Tip Of The Week: It’s Time to Reevaluate The Cucumber
It’s Time to Reevaluate The Cucumber
First of all, are cucumbers a fruit or a vegetable? Well, Cucumbers are a type of edible plant that belongs to the gourd family. It’s widely cultivated and makes a nutritious addition to any diet. Cucumber is usually considered a vegetable because of how it’s used in the culinary world. However, as it grows from flowers and contains seeds, it’s botanically a fruit.
Most people only use cucumbers when they are making a salad, but as I found out recently it is an amazing fruit that is high in beneficial nutrients, as well as certain plant compounds and antioxidants that may help treat and even prevent some conditions.
One 11-ounce (300-gram) unpeeled, raw cucumber contains the following:
- Calories: 45
- Total fat: 0 grams
- Carbs: 11 grams
- Protein: 2 grams
- Fiber: 2 grams
- Vitamin C: 14% of the RDI
- Vitamin K: 62% of the RDI
- Magnesium: 10% of the RDI
- Potassium: 13% of the RDI
- Manganese: 12% of the RDI
You noticed it says unpeeled, to maximize their nutrient content, cucumbers should be eaten unpeeled. Peeling them reduces the amount of fiber, as well as certain vitamins and minerals.
Cucumbers are composed of about 96% water; they are especially effective at promoting hydration and can help you meet your daily fluid needs. If you eat them chilled they are very refreshing on a hot day.
Cucumber (with the skin) provides health benefits because of the vitamin K it contains. A single serving provides about nine percent of your daily needs. Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that assists in blood clotting.
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Cucumbers are super nutritious.
