KELLY A. FROM NORMAN, OK, ASKS: A friend of mine said that if you eat watermelon and drink beer (or drink beer and eat watermelon…I’m not sure if the order matters) you will get really sick or maybe even die. That’s the first time I ever heard of that. Is it true?
Wow. That’s the first time I, too, have heard that extremely cautionary advice. Based on personal experience (many instances of eating watermelon and drinking beer), I can attest that I’ve never experienced any ill effects from combining these two delicious barbeque staples. Then again, I could have some sort of watermelon/beer immunity, so I took to the Internet and asked a few knowledgeable friends to see if there was any truth to the rumor.
It turns out, you’re not the only one with questions about combining beer and watermelon. I was able to find a few more inquiries (here and here) from concerned watermelon and beer lovers, but the answer I’ll give you is the same one they received: The rumor about watermelon and beer being dangerous if combined is 100 percent false. Of course, that’s assuming you’re consuming both in moderation. If you down too much watermelon or drink too many beers, you might feel some ill effects, but it won’t be from the combination of the two ingredients.
So if the misguided advice is nothing but urban legend, the real question is: Who started the tall tale? Unfortunately I wasn’t able to pinpoint that answer, but my guess is that it’s the same person who spread the rumor about watermelon seeds growing in your stomach if you swallow them.
Wow, i am sure many of us our grateful that it’s a myth!
Haha a forgot about that,when we were little we were told that we could eat the white seeds but the black ones would grow in our stomach,i was very careful for many summers.
Hi there
I have tried it last night you don’t know did i feel .3 times vomiting and straight to hospital and taking serum .headache and vomit both yogether
You and me both, Crystal. I was afraid of the seeds until I was well into my 20s.
it really helps now i go ahead and drink my CAGUAMA right after i finish this sandia
Wow… glad this isn’t true!! LOL!! If anything, you just probably won’t get drunk as easy because of all the water in a watermelon?
Actually I get really sick in my stomach if I drink beer and then eat watermelon or bananas.
Happy that it is not true. I thought it is really on the bad side. Good to know it.
Keg Hire
My husbands uncle just had a stroke and he claimed it happen after combining the two. I had never heard of that before, but its kinda scary.
I just experienced sweating, nausea, bloating and felt very sick after eating a bowl of watermelon and only about a cup of beer. That’s why I looked it up. There is probably some truth to this. It’s all I’ve eaten other than some toast with butter a few hours ago.
Really was sweating badly.
I’ve heard this too — and it is a belief from Mexico. Someone I know claims an uncle of his died from eating watermelon the next day when he was horribly hung over. It contradicts all common sense. I tell him that it may have been another reason that his uncle died, or, an allergy perhaps. Anyway, it is an odd urban legend, but sometimes there is a bit of truth to them. I am still seeking that possible truth because it seems to me that eating watermelon while drinking or for a hangover would be a healthy and hydrating thing to do.
Well the only reason I searched this topic is because last night I drank 3 beers while watching the game, then I polished off half of a small watermelon. I could feel my stomach building up pressure so I laid down to go to sleep. At 3AM I woke up ran to the restroom and like the exorcist i shot out vomit like about 10 feet. I couldn’t shake the ugly feeling in my gut all day.
Thanks for letting me share
Me too, i get very ill even if i try a small piece with my miller, ugh!
Sounds like fructose being fermented by yeasts from the beer, definitely could be a phenomonem… A pity that “science” doesn’t exercise common sense or listen to anecdotal evidence much of the time.
Wow Mike. That’s a pretty crazy story.
Folks, I PROMISE this is an urban legend. Total myth. Any instance of illness after eating watermelon and drinking beer could be because of something you ate (or drank) but not because of the combination of watermelon and beer.
I heard the same from my mother. She was born in Alabama in 1933.
Maybe it is bad for when you have like a massive hangover the next day and you shug the whole watermelon like a water gallon .-.?
I am sixty nine years old and from three years old I heard so many stories of people dying from eating watermelon and drinking alcohol and all children in not just my community but all around ie italian, spanish and southerners had this warning and, I at that time lived in New York. I had watermelon three times today and am wanting a cold beer but remembering what was told to me has me searching the web to get information so I dont harm myself.
I drank 3 beers while eating watermelon, 30 min later I got a major head ache then I felt dizzy and started feeling like I was going to get a heart attack. I to thought it was a myth that’s why I ate the watermelon. NEVER AGAIN!!! I did honestly feel like I was going to die!
Maybe it just depends on the person
I don’t know why, but if I drink one beer and after a while eat some watermelon then I have a terrible pain in my stomach (or intestine). It only lasts for a few minutes but it feels awful. I cannot explain it because I am a healthy person and never had any problems with my stomach!
I have asked my doctor but has no explanation. He simply advised: “avoid eating watermelon after alcohol”.
19 and still afraid of the black seeds.. Even after reading this I’m still skeptical when it comes to drinking brew and eating watermelon.. No comments in relation to my age and consumption of beer please
Do you also know that if you drink alcohol ( beer whisky etc ), never ever ever eat this fruit…it is called the Durian and hails from south east asia, you can find yourself over heat and collapse
Is not a myth,today I ate one thrid of watermelon and one beer and I started feeling like dying, it’s been three hours and I am better but my stomach or intestines feel like a bomb, I wont do it again, I am a healthy 40 years old that can digest anything other than milk
My grandpa always said that eating watermelon and drinking could kill you. That was in the 1970’s in Cajun Country, LA.
yes absolutely true for me. I couldn’t figure it out but then I combined the 2 today (very small amts.) and started to get that same ill feeling in my stomach, kind of a burning, bloated feeling, not horrible but a little scary not knowing why I was feeling weird.
My chemistry teacher in HS told me like 10 years ago that it’s not the watermelon that’s bad but the black seeds combined with alcohol. Apparently the seeds contain some chemical that when mixed with alcohol, create something toxic or poisonous for the human body. Ofc If you mix a bit of them it’s okay but in higher amounts it can be deadly.
My dad told me that was a.common belief that it could.be deadly in Georgia in the 1940’s and 1950’s. So much so that they ate watermelon in college if they wanted to avoid alcohol on an outing.
I drank wine and then ate watermelon I felt so awful afterwards that I lgoogled and then found this and a few other posts. Personal thought – it isn’t going to kill you , but if so many people have experienced issues with alcohol and watermelon plus all the urban legends , … All I know is I know how my body felt and I won’t be mixing the two again . I’m sure I’d live through it , but who wants to feel ill ?
Combining watermelon and beer has always caused a very bad pain in the top of my stomach that can last anywhere from 1 to two hrs. I do not have stomach problems and very rarely experience indigestion but consuming the two together is extremely uncomfortable. I do not drink hard liquor so cannot say but I am thinking that the same has occurred with soft drinks and melon. So was wondering if maybe carbonation was the culprit.
Oh man! I only googled this because my mom once told me mixing the two is not good when hangover. Soooo I had a night out where I drank then woke up the next morning very thirsty so I was craving a watermelon drink, went to my local fruit store n ordered a watermelon drink approx 20 oz with no sugar, I drank it all, day after I was bloated, gas stomach pain n constipated day 3 now I have diarrhea thanks to laxative too , but never again will I mix the two
I have done that a lot, but everytime i drink a beer after eating watermelon, it gives me traight diarrhea. In like 2 minutes after drinking the beer. It doesn’t combine for me that’s for sure. But i still do it sometims cause i like both ,and if i come home from work and see the watermelon i will slice it and eat it, and the beer has to be after no doubt, but it gives me disrrhea every single time.
I’m still breathing after eating and drinking watermelon I’m just being honest…
I guess it depends on the person and their stomach. It doesn’t matter if it’s watermelon cantaloupe or honeydew melon. I vomit and have diarrhea with just a few sips of beer.
So I had to Google this .. my neighbor was just telling me her cousin passed away at 32 from eating watermelon after a day of drinking and then his intestines erupted and he didn’t make it to the hospital in time. So I would definetly be careful bc a lot of y all mentioned stomach and intestine pain. I have never heard this and I’m in my 30s! Glad to know!
I also get terribly sick if combine watermelon with alcohol – champagne or brendy. Stomach spasms (or may be its liver) lasts for about 15 minutes while I feel I,m gonna die 🙂
Then sweet relieve comes and everything feels ok.
Me too..after 5 beer n craving watermelon after that heart burn and diarrhea and feel cold and shaky..