Watermelon, cucumber and mint juice
Watermelon, cucumber and mint blended into a sweet, refreshing juice — cooling enough without ice, and a quick reviver when the heat leaves you dizzy.
- 10 min
- Serves 2
- Blend
- Easy
Why it suits you: Damp-heat types tend to have oily skin, a bitter taste and dark urine, and Minor Heat's steaming humidity brings thirst, irritability and breakouts. Watermelon, nicknamed 'nature's White Tiger Decoction', clears summer heat and promotes urination, cucumber clears heat and drains water, and mint cools and disperses. Freshly blended with no sugar, it's cooling enough at room temperature.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 0 min- 1Peel and seed the watermelon and cut into chunks. Wash the cucumber, trim the ends and cut into pieces — no need to peel.
- 2Put the watermelon, cucumber and mint in a blender with the lime juice and a pinch of salt and blend until smooth.
- 3Strain if you like it smooth, or leave the pulp in for fibre, and drink straight away.
Cautions
- Watermelon and cucumber are both cold: drink less if your digestion is weak, you get loose stools or during your period, and watch the portion with diabetes.
Chef's tips
- Cut and blend the watermelon just before drinking or it turns watery; for a cooler drink, chill the melon beforehand rather than adding ice.
The TCM view
Watermelon is sweet and cold, clearing summer heat, easing restlessness and thirst and promoting urination — long called 'nature's White Tiger Decoction'. Cucumber is sweet and cool, clearing heat and draining water; mint is pungent and cool, dispersing wind-heat and clearing the head; lime generates fluids; and a pinch of salt replaces what sweat takes away. Sweet, cold and draining, it sends damp-heat out through the urine.
