Cucumber water is one drink that you’ll want to
consider the next time you’re feeling thirsty. It not only helps genuinely
hydrate the body, it can help you feel better overall, and even look better.
Here are all of the benefits you’ll reap, and some recipes to help you along.
1. Helps Hydrate You
When you meet your specific water needs
you’ll enjoy the benefits of staying hydrated, like maintaining the right body
temperature, helping your cardiovascular system, and assisting in the cleansing
of toxins. You’ll have more energy and help each of your organs do its job
better when they’re getting enough water. Cucumber water adds that little
something extra to regular water that makes you more likely to drink it more
often, helping you stay hydrated each day. For the best results make sure you
are using purified or spring water to avoid the intake of contaminants.
2. Provides Extra Vitamins
and Minerals
Water is vital to the body, but by itself
it’s not a great source of vitamins. When you add in cucumbers you’ll be adding
in vitamins and minerals that will help supplement the rest of your diet. Many
cucumber water recipes also add in fruit, so you’ll be getting antioxidants and
extra vitamins from those, like Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Since these vitamins
are coming from whole food sources and not synthetic vitamins they’ll be better
absorbed and utilized by the body than if you were to get them from waters
marketed as containing added vitamins.
3. Brings Down Blood Pressure
Keeping your blood pressure in check is
important because it will help keep you away from debilitating diseases like
stroke, heart attack, kidney disease, or vision loss. By drinking cucumber
water you’re staying hydrated, and helping your blood pressure thanks to the 4%
DV of potassium cucumbers contain.
Since they’re essentially free of sodium
you’ll get the maximum benefit of this important mineral if high blood pressure is a concern.
Just be sure not to go overboard with your water intake, you’re looking for the
Goldilocks amount of “just right”.
4. Curbs Appetite
Drinking a glass of cucumber water when
you’re hungry can help you make it until your next meal if it’s not quite
mealtime. Eating when you’re not actually hungry can lead to weight gain,
sluggishness, and can throw you off your natural eating cycle. When you feel
hunger coming on before it’s time to eat again, see if you’re just thirsty.
Thirst and hunger use the same signal, and drinking cucumber water can help
determine if it’s really hunger that you’re dealing with. Saving yourself from
just a few unwarranted meals a week can be a big boost to your health.
5. Soothes the Skin
Staying hydrated will help your skin stay
supple and smooth, and adding in cucumbers to your water intake means you’re
getting extra nutrients that helps even more. Cucumbers contain silica, which
provides extra benefits to the skin. You can also use the cucumbers after
you’ve finished the cucumber water. They’re great for helping to calm
irritation caused by acne or other blemishes. You’ll be helping your skin from
the inside, as well as topically when you add cucumber water to your skin care
routine.
6. Helps Your Muscles
Whether or not you’re trying to put on
muscle, helping your muscles stay strong is a good idea. The same silica in
cucumbers that helps the skin, also helps your muscle tissues healthy. It’s a
great choice if you’ve added a strength training regimen to your healthy
lifestyle, or if you want to make sure that your muscles have all of the
nutrients needed to function at their best. A daily glass of cucumber water
makes a great contribution to the overall health of your muscles, and your body
in general.
7. It Has Antioxidant/Detoxing Properties
Use cucumber water during a detox program and
you’ll be helping the body out even more. It contains antioxidants that will
help battle free radicals, and helps the body flush out built-up toxins thanks
to its hydrating effect. Detoxing the body doesn’t have to be a one time or
once a year event, you can help your body stay clean with daily attention to
the foods that you’re taking in, as well as avoiding foods that are known as
being toxic to the body. This sort of regular maintenance keeps you feeling
great all year long.
8. Could Have Anti-Cancer Benefits
Cucumbers have shown promise for their
anti-cancer properties, and when you use them as part of an overall healthy
lifestyle, you’ll be helping to avoid this disease. Of course they aren’t
powerful enough by themselves to ward off cancer, but as part of a broader
approach at a healthy lifestyle it makes sense to stay hydrated with cucumber
water. You’ll be taking in plenty of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients like the
cucurbitacins found in cucumbers giving you a better chance at staying healthy
long-term.
Cucumber Water Recipes
Cucumbers and lemons go well together, and in
this recipe they’ve included the cooling effect of fresh mint to the water so
you’re getting several tastes competing for your attention. Lemons themselves
are high in Vitamin C, and since you’re unlikely to eat lemons the way you’d
eat an orange, drinking this lemon cucumber concoction is a great way to top up
on this immune-boosting vitamin. Mint is also a rich source of Vitamin C, as
well as important minerals like calcium and magnesium. Consider adding the mint
to a soup or smoothie after you’ve finished the water, as it’s an excellent
source of fiber.
When you add in herbs to regular cucumber
water you’re upping the flavor profile and also getting the nutrients each herb
provides. This recipe goes all out and adds in three different herbs to get the
flavor just right. At the same time you’re getting the vitamins and minerals
from these herbs. Rosemary is a great source of iron, calcium, and potassium,
and thyme can take care of your Vitamin C needs for the day all by itself.
You’re also getting additional minerals from the mint, and the vitamins from
the lemon. And don’t forget the goodness of cucumbers. That’s a packed glass of
water!
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