If you find yourself drawn to a juicy slice of watermelon on a hot summer day, trust your intuition! This staple of nearly every picnic is nature’s gift to cool us off. Yet few people in the West know that watermelon has been an important healing food in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for thousands of years. TCM practitioners use this fruit medicinally to treat kidney infection, liver disease, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. The essence of watermelon is cool, so it can help decrease internal heat, relieve thirst, and because it has the ability to increase the frequency of urination, it can help the body release toxins. Used topically on the skin, watermelon is very effective for overexposure to the sun.