Effect of acute watermelon juice supplementation on post-submaximal exercise heart rate recovery, blood lactate, blood pressure, blood glucose and muscle soreness in healthy non-athletic men and women

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a single pre-exercise dose of watermelon juice on submaximal post-exercise heart rate (HR) recovery, blood lactate (BL), blood pressure (BP), blood glucose (BG), and muscle soreness in healthy adults. In a randomised crossover design, 27 healthy non-athletic participants (13 males/14 females) consumed 355 mL of watermelon juice, Gatorade, sugar water, or water. HR and BL were significantly higher post-exercise, and both watermelon juice and sugar water increased postprandial BG. However, there were no significant differences among the supplements in HR recovery, BL, or post-exercise muscle soreness. Watermelon juice prevented increased post-exercise systolic and diastolic BP in females, but not in males. More research is warranted to examine the effect of sex on the efficacy of watermelon consumption for controlling BP.

Keywords:

• Watermelon juice
• L-citrulline
• post-exercise heart rate recovery
• lactate

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the National Watermelon Promotion Board (NWPB 19-20).