Cucumber
Ever wonder how to beat the scorching summer heat? Just remember your backyard, humble crunchy cucumber! Nonetheless, this wonderful low-calorie vegetable indeed has more nutrients to offer than just water and electrolytes.
It is one of the oldest cultivated crops and believed to be originating in the northern sub-Himalayan plains of India. The plant is a creeper (vine) akin to other members of Cucurbita family such as gourds, squashes, melons, and zucchini.Botanically; it belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, and is known scientifically as Cucumis sativus.
Health Benefits
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It is one of the very low-calorie vegetables;
provide just 15 calories per 100 g. It contains no saturated fats or cholesterol.
Cucumber peel is a good source of dietary fiber that helps reduce
constipation and offers some protection against colon cancers by
eliminating toxic compounds from the gut.
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It is an excellent source of potassium, an
important intracellular electrolyte. 100 g of cucumber provides 147 mg
of potassium but only 2 mg of sodium. Potassium is a heart "friendly"
electrolyte helps bring a reduction in total blood pressure and heart
rates by countering effects of sodium.
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Cucumbers contains unique antioxidants in moderate ratios
such as ß-carotene and α -carotene, vitamin-C, vitamin-A,
zeaxanthin, and lutein. These compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen
species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease processes. Their total antioxidant strength, measured in terms of oxygen radical absorbance
capacity (ORAC value), is 214 µmol TE/100 g.
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Cucumbers have mild diuretic property, which perhaps attributed to their free-water, and potassium and low sodium
content. It helps in checking weight gain and high blood pressure.
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They surprisingly have a significant 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 osteoblastic (bone mass
building) activity. It also has an established role in the treatment of
Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in their brain.
