Health Benefits Of Eating Cucumber.

Cucumbers are the fourth most cultivated vegetable in the world and known to be one of the best foods for your body's overall health, often referred to as a super food.

Made up of 95 percent water, cucumbers are naturally low in calories, fat, cholesterol, and sodium.

Cucumbers belong to the same plant family as squash, pumpkin, and watermelon (the Cucurbitaceae family).

Their high water content helps prevent dehydration and combat the heat while their refreshing and mild taste appeals to even the pickiest eaters.Not only they provide hydration but cucumbers are also rich in vitamin K, B vitamins, copper, potassium, vitamin C, and manganese, and can help you to avoid nutrient deficiencies. 

Here are given some of the heath benefits of eating cucumbers:

1.  Keeps you hydrated. If you are too busy to drink enough water, munch on the cool cucumber, which is 96 percent water. It will cheerfully compensate!

2. Good For Your Skin, Hair And Nails: When used topically, cucumber has a cooling and soothing effect that decreases swelling, irritation, and inflammation. Cucumber slices can be placed on the eyes to decrease morning puffiness or placed on the skin to alleviate and treat sunburn.

Silica, the wonder mineral in cucumber makes your hair and nails stronger and shinier. Cucumber has a good supply of skin-friendly minerals: magnesium, potassium, silicon. That’s why cucumber-based treatments are popular in spas.

3.  Reduce Your Risk of Cancer: Cucumbers contain polyphenols called lignans (pinoresinol, lariciresinol, and secoisolariciresinol), which may help to lower your risk of breast, uterine, ovarian, and prostate cancers. They also contain phytonutrients called cucurbitacins, which also have anti-cancer properties. 

4. Reliefs Heartburn: Eat cucumber, and your body gets relief from heartburn. 

5. Flushes out the toxins from your body: All that water in cucumber acts as a virtual broom, sweeping waste products out of your system. With regular use, cucumber is known to dissolve kidney stones.

6. Protects Your Brain: Cucumbers contain an anti-inflammatory flavonol called fisetin that appears to play an important role in brain health. In addition to improving your memory and protecting your nerve cells from age-related decline, fisetin has been found to prevent progressive memory and learning impairments in mice with Alzheimer's disease.

7. Bone health: Low intake of vitamin K has been associated with a higher risk for bone fracture. Adequate vitamin K consumption can be achieved by eating a proper intake of fruits and vegetables (one cup of cucumber provides 11 percent of your daily needs) and is important for improving calcium absorption which is essential for optimal bone health.

8. Relieves bad breath :Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

9. Aids in weight loss: Enjoy cucumbers in your salads and soups and as for other vegetables it is helpful in controlling your weight. 

10.  Antioxidant Properties: Cucumbers contain numerous antioxidants, including the well-known vitamin C and beta-carotene. They also contain antioxidant flavonoids, such as quercetin, apigenin, luteolin, and kaempferol, which provide additional benefits.
For instance, quercetin is an antioxidant that many believe prevents histamine release—making quercetin-rich foods "natural antihistamines." Kaempferol, meanwhile, may help fight cancer and lower your risk of chronic diseases including heart disease.

11.  Stabilizes blood pressure. Patients that struggle with blood pressure, both high and low, often find that eating cucumber brings relief.Cucumbers contain a lot of potassium, magnesium and fiber. These work effectively for regulating blood pressure. This makes cucumbers good for treating both low blood pressure and high blood pressure.

12. Hangover cure : To avoid a morning hangover or headache; eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish many essential nutrients, reducing the intensity of both hangover and headache.

13. Helps Control Diabetes: Cucumber juice contains a hormone which is needed by the cells of the pancreas for producing insulin which has been found to be beneficial to diabetic patients

14. Controls Blood Cholesterol: Researchers found that a compound called sterols in cucumbers may help reduce cholesterol levels.

15. Releives muscle and joint pain: All those vitamins and minerals in cucumber make it a powerful enemy of muscle and joint pain.

Nutritional Breakdown: 
According to the USDA National Nutrient Database, 1 cup of raw sliced cucumber with peel (approximately 119 grams) contains:

• 115 grams of water
• 16 calories
• 0.8 grams of protein
• 0.2 grams of fat
• 2.9 grams of carbohydrate (including 0.9 grams of fiber and 1.8 grams of sugar)

One cup of cucumber provides the following percentage of your recommended daily allowance:

• 11 percent of vitamin K
• 4 percent of vitamin C
• 4 percent of magnesium
• 4 percent of potassium
• 4 percent of manganese
• 2 percent of vitamin A
• 2 percent of thiamin
• 2 percent of riboflavin
• 2 percent of B6
• 2 percent of folate
• 2 percent of pantothenic acid
• 2 percent of calcium
• 2 percent of iron
• 2 percent of phosphorus
• 2 percent of zinc
• 2 percent of copper