How to Get Beauty and Health All Year with Cucumbers?

Answer 1

Cucumbers with their handle bar shape that makes them easy to grab, are much more than just an easy grab and go for a salad –and even more than a great low calorie salt-satisfying, crunch gratifying pickle treat.

Cucumbers may be thought of as a cool summer food, but actually are available these days year round and are beneficial in all seasons. As you might guess because of its shape and skin color, cucumbers are related to watermelon, zucchini and other types of squash—and each of these has its own special makeup, and that provides its own special power to your body. Cucumbers, more so than many foods, are beneficial with immediate results to both to the body’s outsides as well as the insides.

The Looking Glass Appeal for Cukes

For those concerned with weight management and how clothes fit, cukes are a staple to have around. For dieters dealing with calories, cukes are known as the next to nothing snack with 8 skinny calories a serving. They have zero fat, cholesterol, almost zero sodium but do contain the great vitamins C, A, K, and several essential body minerals.

The benefits of cucumbers for the eyes are not just fashion and foolishness but indeed, the vitamin C and the caffeic acid in cucumbers helps skin irritations and reduces swelling, so it is scientifically proven effective for puffy eyes, burns, and other skin problems. One of the most important nutrients in cukes is silica, which is an essential for healthy muscles, bones, and all connective tissues—that means it’s protective inside your body which becomes the healthy framework of your outsides.

The Great Cleanser

With our ever growing needs for fiber and hydration, cucumbers are a double great “yes” answer. Whatever the season, enough water is needed for your natural cleansing abilities. Especially after the holidays where we might have indulged a bit too often and then get caught up in a cycle of not so nutritious fast and junk foods…we often want to turn to some kinds of cleansing routine for the body to get back on the right track. Fiber and water are two body essentials, and are essentials because they are also natural body cleansers for your body’s filtration system and waste management system. Cucumbers give you great amounts of fiber---excellent for those with constipation problems so as not to bother with annoying supplements or bran that you want to hide in your cooking. With satisfying crunch, they possess astonishing amounts of fluid that is excellent washing through your system.

Health Studies, Pros and Cons

Cucumbers are loaded with potassium, magnesium and fiber, and in a recent study on high blood pressure, people who ate foods high in those 3 ingredients lowered their blood pressure significantly.

Beware, though that cucumbers at the market are often coated with a wax that is not recommended for healthful consumption. Best to buy organic, from a farmer’s market or check the labeling for notations on coatings.

Ways with Cucumbers

If you love blue cheese dressings and sauces but want to save some calories, stretch it and enliven these sauces with cucumbers. Make your own with some sliced cucumbers, chopped onions or green onions, a little olive oil, a little cider vinegar and some crumbled blue cheese. Smoothies are great for breakfast or on the run better nutrition than fast foods. Cucumbers make for the juiciest smoothies and add good body to any particular fruit color mixture you envision. Keeping it light and green, blend up 1 cucumber, 6 mint leaves, some green grapes, some apple juice, avocado slices for extra nutrients, and add a scoop of protein powder of your choice or a scoop of cottage cheese for a real creamy treat.

If you don’t want mint but want "pinkdelicious"—go for strawberries instead of grapes, and any red berry juice instead of apple.

For a delicious low cal, low carb side dish instead of stuffed mushrooms, do stuffed tomatoes stuffed with cucumbers. Cut a little off the tops of 3 tomatoes, remove the pulp to a bowl, turn the tomatoes over stem side down on paper towels and refrigerate 2 hours to drain. Chop the pulp with 1 cucumber, 1 chopped clove garlic, and 1/3 cup reduced fat mayo Instead of all the mayo or part of it combine some Greek yogurt with olive oil. Stuff you tomatoes and eat...no baking needed.

For your Asian taste buds, add chopped cucumbers to your rice dishes with some grated fresh ginger, a douse of apple juice to sweeten and some chopped onion and grated carrot. For great tasty snacking, keep in your fridge some sliced cucumbers sitting in a little vinegar and sea salt.

A Stress Buster!

The most touted and easiest gazpacho ever is blended quickly in the raw with a cucumber, tomato, green pepper, onion garlic and olive oil. This amazing gazpacho was part of a study done by a physician with the Nutrition Research Center of Tufts University. Individuals who ate this very gazpacho every day for 2 weeks not only increased their protective levels of Vitamin C in the blood, but also, their stress molecules were significantly lowered!