Was that Bob Dole I just saw coming out of the supermarket pushing a cart loaded with watermelons? Maybe:
A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra – but don’t necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks all night long.
Watermelons contain an ingredient called citrulline that can trigger production of a compound that helps relax the body’s blood vessels, similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra, said scientists in Texas, one of the nation’s top producers of the seedless variety.
Citrulline, the AP story notes, is found in the flesh and rind of watermelons. When watermelon is consumed in large amounts it becomes arginine, an amino acid that helps the circulatory and immune systems and the heart.
“Arginine boosts nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, the same basic effect that Viagra has, to treat erectile dysfunction and maybe even prevent it,” said Bhimu Patil, a researcher and director of Texas A&M’s Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center. “Watermelon may not be as organ-specific as Viagra, but it’s a great way to relax blood vessels without any drug side effects.”
Don’t expect it to work like the little pill the former Republican Presidential nominee used and helped sell on television and in print ads and that became the subject of a screamingly-funny Capitol Steps song parody (that Dole reportedly detested). Listen to to part of it HERE.
Todd Wehner, who studies watermelon breeding at North Carolina State University, said anyone taking Viagra shouldn’t expect the same result from watermelon.
“It sounds like it would be an effect that would be interesting but not a substitute for any medical treatment,” Wehner said.
In other words: watermelon in place of Viagra could still be a hard sell.
So those who use watermelon in place of Viagra might want to be patient and not give up. Stick it out for a while.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.