Watermelon's effect on blood vessels.

• Position: Heart Disease - Brief article

A study that looks at watermelon juice as a way to reduce heart disease has been launched at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Kristi White and Amy Ellis, researchers in the College of Human Environmental Sciences, believe that several natural ingredients in watermelon--lycopene, citrulline, arginine, glutamine, and ascorbic acid --will act in synergy to decrease arterial stiffness and oxidative stress.

Arterial stiffness is an early independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke. As people get older, the arteries get stiffer, more rigid, and less able to dilate.

Oxidative stress also increases with age because the body is not able to compensate, and people's diet typically is lacking in needed...