Cucumber: Nutritional Value, Medicinal Uses, and Health Benefits

Cucumber is an incredibly versatile and nutritious vegetable that can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. Not only are they incredibly low in calories, but it it also loaded with essential vitamins and minerals. Here are some of the top benefits of eating cucumber and why you should add it to your diet. Cucumber is a great source of hydration. Cucumber is made up of 95% water, making it an excellent choice for keeping your body hydrated. Not only do it help keep your body hydrated, but it also help flush out toxins, aiding in better digestion.

Cucumber
Cucumber / Khira

Cucumber Nutrition Facts and Calories Chart

Cucumbers are rich in vitamins and minerals. They are a great source of vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, and magnesium. Vitamin C helps to boost the immune system, while vitamin K is important for bone health. Potassium and magnesium are important electrolytes that help regulate fluid balance in the body. They can help reduce inflammation. They are packed with antioxidants, which can help reduce inflammation throughout the body. Eating them can help fight off free radicals in the body and reduce inflammation, which is beneficial for overall health. Nutritional value per 100 g cucumber:

  • Biotin: 0.0 μg
  • Calcium: 16 mg
  • Carbohydrates (Carbs): 4.5 g
  • Chloride: 19 mg
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg
  • Choline: 5.3 mg
  • Chromium: 0.3 μg
  • Copper: 0.1 mg
  • Dietary Fiber: 0.5 g
  • Energy (Calories): 15 kcal
  • Fat: 0.2 g
  • Iodine: 0.1 μg
  • Iron: 0.3 mg
  • Magnesium: 13 mg
  • Manganese: 0.1 mg
  • Molybdenum: 1.2 μg
  • Pantothenic Acid: 0.2 mg
  • Phosphorus: 28 mg
  • Potassium: 147 mg
  • Protein: 0.6 g
  • Saturated fat: 0.1 g
  • Selenium: 0.1 μg
  • Sodium: 4 mg
  • Sugars: 1.7 g
  • Vitamin A: 33 IU
  • Vitamin B1 (Thiamin): 0.1 mg
  • Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): 0.1 mg
  • Vitamin B3 (Niacin): 0.4 mg
  • Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid): 0.2 mg
  • Vitamin B6: 0.1 mg
  • Vitamin B9 (Folate / Folic Acid): 18 μg
  • Vitamin B12: 0.0 μg
  • Vitamin C: 2.8 mg
  • Vitamin D: 0.0 μg
  • Vitamin E: 0.1 mg
  • Vitamin K: 16.4 μg
  • Water: 95.2 g
  • Zinc: 0.1 mg

Cucumber In India

Cucumbers are cleansing, diuretic, and refreshing, help to dissolve uric acid and thus are useful for gout and arthritis. Cucumber is a vine fruit that can be eaten fresh or pickled. They were native to northwestern India but have long been distributed throughout Asia, Europe, and Africa.

  • Scientific Binomial: Cucumis sativus
  • Common English: Cucumber
  • Ayurvedic: Trapusha / Traapusha / Trapushi
  • Unani: Khiyaar / Khiraa
  • Sanskrit: Trapushpa / Kantakilata
  • Hindi / Urdu: Khira / Khiraa
  • Bengali: Sausha
  • Marathi: Kakadi
  • Telugu: Dosakaya
  • Tamil: Vellarikkay / Vellarikkai
  • Gujarati
  • Kannada: Soutekayi
  • Malayalam: Vellari
  • Oriya
  • Punjabi / Sindhi
  • Assamese
  • Kashmiri
  • Konkani
  • Manipuri
  • Dogri
  • Bhojpuri

Home Remedies

The cucumber is related to melons and, like them, has a high water content, which keeps its interior flesh cool in the hottest weather. It is around 95 % water but do contain vitamins A, B-complex, and C as well as manganese, sulfur, and other minerals. Also contain a hormone needed by the cells of the pancreas for producing insulin. It is a popular vegetable, which has been widely used in folk medicine to reduce heat and inflammation. It is a rich source of vitamin C, and can be used externally to cool and cleanse. Cucumber is useful to treat acne, chapped lips, allergies, foot problems, eye disorders, inflammations, insect bites, wrinkles.

  • Refreshing Drink: Cucumber juice alone or mixed with raw vegetable juice is good choice for a fresh refreshing drink. It helps to balance body, digestive system and relieves fatigue.
  • Heartburn: Drink cucumber juice or eat fresh cucumber to soothe heartburn or to improve an acid stomach. The juices of vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, radishes, or beets help to tame the acid in the stomach due to their alkaline nature.
  • Digestive Aid: Cucumber is a good diuretic. Try cucumber raita with meal. Raita is a yogurt-based condiment often used in Indian cooking. Also try including raw slices of cucumber in each salad.
  • Acne: The juice obtained from liquefying a peeled cucumber in a food blender is most excellent for teenagers to use for reducing their acne problems caused by a steady diet of hamburgers, French fries, milkshakes and soft drinks.
  • Skin Burn: Cucumbers have a long folk history as a cure for skin problems. Apply a slice directly to the burn. Or, peel a cucumber, throw it into a blender, and apply the puree to the area.
  • Soothing Eyes: Cool slices of cucumber are useful as eye pads to soothe tired and inflamed eyes, while internally they can cool the stomach and thus are a useful food to eat for gastric irritations and colic. For eye puffiness, cut 2 thin slices from a cold cucumber. Place slices over eyes for 20 minutes, repeat as often as desired. To reduce eyestrain, cool your eyes with sliced cucumber. Lie on back and place one slice over each closed eye. Leave on the slices for two or three minutes, or replace the first pair with another, cooler set of slices.
  • Red Eyes: For bloodshot eyes, try a mashed poultice of cucumbers in cheese cloth applied directly on the lids for half an hour or so. It works also for itching and inflammation due to hay fever and related allergies during the summer time.
  • Expel Worms: Ground dried cucumber seeds are used to treat tapeworm. Lightly cooked cucumber is best for digestive problems.
  • Sunburn: Cucumbers are also a favorite with beauticians as the basis for moisturizers and other skin products. A homemade alternative is simply to puree a peeled cucumber in the food processor and store the resulting liquid in the refrigerator for use as a lotion. The same mixture is ideal to soothe sunburn and minor skin irritations or you can use thin slices as a poultice.
  • Aching Feet: This mixture is also works well to treat aching feet. Just put the mixture in the vessels where your feet can fit easily. Then put your bare feet in them, squishing the mush around between your toes and so forth. And just lay back in an easy chair and enjoy sheer delight for sore feet.
  • Skin Blemishes: Cucumber lotions or poultices can also be helpful for enlarged pores, oily skin, wrinkles, and skin blemishes and are also soothing for insect stings, cold sores, and prickly heat. Cucumbers have moderate amounts of fat in their skins.
  • Chapped Lips: When your lips are chapped and dry, take an unpeeled cucumber, wipe it off good, pucker up lips as if to put on lipstick, then just run the skin surface slowly across them in a back and-forth motion. This does a fairly nice job of lubricating them.
  • Anti Wrinkle Face Pack: Here is one secret anti wrinkle homemade lotion formula with cucumber. Slice 2 unpeeled cucumbers lengthwise and width wise. Put them into your blender with just enough dairy whipping cream to make a nice, thick, smooth mixture. Then add 1 tbsp. of olive oil and blend again. Follow this with 1 tbsp. of honey and repeat the blending process again. Finally, add a little mud or cornstarch. Blend for a few more seconds. Set in the refrigerator for half an hour to cool more. After scrubbing your face with lemon, apply this cucumber mask. Leave this mask on for about 1-1/4 hours before removing.
  • Weight Loss: Cucumbers can help you lose weight. Cucumbers are low in calories and high in fiber, which makes them a great choice for those looking to lose weight. Eating cucumbers can help to fill you up and provide a healthy snack option that won’t lead to weight gain. Cucumbers are a nutritious and delicious vegetable that can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. Eating cucumbers can help provide essential vitamins and minerals, help with hydration, and even aid in weight loss. Incorporating cucumbers into your diet can help you reap the many health benefits that this versatile vegetable has to offer.

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