By Jocelyn Du Vivier
To be “cool as a cucumber,” you must add them to your menus during warm summer months when they are in season. Cucumbers are scientifically known as Cucumis sativus and belong to the same family as watermelon, zucchini, pumpkin, and squash. Varieties of cucumbers are grown either to be eaten fresh or to be picked. The ones that are eaten fresh are called slicing cucumbers. Cucumbers such as gherkins that are specially cultivated to make pickles are often times much smaller than slicing cucumbers.
Cucumbers are a good source of vitamin C because of the water inside the cucumber is stored inside the flesh and caffeic acid. The vitamin C and caffeic acid in cucumbers help soothe skin irritations and reduce swelling. Cucumbers hard skin is rich in fiber and contains a variety of beneficial minerals including silica, potassium, and magnesium.
In addition to vitamin C, the silica in cucumber is essential component of healthy connective tissue, which includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone. Cucumber juice is good source of silica by improving skin complexion and the health of the skin. Cucumbers are also topically used for other skin problems various skin problems, including swelling under the eyes and sunburn.
Furthermore, adding a crunchy cool cucumber to your daily salad is a good way to increase your fiber intake because cucumber comes prepackaged with extra fluid you need when consuming more fiber.
Another important fact: eating cucumber can help decreasing high blood pressure. According to DASH which stands for dietary approaches to stop hypertension study, because of the added potassium, magnesium, and fiber stored in cucumber participants were able decrease the blood levels by 60 percent.
Also see Garlic: the stench vegetable