How much do we know about cucumbers? Well, you might say they're green on the outside and white on the inside and they grow in the produce department of my favorite supermarket.
Right...
yeah, well sort of.
They are indeed green but if that's all you know about cucumbers, have I got something to share with you! A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from one of my friends about cucumbers.
It reported that they are packed with vitamins and minerals but they are good for other "non-eating" things, too.
Some of the "non-eating" things are really "out there" but that is not the focus of this article.
For the purposes of this article, we are going to focus on the nutritional value of cucumbers...
perhaps we'll address those "other" things another time.
The above referenced email stated that cucumbers contain pretty much most of the vitamins we need on a daily basis.
Apparently, one cucumber contains vitamins B2, B3, B5 and B6, as well as folic acid, vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc.
Sounds pretty impressive, doesn't it? Well, let me tell you, when I looked it up for myself I found so much more nutritional information on this little green veggie.
Like it also contains 11% of the minimum daily requirement of vitamin K, as well as thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, choline, betaine, Selenium and Fluoride.
And I know you've heard all of the emphasis placed on the omega fatty acids lately.
A raw cucumber with the skin also contains omega 3 as well as omega 6 fatty acids.
Cucumbers also have a low glycemic load, which means that they don't cause blood sugar spikes which, in turn, cause the body to call out the insulin army to roust out and lower the blood sugar.
They get a really high rating in the Fullness Factor category.
On a scale of 0 to 5, with 0 being really low and 5 being high, this little green veggie gets a whopping 4.
6! AND, it gets 5 stars for being a great for weight loss and optimum health food.
The only bad thing I could find out about cucumbers is the sugar content.
Apparently, a large percentage of the calories in this little green veggie come from sugars.
This is not enough apparently to cause the sugar spikes mentioned above due to the fiber content of this vegetable.
Interestingly, they are neutral in the inflammation factor category.
Inflammation, you may ask? Just where does inflammation come into this picture? This is a question that I researched.
This opened up such a large area of discussion that I will write a subsequent article on just that topic.
Suffice it to say that there is a fair amount of evidence suggesting that foods can cause chronic inflammation in the body.
So the next time you need a pick me up in the middle of the afternoon, grab a crisp cucumber and eat it raw.
Think about the powerhouse of nutrition you're eating and all the good things your body is getting.