Cucumber
One thing I love about food is that it can do so much for you when you eat it. This, in my mind, makes something psychologically tastier because of the added benefits. People often think that cucumber doesn't have all that much nutritional content in it as it is pretty much 98% water- think again. Here I bring you some facts about the trusty English cucumber...
Energy: Cucumber is a good source of vitamin B which will give you a boost in your energy levels.
Hydration: Cucumber is 95% water helping to keep the body hydrated.
Immunity: The skin of a cucumber has 10% of your daily-recommended dose of vitamin C, among other daily essential vitamins.
Hair Growth: The silicone and sulphur in cucumber promotes hair growth.
Anti- Inflammatory: Cucumber is very anti-inflammatory. Place a slice of cucumber over each eye when relaxing and your puffy eyes should noticeably reduce.
Sun Burn: You know how most after- sun creams have aloe vera in them? Well Cucumber works in the same way as Aloe- in particular the dark green skin. Place the green skin over sunburn and it will be instantly cooled.
Cancer Fighter: Cucumber contains lariciresinol, pinoresinol, and secoisolariciresinol. These three lignans have a strong history of research in connection with reduced risk of several cancer types, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer and prostate cancer.
Hangover cure: Cucumber has enough sugar, vitamin Bs and electrolytes to replenish nutrients after a heavy night out. Eating a few cucumber slices will reduce your hangover and headache.
Weight loss and digestion: Cucumber has an extremely low calorie per gram ratio due to its extremely high water content. The fiber found in the skin of the cucumber also aids digestion. Cucumber is therefore great for digestion problems, in addition to aiding with weight loss as it helps to flush toxins out of the body.
Blood Pressure: Cucumbers contain a lot of potassium, magnesium and fiber, which, together help regulate blood pressure. Furthermore cucumbers contaian a compound called sterol which may help reduce cholesterol.
Diabetes: The juice of cucumber contains a hormone which helps the cells of the pancreas to produce insulin. Hence it is though cucumber benefits those with diabetes.
Joint Health: Cucumber is an excellent source of silica, which is known to help promotes joint health by strengthening the connective tissues
Strong bones: Cucumber contains a high amount of vitamin K which helps They surprisingly have a high amount of vitamin K, provides about 17 µg of this vitamin per 100 g. Vitamin-K has been found to have a potential role in bone strength by promoting osteotrophic (bone mass building) activity.
