh or include some of the rind. Yes, you can even juice the rind. It has lots of nutrients too. Be sure your watermelon is organic. If juicing the rind, the color will be a little less pink, but it is still packed with nutrition.

Skip the Bottled Stuff

Shopping recently, I saw a big display of bottled organic watermelon cucumber "cooler" at the store and read the label. The first ingredient was filtered water, the second organic sugar, then juice concentrates, organic flavors and extracts, natural flavors and citric acid as a preservative. The label also stated that it contained 15% juice.

When you make homemade, its 100% fresh juice with no added sugar or anything else you don't want - just pure refreshing, healthy goodness. If you don't have a juicer, see this link for another recipe that uses a blender.

Health Benefits of Watermelon and Cucumber

Because they are 92%-98% water, watermelons are great for hydration. They contain a significant amount of vitamin A, B6, antioxidants, amino acids and a specific powerful phytonutrient called lycopene. Lycopene is why watermelon is red. According to the Fitness Institute of Texas at The University of Texas at Austin, Lycopene has been linked with heart health, bone health, prostate cancer prevention and more. It's also a powerful antioxidant thought to have anti-inflammatory properties. Read the Live Science article here, it's got great information on the health benefits of watermelon.

A botanical relative of watermelon, cucumbers are another great hydrator, made up of 96% water. No wonder they taste extra good in summertime. Cucumbers may protect our brains, reduce cancer risks, manage stress and support digestive health. Read here for more health benefits of cucumbers.

Some cucumbers come waxed. To insure they are clean for juicing I wash my produce with Eat Cleaner. It is 99% more effective than water in removing wax, pesticides, plus agricultural and handling residue that can carry bacteria. I've used it for years.