Eating watermelon seeds
By nawala
@nawala123 (22946)
Indonesia
September 11, 2026 5:35pm CST
When I was a kid my mom forbid me to eat watermelon seeds. She said the seed would grow in my belly. This myth was a quite popular among Indonesian. Fortunately today's generation no longer believe it.
Is there any illogical myth about food in your country?
7 people like this
6 responses
@moirai (2970)
• Philippines
5h
Hmm... pretty sure we have something similar here in my country, though I can't remember if it was watermelon seeds particularly or some other seed. But certainly a seed you ingested whole, as opposed to a seed you chewed apart and so is not a whole seed anymore. So maybe smaller seeds...
Watermelon seeds, we normally break open and chew what's inside before swallowing, so maybe not that...
2 people like this
@septabchips (1585)
• United Kingdom
4h
That sounds like another version of the same warning. I suppose the whole point was just to make children careful about swallowing seeds.
@septabchips (1585)
• United Kingdom
4h
@nawala123 Exactly! Watermelon seeds are edible, so it is funny thinking back to how seriously some of us believed that story as children.
@nawala123 (22946)
• Indonesia
4h
Grape seed?
Watermelon seeds is edible just like sunflower seed
1 person likes this
@Traceyjayne (13738)
• United Kingdom
7h
The same was said here in the UK about apple pips ...
1 person likes this
@septabchips (1585)
• United Kingdom
4h
It seems our elders all had the same idea! I wonder how many different food myths were passed down from one generation to another.
1 person likes this
@nawala123 (22946)
• Indonesia
1h
gosh. in indonesia, if we dont eat our meal to the last rice, our chicken will die.
@septabchips (1585)
• United Kingdom
4h
I remember hearing things like that as a child too. I think adults had a whole collection of stories ready whenever they wanted us to stop eating something they thought we should not. The watermelon growing in your belly one is definitely a classic.
1 person likes this
