Should We Eat Melon and Grape Seeds?

by Angelika
(Greece)

Angelika's Question:

Can we eat melon and grape seeds, just without chewing them?

Andrew's Answer:

If a seed's hard outer shell remains intact after it goes down your throat, your body will often be unable to penetrate the shell with its digestive acids.

Usually, these seeds will be expelled from the body intact when you have a bowel movement. This is one of the methods used by nature to spread a genetic line.

Historically, when an animal or human ate a fruit, including some or all of the seeds, they usually did so right under the original tree.

By having the creature expel the seeds at whatever new location they'd relocated to when they had their next bowel movement, the plant was able to spread its genetic line to a new location with some fertilizer to get it started.

Of course, civilized humans don't often leave their waste on the ground these days, but the basic idea still works.

In The Real World:

In practice, I usually spit out or remove grape seeds and cantaloupe seeds. I'll eat watermelon seeds when I'm in the mood, but sometimes I spit them out too.

In short, I wouldn't worry about it. If you can eat a seed without it causing you any intestinal pain or other issues, I don't see why you should avoid it.

Just be aware that if you chew the seeds they will be digested because their hard shell will be unable to protect them from your stomach acids.

This usually means more fat in your diet.

Read why you should keep your diet low in fat here.