The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. Having an enclosed seed and developing from a flower, cucumbers are scientifically classified as fruits. Much like tomatoes and squash, however, their sour-bitter flavor contributes to cucumbers being perceived, prepared and eaten as vegetables, which is the accepted culinary term.
Cucumber Nutrition Facts: Calories, Carbs, and Health Benefits
Cucumber is 95.23% water, 3.63% carbohydrates, 0.65% protein, and contains 0.11% fat. If you consume one medium cucumber it will provide you with 3.993 grams of carbohydrates. That translates to 3.07 percent of the 130 grams of carbohydrates people should include in their daily diet, according to the Institute of Medicine (US). That same in a 100 gram amount, cucumber supplies 15 calories and provides low amounts of essential nutrients, with only Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) having a good percentage (18.22%) of the Daily Value. So if you have cucumbers in your diet, it helps your body to regulate concentration of calcium in the blood, retent of episodic memory (in older people), maintain healthy bone growth and resorption and it is effective against osteoporosis by regulating calcium levelshigh cholesterol levelneuronal damage in the brain. It contains low amount of minerals.
Cucumbers are abundant in vitamins and anti-oxidants namely b-carotene, a-carotene, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, B2, B3 B5 & B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and other essential nutrients like Calcium, Magnesium, Iron Potassium and Zinc.
The cucumber is originally from South Asia, but now grows on most continents.
Botanically speaking, the cucumber is classified as a pepo, a type of botanical berry with a hard outer rind and no internal divisions.
Even though it’s a fruit, cucumber is often perceived, prepared and eaten as a vegetable.
Cucumbers can cure bad breath. A slice pressed to the roof of your mouth for 30 seconds with your tongue allows the phytochemicals to kill the bad bacteria.
The waxy coating of a cucumber can remove ink, rubbing the skin over the writing will slowly remove it.
Cucumbers are said to contain the lignans; lariciresinol, pinoresinol, and secoisolariciresinol. These are linked with reducing the risk of developing certain cancers including breast, ovarian, colon and prostate cancer. When eaten, bacteria in our digestive tract grab the lignans converting them into enterolignans which bind to the estrogen receptors reducing estrogen related diseases, including cancer.
Pureed or sliced cucumber gives an almost instant relief to sunburnt skin.
Cucumbers were first domestically grown in ancient India around the 2nd or 3rd millennia BC.
There can be a 20 degree difference between the inside of a cucumber and the actual temperature outside. This is thought to be where the phrase, “cool as a cucumber”, came from.
Cucumbers have been cultivated for at least 3,000 years. They were probably introduced to other parts of Europe by the Greeks or Romans.
Cucumbers are mentioned in the Bible as one of the foods eaten by the Israelites in Egypt.
Cucumbers can help lower eye puffiness. The ascorbic and caffeic acids lower the water retention rate, shrinking the swelling and puffiness.
Cucumbers are mainly eaten in the unripe green form, since the ripe yellow form normally becomes bitter and sour.
