Health Benefit of Cucumber

Cucumber is a healthy and juicy vegetable with lots of benefits, as it provides adequate hydration and maintains normal blood and sugar levels in our body. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes too, which help in maintaining our optimum body weight, reducing fat deposition, and aiding indigestion. 

Cucumber: A Hydrating Delight

Cucumber belongs to the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, and its scientific name is Cucumis Sativus. It is loaded with lots of vitamins, minerals, and other electrolytes that have multiple medicinal properties as well. There are multiple cucumber benefits as it is nutrient dense and affordable, making it a popular choice year-round.

Cucumbers are easily available during all seasons and can be eaten raw or blended into healthy drinks. There are many health benefits of eating cucumber as it possesses medicinal value too due to its cholesterol management ability, microbial properties and potential antioxidants that keep ailments at bay. The nutritional value of cucumber helps replenish essential nutrients in our body, especially during the summer.

Cucumber Nutrition

Cucumber is a refreshing vegetable and is low in calorie content with valuable hydrating and nutritional benefits. According to IFCT 2017, below we have listed the nutritional value of cucumbers:

Health benefits of cucumber

Cucumber has a high potential source of nutrients that lead to multiple value-added benefits and also help in maintaining body weight and detoxifying our body. Let’s read some benefits of eating cucumber:

1. Adequate Hydration and detoxification: Cucumber is high in water content and keeps you well hydrated during summers. The electrolytes and minerals like sodium, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium maintain the electrolyte levels in your body. High water content and dietary fibre are effective in getting rid of toxins from your body.
2. Maintain bone health: The vitamin K and calcium content in cucumbers are associated with bone health and facilitate the absorption of calcium in the body.
3. Adequate nutrition: cucumbers have a good amount of both macronutrients and micronutrients, which provide holistic nutrition for your body. Research evidence has also proved various medicinal and health benefits of cucumbers due to its nutrient dense nature.
4. Maintain weight: Cucumber helps in maintaining your weight as it is low in calories and reduces cholesterol deposition in your body.
5. Manage sugar levels: One of the major kheera benefits is that it manages your sugar levels as it is low in carbohydrates and high in electrolytes and fibre which further control your sugar levels.
6. Control of blood pressure: Cucumbers have substantial amounts of potassium that  can potentially help reduce blood pressure.
7. Alkaline diet: Cucumber is a popular ingredient used in making alkaline-rich meals as it has a calming effect on your body. It also helps maintain the pH level of our body.
8. Ease digestion and reduce constipation: Cucumber helps in digestion and eliminates excess heat from your gut. The fibre content in the cucumber helps in the reduction of constipation. 
9. Skin health: Cucumber shows anti-inflammatory properties towards human skin. It provides a calming and soothing effect and can also decrease the effects of sunburn, swelling, irritation and inflammation too.
10. Antioxidant’s properties: Cucumber has many antioxidant properties due to the presence of vitamin C, flavonoids, beta-carotene and manganese, which help in removing toxins from your body and protecting your body from cell damage.

All of these cucumber benefits combined make cucumber good for health. As it is relatively low in calories, free of saturated fats, and high in water content, it is recommended that you include cucumbers in your daily diet. You can prepare cucumber carrot raita, banana and cucumber salad, cucumber mint drink, cucumber sandwich, cucumber, carrot, tomato salad, etc. to boost your nutrition level in your diet.

The above-mentioned benefits and importance of cucumber are backed by a lot of research and evidence. Cucumber also minimises the risk of fractures, serious ailments, etc. It aids in improving bone density due to the presence of Vitamin K, calcium, and Vitamin D content.

Conclusion

In this article we have listed various medicinal and health benefits of cucumbers. There are many advantages of cucumber, and it is an excellent source of hydration. It should be wisely incorporated into your diet to maximise the health benefits. Moreover, It has high water and fibre content, which can be refreshing and have a soothing effect in hot weather.

It can also be opted as a healthy veggie for your snack time as it is low in calories and tastes great.