Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely cultivated plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that produces conical fruits, which are used as vegetables.
It contains several vitamins, antioxidants, and other nutrients that can help prevent a variety of diseases, including cancer and diabetes, and keep the bones safe.
However, some health-conscious people drink cucumber water to reap the health benefits, such as hydration, weight loss, skin health, and blood pressure lowering effects.
It’s delicious and simple to make.
Here are seven wonderful health benefits of cucumber water.
Table of Contents
1. Boosts Weight Loss
If you’re trying to lose weight, replacing soft drinks with cucumber water can help you cut down on calories. Staying hydrated allows you to feel full.
Often, the body mistakes hunger for thirst. You can feel hungry when you are thirsty. Try this technique to know if you are hungry or thirsty.
First, drink an enormous glass of cucumber juice. If your appetite went away after the drink, you understand you were thirsty.
If you’re still hungry, then you know you were hungry. Adding cucumber water to your weight-loss diet plan may help speed up your weight-loss process.
2. Supports Hydration
Without water, the body cannot function. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, most people need to drink six to eight glasses of water a day (1).
We know we should drink water during the day, but pure water still gets annoying.
Drinking cucumber water gives it a little more flavor and allows you to drink more, which will provide you with energy, refreshment, and several other benefits.
3. Supports Skin Health
Cucumber water can help soothe the inside and outside of your skin. Staying hydrated helps to flush the body out of toxins and preserve the good texture of the skin.
Cucumber is also high in pantothenic acid, or vitamin B-5, which is used for the treatment of acne (2).
One cup of sliced cucumbers has around 3% of vitamin B-5’s recommended daily value (3).
Hydrating with cucumber water may improve the elasticity of your skin and reduce signs of dryness and roughness, resulting in smoother skin.
4. Prevents Chronic Diseases
Some prior research suggests cucumbers may be helpful in fighting chronic diseases.
Besides antioxidants, cucumbers also have compounds called cucurbitacins and a group of nutrients called lignans, which can help protect us against chronic disease.
One study has suggested that the dietary flavonoid fisetin found in cucumbers may help slow prostate tumor progression (4).
In fact, the accumulation of toxins causes most chronic diseases. Therefore, drinking cucumber water will help detox the body from these harmful toxins.
5. Contains Antioxidants
Antioxidants are substances that prevent or delay cell damage caused by free radicals because of oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress can cause chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and eye degeneration (5).
Research has shown that antioxidants can reverse this damage or even stop it. Therefore, eating fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants is important for wellbeing (6).
Cucumbers contain vitamin C, beta carotene, manganese, molybdenum, and several flavonoid antioxidants.
These antioxidants can keep the organs safe from the negative effects of free radicals.
6. Lowers Blood Pressure
One factor contributing to high blood pressure is having too much salt (sodium) in your diet and too little potassium.
The excess salt causes fluids to accumulate in your body, which raises blood pressure.
Potassium is an electrolyte that helps to control the amount of sodium that the kidneys keep (7, 8).
Cucumber is an excellent source of potassium. Drinking cucumber water helps your body gain more potassium, potentially helping to lower blood pressure.
7. Improves Bone Health
Cucumbers have a high vitamin K content. In addition, one cup of sliced cucumbers has 10.2 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin K (9).
Vitamin K is a group of fat-soluble vitamins that aid in blood clotting, bone metabolism, and calcium regulation (10, 11).
Vitamin K is required by the body to produce prothrombin, a protein and clotting factor involved in blood clotting and bone metabolism.
Your body needs vitamin K to help shape proteins that are required to make healthy bones and tissues and to help better clot your blood.
How to Make Cucumber Water?
By adding lemon juice to your cucumber water, you can make it even more enjoyable.
Ingredients
- 8 cups water
- 2 cucumbers sliced thin
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 4 medium size lemons
Directions
- add the sliced cucumbers, lemon, and salt to a large pitcher or jar
- pour in the water and stir well
- cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight
- keep the water refrigerated
- serve it with or without ice
- drink it within 3 days
Conclusion
Cucumber water is a beverage that is very hydrating and provides several potential health benefits, including weight loss, blood pressure lowering, helping bone health, and improving skin health.
Making cucumber water is easy, and people can enjoy it without temptation.