16 Cucumber Health Benefits
Most people dismiss cucumbers as a fruit or veggie, but actually, they are gourds. These green gourds were first cultivated in India 4,000 years ago. With time, cucumbers have come to be grown in China, Europe, Ancient Greece, Rome, and the New World. Keep reading to learn all about cucumber health benefits.
Nowadays it is where to hear of a country that does not grow or ship them. Some of the best-known findings of cucumbers from the legends of Gilgamesh and Ur. The Greeks called cucumbers sikyon, and they were spread to Africa, Bulgaria, Turkey, and what is now Italy and Serbia.
Cucumber were first used for their health benefits in the Roman Empire that cucumber health benefits were discovered and used, for healing eyes and scorpion bits. The Romans were right in what they were using the cucumbers for, but they were only scraping the surface.
Cucumber Health Benefits
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Antioxidants
Antioxidants, tannins, and flavonoids are useful with so many things and cucumber is a great place to get them from. The antioxidants kill off the free radicals that can lead to and cause cancer and other illnesses. Antioxidants also keep down oxidative stress and the oxidative stress is caused by the free radicals, but these can lead to autoimmune disease and issues in the heart and lungs.
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Weight Loss
Cucumbers are great to be put in salads rather than other higher calories toppings, an 11 ounce cucumber has 45 calories, and cucumbers are mostly water. You can snack on cucumbers (they are tasty for that) or you can add them to salads and even soups as a tasty bonus that does not add very much to your calorie intake if you are trying to cut back.
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Rich in Fiber
Cucumbers hold quite a bit of fiber and fiber can do amazing things for keeping things going smooth. No one likes dealing with constipation and fiber is the best way to keep it at bay. So if you have trouble with or think you might be starting to have trouble with constipation, then try adding some cucumber to your diet.
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Hydration
As it was mentioned in tip two, cucumbers are mostly water, 96 percent water. So while eating cucumber is not nearly as efficient as drinking water, it can still help to keep you hydrated and add further hydration.
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Brain Health
There kinds of anti-inflammatories in cucumber that help the health of your brain. It boosts and protects the nervous cells while strengthening your memory. The thing that is even more important than that, is that these anti-inflammatories can even protect you against Alzheimer’s.
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Anti-Inflammation
Inflammation does more to you than weaken the brain. Inflammation can also make joints hurt and increase congestion. If you can easily get anti-inflammation from cucumber, why not give it go?
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Bad Breath
No one likes bad breath whether they are the one has it or they are the one that is smelling it. No one wins. However, if you regularly eat cucumber, the bad breath will go away because of the antioxidants that have been mentioned. You get a bad breath because of bacteria in your mouth. Bacteria can fix it.
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Heartburn Relief and Sunburn Relief
This one is rather interesting. Eating cucumber can give quick relief and heartburn and applying it to your skin directly can calm skin rashes from hives to sunburn.
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Vitamins
Cucumbers are heavy in vitamin A through C. All of these vitamins can be strengthened by making a smoothie with cucumber, spinach, and carrot. However, the cucumber on its own can help your energy levels and your skin.
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Toxins
Aside from cucumbers helping to get your bowels moving smoothly, they also help to flush other toxins out of your body. Because cucumbers are 96 percent water, they help to get things other than food waste moving. Look for example, it has been found that regularly eating cucumbers can dissolve kidney stones.
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Eyes
This is not for eyesight, but rather the for the skin around the eyes. You know how any time there is a spa or girls’ night out scene in a movie there is always at least one person with cucumber slices over the their eyes. That is not just a myth. The anti-inflammatories in the cucumber really help to reduce the puffiness and redness under and around the eyes.
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Hair and Nails
Cucumber has a mineral called silica. Silca is one of the best things for your hair and nails. Silca leaves your nails and hair shinier and stronger. So rather than all of the (most likely) overpriced pills and drinks you can buy, try adding cucumber to your diet.
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Diabetes
One of the biggest problems that a diabetic has is keeping their blood sugar levels from getting too low or too high. Cucumber can actually help them with this. Cucumber has a hormone that the cells need in order for the pancreas to produce insulin. So cucumbers might be able to help your body to make that little extra bit of insulin.
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Bones
Vitamin K is huge when it comes to bone health. Studies have shown the vitamin K can lower the chances of osteoporosis. You can get 20 percent of the suggested daily amount from a cup of unpeeled cucumber.
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Skin
It has been stated that cucumbers can help the puffiness around your eyes. Cucumbers can do more than that for your skin. Due to the caffeic acid, water, and vitamin C in cucumbers, cucumbers are remarkably calming and soothing for your skin when it comes to sunburn, acne, and other skin issues.
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Improve Blood Health
Heart health is important when it comes to things like the levels of cholesterol. The truly interesting thing about cucumber is that it can correct your body’s pH levels. When your blood has the correct pH level, your immune system is so much stronger and it cancels out the damage done by free radicals.
There are so many different ways to eat cucumbers. It should not be too much of a problem to find a way of eating them that tastes good for you or is the easiest. You can pickle them, eat them with a salad dressing (or without one); you can put them in salads, soups, and smoothies. The ways are almost endless. You can even slice them thinly and let them dry to make you own chips. Look are for different recipes and see what one you like best.
Sources
https://www.naturalfoodseries.com/13-benefits-cucumber/
https://www.health.com/nutrition/health-benefits-cucumbers
https://www.care2.com/greenliving/16-superb-health-benefits-of-cucumber.html
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/08/23/health-benefits-cucumbers.aspx
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/7-health-benefits-of-cucumber#section8
http://www.vegetablefacts.net/vegetable-history/history-of-cucumbers/
Cucumber water picture by Quinn Dombrowski