Cucumbers, The Cool Summer Food That's Good for You

Tasty, juicy cucumbers are a very cool addition to salads. This perfect summer veggie keeps your body hydrated, strong, and happy.

Cucumbers Have Been Found To Be Useful in So Many Ways. OR So they say!

Have you ever heard of those wives’ tale cucumber cleaning tips? I tried a few of them to find out if they really were true. Here’s what I found:

Using a cucumber to take the tarnish off stainless steel did not work any better than dish soap and a cloth.
Polishing my shoes with cucumber was not fun! I had to clean up the seeds after. Using a damp cloth is much better.
Using cucumber to erase ink writing did not work at all!

The bad news is, cucumber is not a natural cleaner. The good news is, it’s loaded with health benefits.

10 Health Benefits of Cucumbers

1. Hydrate Your Body
Like watermelons, they are 95 percent water.

2. Help Flush Toxins from the body
The high water content in them gets your urinary system moving. This is why they are in many detox recipes.

3. Good for Treating High Blood Pressure
They are full of lots of potassium, magnesium and fiber help regulate blood pressure.

4. May Help Fight Cancer
Although research is just beginning, there’s a compound found in cucumbers called cucurbitacin which has been found to fight cancer.

5. Help With Weight Loss
A half-cup of sliced cucumber only has 8 calories and has high water content; it is a good food to add to the diet.

6. May Help Diabetes
They contain a hormone needed by the cells of the pancreas in order to produce insulin. This hormone has been found to be beneficial to diabetic patients. Compounds in cucumber seeds helped to control blood sugar levels in diabetic rats. Study 2011

7. Highly Alkaline-Forming Food
Eating more alkaline-forming foods and less acid-forming foods like sugar, alcohol, bread and meat, is an important part of keeping a balanced diet.

8. May Help Reduce Cholesterol Levels
This vegetable contains sterols. According to research, sterols reduce LDL cholesterol by about 10 percent.

9. Reduce Risk of Heart Disease
They contain three lignans (lariciresinol, pinoresinol, and secoisolariciresinol) that research has shown to boost cardiovascular health.

10. Help Keep Bowel Movements Regular.
Containing good fiber and, again, because of high water content, are great for moving bodies of toxins from the digestive system. They can help constipation.

“To see cucumbers in a dream denotes that you will speedily fall in love. Or, if you are in love, then you will marry the object of your affection.” ~ Richard Folkard in ‘Plant Lore’ (1884)

Cool Trivia Facts

The inside of a cucumber can be up to 20 degrees cooler than the outside air. Now you know why they are called cool. Add this to your cooling tips for hot summer days.
They are in the family of pumpkins, zucchini, watermelon and other squashes.
A cucumber was slang for a dollar in the United States in the 1930s.
There are over 100 varieties of cucumbers!
They were believed to have originated in India and spread through Greece and Italy.

How to Choose and Store the Best Ones:

Look for firm dark green cucumbers with no soft spots. If the cucumber bulges in the middle that means it’s filled with large watery seeds and very tasteless flesh.
Best to keep them refrigerated in the crisper. They do not last long so note that they will not usually last for more than a week. If you get unwaxed cucumbers like I do, they do lose moisture easily so keep them wrapped tightly in plastic. (I know — I don’t like to use plastic, either.)
Cucumbers: Without spraying, they can be very delicate. The USDA Pesticide Data Program found 35 pesticide residues. They are one of the 12 Foods You MUST Eat Organic.
Do not peel cucumbers. Cucumber skin is rich in fiber, contains many nutrients and is very edible.

Quick Healthy Pickles

Add Cucumbers To Your Daily Diet + Recipes

1. Add cucumbers to salads.
2. Cucumbers are a great garnish for your main dishes.
3. Add cucumber slices to your drinking water. Make Sparkling Cucumber Lemon Water.
4. Use cucumbers to dip instead of chips or other junk food at your next party.
5. Make your own Quick Healthy Pickles.]

Cool Cucumbers — The balancing and nourishing effects of cucumbers also support beautiful healthy skin.

Cucumbers are for more than simply eating. They make great beauty treatments for your skin. Learn how to give yourself Cucumber Beauty Treatments with this easy-to-read infographic.