How Many Calories in a Watermelon?

One cup (152g) of diced watermelon contains 46 calories. A whole medium watermelon weighing around 10kg has approximately 1,360 calories total. Watermelon is 92% water, making it one of the most hydrating and lowest-calorie foods you can eat.

🍉 Calories by Serving Size

🍉 Is Watermelon High in Sugar?

Watermelon has a glycemic index of 76, which looks high and scares people watching their blood sugar. But thats misleading. The GI measures blood sugar impact per 50 grams of carbs, you would need to eat over 5 cups of watermelon to hit that amount. The more useful measure is glycemic load, which factors in serving size. Watermelons GL is just 5 per cup, solidly in the low range. A normal portion barely moves the needle on blood sugar.

💧 Is Watermelon Good for Hydration?

At 92% water, watermelon is one of the most hydrating foods that exist. A two-cup serving delivers nearly a full glass of water along with electrolytes like potassium (340mg) and magnesium. It also contains more lycopene per gram than raw tomatoes, and unlike tomatoes, no cooking is needed to make it bioavailable.

🍉 How Does Watermelon Compare to Other Fruits?

Among common fruits, only strawberries come close to matching watermelons combo of low calories and high water content. If you want a sweet, filling snack that barely registers on the calorie counter, watermelon is hard to beat.

🍉 Watermelon Is 92% Water (and an Ancient Canteen)

Early African and Middle Eastern travelers carried watermelons as natural water containers on long desert journeys. Archaeological evidence shows watermelons were cultivated in the Nile Valley over 5,000 years ago, and seeds were found in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The original wild watermelons were hard, bitter and pale inside, nothing like the sweet red fruit we know today. Thousands of years of selective breeding transformed them into one of the most refreshing foods on Earth.