Have you ever enjoyed the benefits of cucumber water?
I know, most of you might not have enjoyed it, because many people regard cucumber as an inexpensive veggie without any nutritional value. ‘Just a watery guard.’ You may say carelessly. But, it’s a rich source of nutrients and you can reap a good load of benefits by drinking water.
It has an effective anti-aging power that rejuvenates the skin of humans. Also, it fights against certain dangerous diseases such as cancer. Let’s have a look at its immense advantages and discuss them in detail.
How do you prepare cucumber water? Well, it’s quite easy. You need 2 thinly- sliced cucumbers, 8 cups of filtered water and a bit of salt.
Take a clean jar and put cucumbers and salt into it. Then, pour water over it, and stir well. Next, close the lid of the jar and keep it in the fridge overnight. Now, your cucumber water is ready for use. To add a variety, you can use lime, lemon, mint, mojito or other fruit such as pink raspberry in preparing it.
It’s totally a natural drink infused with natural fruit and colors. Nothing artificial remains there. It’s very conducive to health. In fact, it’s a good thing to stay away from artificial food flavoring and coloring. Cucumber water is very rich in this quality.
What are the benefits of cucumber water?
- Prevents the body from dehydration.
The human body needs a lot of water for the smooth function of its systems. But, you may find it boring to drink plain water all the time. So, in order to break the monotony, cucumber water is a fine alternative. It keeps the body fresh and hydrated all the time. Although it’s not a sweetened succulent drink, the freshness it gives is unimaginable on a hot, sunny day.
- It has great power to strengthen muscles.
The high content of silica in cucumbers acts on the connective tissues in the body and makes the muscles strong. And silica makes the process of calcium absorption in the body faster. Therefore, it’s a valuable natural source for sportsmen and bodybuilders to drink it as an additional supplement to have strong muscles.
- It makes the skin healthy, smooth and beautiful.
Cucumber water keeps the body hydrated and thus sends out toxins purifying the blood. And also, it causes toxic substances to pass through urine. Beta carotene in cucumber stimulates this purifying process. Anyway, purified blood makes the skin beautiful and glowing.
Cucumber contains a high content of vitamin B5 and pantothenic acid. These 2 are very vital substances that fight acne. So, by drinking cucumber water, you will get rid of acne that makes your face ugly.
Cucumber is widely used in beauty culture due to its exceptional ability to beautify human skin. Drinking cucumber water makes your skin smooth, supple and free of scars. Cucumber juice is used to make face masks in beauty parlors because of its magical powers that clean off the blemishes.
- Prevents bad breaths
Cucumber has the power to stimulate the flow of saliva in the mouth. So, if there are any bacteria in the mouth, the good flow of saliva will wash them off. So, you won’t get any bad breaths. And cucumber lessens the interior heat of the body (especially of the stomach) that causes bad breaths.
It makes your breath fresh and you’ll feel more confident since you’re without the fear of emitting any bad odors when speaking. This self-confidence is a part of your beauty and personality. Cucumber is an agent that generates it.
- Ability to fight against diseases like cancer
Antioxidants and other compounds such as cucurbitacin, lignan and some dietary flavonoids present in cucumber lower the risk of cancer and slow down the progression of it. Truly, cucumber or any other vegetable cannot heal cancer. But, it’s important to take such food rich with antioxidants to prevent any future possibilities of getting cancer.
But, you should not drink it limitlessly since it can be harmful to your health. (I’ll come to that topic in detail in a later part.)
- Supplies extra vitamins and minerals to the body
Unlike just plain water, cucumber water contains a lot of vitamins and minerals. And sometimes you add some slices of fruit such as lemon.
Lime, berries, pineapples etc. to give it a variety. It even increases the number of vitamins, flavors and other nutrients in cucumber water making it a super healthy drink.
All these are natural vitamins and they are far more beneficial to the body than synthetic vitamins bought from pharmacies. So, it’s yet another benefit of cucumber water.
- Lowers the blood pressure
The nearest reason for high blood pressure is lack of potassium and too much sodium in the diet. So, potassium is an essential ingredient that helps the regulation process of sodium inside the body.
This enables the blood pressure to lower a little. As cucumber is a good source of potassium, it will be a good cure for high blood pressure.
- Makes the bones and tissues healthy
There are 2 minerals present in cucumber; silica and manganese. They strengthen the bones in the body. And they prevent the future possibilities of getting bone-related diseases such as osteoporosis.
Vitamin K is also responsible for forming healthy bones and tissues. Transportation of calcium to bones is done with the help of vitamin K. Also, it helps the blood to clot properly.
These are essential functions that keep the body healthy.
Cucumbers are a rich source of vitamin K. So, drinking cucumber water is of great help to keep bones and tissues healthy and strong.
Osteoporosis and heart problems may be the result of vitamin K deficiency.
You must keep in mind not to peel cucumber when it’s prepared for eating or drinking because the skin of cucumber contains vitamin K at large.
- Cucumber water can help you to lose weight
Staying hydrated means a certain barrier to hunger, because your stomach has not enough space to receive any food when it is full of cucumber water.
Apart from that, you can easily replace other sugary drinks with cucumber water. It has fewer calories and no sugar.
It’s said that a medium-size cucumber has only 45 calories. So, it’s ideal to quench hunger without putting on flesh when you are dieting.
- Antioxidant benefit
Cucumbers are rich in several important antioxidants, vitamin C, manganese, and molybdenum. Antioxidants prevent oxidative stress which causes cell damage in the body.
The end result of all these is the protection of the body. Drinking cucumber water gives the body extra protection and fullness throughout.
- Cucumber makes your heart healthy
Cucumber water contains a lot of potassium as stated earlier. It is an electrolyte that is responsible for the overall health of the individual.
Potassium also reduces the strain on the heart and other parts of the cardiovascular system. It lowers the risk of getting strokes, coronary heart disease, etc.
- It reduces appetite
The major blow to any diet plan is the uncontrollable hunger and greed to eat. Many people cannot simply control their appetite.
So, most of the diet plans become utter failures. But, cucumber water proves to be a huge barrier to this greed of yours.
If you have the habit of drinking several glasses of cucumber water between meals, you will be able to suppress the need to eat a lot.
So, you’ll feel comfortable to carry out any diet plan and succeed in the weight loss challenge. And since you know the benefits of cucumber water, you’ll not have to worry about nutritional problems.
So, you can eat fewer carbs, less fat and fill up the tummy with wholesome cucumber water when dieting. After all, avoiding a few unneeded meals a week is a huge plus towards weight loss.
Just as I mentioned slightly in an earlier fact, cucumber water is effective as a detox drink. It keeps the body hydrated and compels the toxic substances to come out through urine.
It flushes out the interior of the body and cools it from inside out. And it increases the body’s metabolism and causes the sweat to ooze out.
Through the sweat to some toxins are sent out of the body. In short, the regular intake of cucumber water purifies the body in this detoxification process.
So, come on! If you haven’t decided yet, give it a start today itself and you can reap these wonderful benefits of cucumber water and become healthy and attractive. Drink it regularly and see how it changes you day by day.
Negative effects of cucumber water
But, before finishing this article, I must give you a little warning too. Though cucumber water seems to be a panacea, it also has certain negative impacts. Beware of them, because cucumbers could be toxic in certain occasions.
Have you ever experienced a certain bitterness in cucumbers? The substances that cause the bitter taste are cucurbitacin and tetracyclic triterpenoids. These are the elements that could be toxic.
You can avoid this risk by limiting the intake. You know cucumbers are rich in vitamin C. But, taking it in large amounts can cause cancer, acne, premature aging, etc.
So, you must have a limit in taking this beverage. Also, potassium that enters the human body in large amounts can cause an adverse health condition called hyperkalemia.
It results in cramps in the abdomen and bloating. Therefore, do have a limit on the intake of this wonderful drink. Enjoy the benefits of cucumber water without becoming a victim of it.
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