Is it really possible to lose weight by simply eating cucumbers? These common green vegetables are in fact a useful supplement to your weight reduction régime.
The cucumber is one of the most common salad vegetables. You can usually get them all year round. However they are best in May through July. The best ones to eat are organically grown ones because then you can eat the nutritious skin as well as the cucumber itself. If you can only find commercially grown ones be careful to peel off the waxed skin, as this contains pesticides, chemicals and wax.
How cucumbers will help you lose weight:
• Low calories: They are low in calories and have high water content. This means that they will fill you up without adding calories. They are in fact a great way to help you lose weight.
• Diuretic: they will help you to lose water due to water retention. This is a common problem with obesity.
• Increase fluids: It is essential to drink as much water as possible when you try to lose weight. This will help you to feel fuller and encourage you to eat less. Water will help you to flush toxins from your body. Plus your body needs at least 8 glasses of water to function well. Cucumbers have a large ratio of water which will increase your fluid intake.
• Fiber: cucumbers like most vegetables will provide you with fiber. When losing weight you should try to have a high fiber diet. Fiber will fill you up and encourage you to eat less. It will also aid in making your digestion better. When you digest your food better you will be able to lose weight.
Nutritional facts: an 8 ¼ inch cucumber has 2 grams of protein, 11 grams of carbohydrate, 1 ½ grams fiber, 5 grams of sugar, vitamins K,C, B6 and A. It also has foliate and potassium. A cucumber of this size will only contain 45 calories and because of the water and fiber in it will help to fill you up.
Choosing cucumbers: there are a number of different types of cucumbers and they will taste subtly different. The best way to get varieties that you like is to grow them either in containers or out in your yard. They will have a distinctive taste quite different from the somewhat insipid store cumbers.
• Lemon cucumbers: these are round yellowish green cucumbers with a nice mild flavor.
• Japanese cucumbers: these are a long thin variety that has a mild flavor and is good for eating in salads or as a salad on its own. They are usually found wrapped in cellophane wrap at the stores.
• American cucumbers: there are many varieties of these. They range from small pickling size to larger ones that are ideal for salads. Hybrids have made the cucumber a mild flavored vegetable which has lost much of the bitterness of the old varieties.
Tips for eating:
• Always choose fresh cucumbers that are not wrinkled or sunken. The older they get the more bitter you will find them.
• Cut the end off your cucumbers and rub a little salt into them by rubbing the ends together. Doing this will takeaway some of the bitterness.
• You can slice cucumbers and put them with a little vinegar, salt and pepper.
• You can also pickle them. There are a variety of recipes you can use.
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