Cucumber Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits

Cucumber with its scientific name Cucumis sativus belongs to the botanical family as melons and squashes. There are two commercial production types of cucumber which are slicing cucumber produced for fresh consumption and pickling ones produced for being processed into pickles. In fact, slicing cucumbers are larger and possess thicker skins than pickling cucumbers which are smaller and get thinner skins.

Cucumber Nutrition Facts

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Cucumber Nutrition Facts
Cucumber Health Benefits
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People usually eat raw cucumber if it is not prepared as pickles. Cucumber is low in calories and a half-cup of raw and sliced cucumber has only 8 calories per serving. Along with only 0.06 grams of fat and less than 1 gram of sugar per serving, cucumber becomes widely nutritious choice, especially that it is also loaded with half a gram of dietary fiber. Dietary fiber is really critical for lowering the body’s digestion of food, offering the system enough time to absorb important nutrients.

Vitamins in Cucumber – Cucumber Nutrition Facts

Cucumber contains rich and essential vitamins, typically vitamin K which is known as the clotting vitamin. Vitamin K is necessary for aiding in your blood clot. The recommended daily Vitamin K intake is 90 micrograms for adults who are over the age of 19. A half cup serving of sliced raw cucumber is also loaded with 8.5 micrograms of vitamin K. At the same time, a half-cup of sliced cucumber has 4 micrograms of folate, 55 units of vitamin A and 1.5 milligrams of vitamin C.

Mineral Content – Cucumber Nutrition Facts

A cucumber can contain rich source of a variety of minerals. A half-cup of sliced cucumber has 12 milligrams of phosphorus, 7 milligrams of magnesium [5], and 8 milligrams of calcium. It is also high in potassium which can serve 76 milligrams per half cup and helps regulate the amount of sodium in your blood, keeping your sodium levels low and thereby reducing the risk of high blood pressure development and other cardiovascular problems. For men and women, including pregnant women, the recommended dietary allowance can reach 4.7 grams per day and for breastfeeding women, the RDA increases to 5.1 grams daily.

Water Content- Cucumber Nutrition Facts

As well all know that water is playing such an essential role in regulating your body well and enhancing your overall health condition. In fact, there is no recommended daily intake of water, therefore, experts advise you to drink from six to eight 8-ounce cup of water each day. More water may be required due to high temperature and humidity, or in case that you take part in strong physical activities. One you cannot bring your bottle of water along with you, instead, a half-cup of raw, sliced cucumbers can help you tackle your thirst by producing almost 50 grams of water. Your daily water intake can also be achieved through diet including consuming water-rich foods such as cucumber and through drinking such fluids as juices, teas and water.

Cucumber Health Benefits

Due to being low in calorie vegetables offering only 15 calories per 100 g and having no saturated fats or cholesterol, Cucumber can help effectively reduce constipation, and provides protection against colon cancers by flushing out toxic compounds from gut problem.

As it contains excellent source of potassium, an important intracellular electrolyte, in which 100 g of cucumber can provide 147 mg of potassium but only 2 mg of sodium. Thanks to potassium, it helps bring about the decrease in total blood pressure and heart rates. Additionally, cucumbers have mild diuretic property attributing to their free-water, and potassium and low sodium content. This also helps check your weight gain and high blood pressure.

Providing about 17 µg of this vitamin per 100 g, vitamin-K has been shown to play a potential role in bone strength by fostering osteotrophic activity. Alzheimer’s disease can be cured effectively due to this kind of Vitamin which can limit the neuronal destruction in their brain.