A cucumber is a juicy fruit that many people consider a vegetable. Commonly the alkaline fruit is eaten raw but many people also consume the pickled versions. However, several researchers don’t recommend that people eat pickled vegetables because of its potential health risk. When eaten raw, cucumbers have a refreshing taste and can be added to sandwiches, salads or used to go along with a nice portion of chickpea hummus. Besides its culinary value, cucumbers are also rich in a number of essential nutrients and minerals, making them an excellent food to eat.
Cucumbers have a great mineral profile. A half-cup serving of the sliced alkaline fruit has 76 milligrams of potassium, 12 milligrams of phosphorus, 8 milligrams of calcium and 7 milligrams of magnesium. Potassium helps the body to conduct electricity and is essential to lowering blood pressure, smooth muscle movement, regular healthy digestion and preventing cardiovascular complications. For adult women and men, including pregnant women, the recommended dietary allowance is 4.7 grams per day. For breastfeeding women, the recommended amount is higher at 5.1 grams per day.
Eating cucumbers is a great choice for the digestive system. The fruit contain almost half a gram of dietary fiber per half cup serving. Dietary fiber is key for slowing down digestion of food in the body, giving the system enough time to absorb essential minerals and nutrients.
Cucumbers have antioxidants that are very effective in alleviating blood clots. Researchers have recently found that eating cucumbers can also be very effective in ridding the body of cancer cells.
