The summertime favorite fruit may be out of season, but that hasn’t stopped a research team from the University of Kentucky from releasing promising results that have linked watermelon juice with healthy cholesterol levels.

The USDA-funded research investigated the effects of daily watermelon juice consumption in an animal having elevated cholesterol.

They discovered that watermelon juice significantly lowered levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol and helped improve the health of the animal’s arteries.

The scientists note that watermelon’s high levels of lycopene –the antioxidant found in tomatoes—is likely responsible for its cholesterol-lowering benefits.

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