WASHINGTON — Some of the best things about summer — pools, barbecues, baseball, and watermelon.

One minor annoyance?  Watermelon seeds.

Since we were warned as kids that if we swallowed watermelon seeds, a giant fruit would grow in our stomachs, it’s no wonder people spend so much  effort avoiding ingesting those slippery buggers.

Instead of  using them to practice your spitting skills, turns out  the seeds are healthy to eat, but not right out of the melon.

Watermelon seeds that have been sprouted, shelled, and dried become a nutritious snack, packed with protein, vitamin B, magnesium, and monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, which have been shown to reduce cholesterol and risk of heart disease, reports the Huffington Post.

If taking the time to fuss over the seems seems counterproductive, you can buy bags of sprouted watermelon seeds.