WAKE UP PEOPLE
What smart choices
can we make for our bodies?
CUCUMBERS
Go Mediterranean! Combine cucumbers with Greek style yogurt to make a fabulous Raita.
YOGURT is a natural source of good bacteria, called probiotics, which are critical for healthy digestion in the gut and for strengthening the immune system. Probiotic literally means “for life”. The probiotics in yogurt have anticancer properties and increase good cholesterol while decreasing the bad kind. Yogurt also provides you with protein, calcium, and potassium. (When you buy yogurt at the store, be certain the container has the LAC seal - Live and Active Cultures.)
OR GO EASTERN! Combine cucumbers with rice vinegar, sugar, and ginger to make a piquant Sunomono.
In Ayurvedic (Indian) medicine, ginger is known as the "universal remedy". Supposedly this plant contains a pharmacy of ingredients with multiple health benefits. Ginger is mostly known for its ability to soothe an upset stomach. Ginger has a blood-thinning effect, much like aspirin, so be careful taking it if you take medications, like Coumadin, that prevent clotting.
PICKLE 'EM
Joy of Cooking and other classic cookbooks explain the process of pickling and brining. These books suggest herbs and spices to work with in seasoning the pickle mixes, providing inspiration for creating brines flavored to your own particular liking.
EAT THEM LIKE CHIPS
Fresh picked cucumbers have a crispness that makes them a great low-cal snack when sliced into chips. They are perfect for dipping in hummus, dill and garlic flavored yogurt, or middle eastern baba ganooj.
MORE NON-CULINARY USES
FOR THE AMAZING CUCUMBER
Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!
Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!
Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.
Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.
Can you guess how the "Doctrine of Signatures" might apply to a cucumber?
Cucumber fruit is a fine diuretic that promotes the flow of urine and stimulates the kidneys to flush out both wastes and fatty deposits from the body. Cucumber Fruit is primarily composed of water but also contains ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and caffeic acid, both of which help soothe skin irritations and reduce swelling. More about cucumbers
A half cup of sliced cucumbers provides 11% of the suggested Daily Value of vitamin K which helps with blood clotting and helps to prevent postmenopausal bone loss. Vitamin K also helps to protect against liver and prostate cancer. Nutrition Data is a really cool website for analyzing nutrition - check it out for cucumbers.
While the supermarket usually sells just plain and English cucumbers, you can easily experiment in growing a variety in your own garden - pickling cukes, Boothby's Blonde (sweet), lemon cucumbers, and japanese cucumbers (textured skin, less seedy) to name but a few. It's best to grown them along a fence; they love to climb. Seeds available at the heirloomseeds website.
NON-CULINARY USES FOR THE AMAZING CUCUMBER
Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.
Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.
Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!
Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.
Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.
