Cucumbers are a well known part of many a picnic, whether in a garden salad or a sandwich. If you have ever asked “How many calories in a cucumber?” this article will answer that for you. There are several different types of cucumbers, but they tend to have reasonably similar amounts of calories. The table below will show you how many calories are in a cucumber, and we have also included the difference in calories between a peeled and an unpeeled cucumber.
The table below will show you how many calories are in a Cucumber. To provide you with more complete nutritional information we have also included the amount of protein in a cucumber, the amount of fat in a cucumber, and also how many carbs are in a cucumber. The measurements in this table are for peeled, raw cucumbers:
| Size | Calories | Carbohydrate | Fat | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 large Cucumber (280g) | ||||
| 1 medium Cucumber 200g | 24 | 4.3g | 0.32g | 1.2g |
| 1 small Cucumber 158g | 19 | 4.3g | 0.6g | 0.9g |
| Per 100g | 12 | 2.2g | 0.16g | 0.6g |
| Per Cucumber Slice (7g) | 1 | 0.15g | 0.01g | 0.04g |
| 1 large Cucumber Unpeeled (301g) | 45 | 10.9g | 0.33g | 2g |
| Per 100g Unpeeled Cucumber | 15 | 3.6g | 0.1g | 0.6g |
As you can see from the cucumber calories table above, the calories cucumbers contain depends greatly on the size of the cucumber. There are also slightly differing amounts of calories in a peeled cucumber versus the calories in an unpeeled cucumber. Even though the skin on a cucumber doesn’t make a huge difference to the calories in a cucumber, it’s good to be as accurate as you can when working out calories for a diet or weight loss plan.
Calories in a Cucumber
Contents
So what information can we glean from this table about cucumbers? Well, we can easily see that there are not a lot of calories in cucumbers; in fact the calories in a cucumber are among the lowest of any fruit, vegetable, grain, or any type of food at all. That’s just part of the good news however! This list of cucumber nutritional facts shows us that there is also almost no fat in a cucumber at all. This low amount of fat is very common for a fruit however. Incidentally, if you have ever wondered “Are cucumbers a fruit or vegetable?“, the answer is that cucumbers are a fruit from the gourd family.
Cucumbers are low in calories, but like most fruits they are also low in protein, less that 1% protein in fact. This means that to get all the nutrients that your body needs, you will need to find a different source of protein. Some of the more common protein sources are animal products like a boiled egg or a chicken breast, both of which are well-known as having high quantities of protein, while also containing only a moderate amount of calories and fats.
How Many Vitamins and Calories in a Cucumber?
- Vitamin C – 1.5 mg
- Niacin – 0.051 mg
- Vitamin B1 (thiamine) – 0.014 mg
- Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) – 0.017 mg
- Vitamin B6 – 0.021 mg
- Folate – 4 mcg
- Pantothenic Acid – 0.135 mg
- Vitamin A – 55 IU
- Vitamin K – 8.5 mcg
How Many Minerals in a Cucumber?
So far we have covered calories in a cucumber, as well as fat, protein, carbs and vitamins in cucumbers. The other main nutritional benefit derived from cucumbers is the minerals they contain. We have listed the most relevant minerals on the table below. All these figures are for one half cup of sliced cucumber:
- Potassium – 76 mg
- Phosphorus – 12 mg
- Magnesium – 7 mg
- Sodium – 1 mg
- Calcium – 8 mg
- Iron – 0.15 mg
- Zinc – 0.1 mg
Overall, cucumbers are a very low calorie food that contains very few carbs, along with almost no fat. Cucumbers are also lacking in protein however, and they contain only moderate amounts of vitamins and minerals. None-the-less, cucumbers are an excellent food to add to any diet, particularly if weight loss is the goal. Because the calories cucumbers contain are so few, you can virtually eat cucumbers to your heart’s content without having to worry about going over your calorie limit.
You can use the calorie calculator above to work out how much exercise you would need to do to burn off the calories in a cucumber. I’m sure you will see that it really isn’t very much at all. Also, because cucumbers are so low in carbs, you can eat them as part of a low carb diet without concern. As even compared to other fruits such as an apple, cucumbers are very low in carbohydrate.
