I have this weird obsession with cucumbers. I ask for extra in my salads, I put them on my sandwiches and hoagies, and so much more. When I made a lifestyle change a few years ago I thought “why not put it in my water?” That’s one of the first things I decided to change: cutting out all sodas and replacing them with water. People say, “If you don’t think different brands of water taste different, you don’t drink enough water.” All I can say to that is, AMEN. After awhile water started to bore me. At first I had no problem getting in my daily intake of roughly three liters, but after a month I needed a change. So back to the drawing board I went.
When making my breakfast one morning, I made myself a cup of green tea and poured myself my normal glass of water. Attempting to get that glass of water down was just about as difficult as trying to bathe a cat; it wasn’t happening. Tempted to drink juice, I walked to my fridge and saw I had half a cucumber left from a salad I’d made the night before. I said to myself, “why not?” I cut up a few slices and let it steep while I made my eggs. GUYS, I felt like I had just created something so glorious. I immediately wanted to tell everyone, but to my surprise someone had discovered this greatness long before I had.
First I’ll tell you just a few sweet benefits of adding cucumber to your water, and then I’ll get to the good part where I give you some delish concoctions. Let’s get started!
Water alone is known to “detox” your body because it flushes out the toxins. It’s been said that what you put into your body comes out on to your face/body, and I haven’t seen many statements as true as that one. Read about what you’re really putting into your body, people!
Detox and weight loss
Drinking this simple drink actually can do a lot for you, starting with helping to aid in weight loss. Not only does water help you stay full, the cucumber is considered a superfood. By drinking cucumber water, you can increase your metabolism if losing weight is your goal, and if fruit infused water is what you’re into, cucumbers work with almost any recipe.
Antioxidants
For those of you who aren’t sure exactly what antioxidants are, they are substances that aid in helping to prevent and delay cell damage. Through research, it has been shown that antioxidants may actually be able to reverse oxidative stress which leads to conditions like:
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Alzheimer’s
Beat the bloat
Cucumbers are naturally diuretic, which means that they will help your body flush out excess water from your system. Drinking cucumber water can actually reduce water retention, which will help you appear to be less bloated.
Keeps your body hydrated
Cucumbers happen to be 95% water, which will help keep your body hydrated throughout the day. If you didn’t already know, they have most of the vitamins your body needs in a single day.
Skin care
Cucumbers can also be used topically and have the same benefits as aloe to some degree. You can use them for sunburns in place of the aloe and/or over the eyes since their anti-inflammatory properties help reduce puffiness.
Reduces cholesterol and controls blood pressure
The juice in cucumbers has a hormone in it which is needed by the cells of the pancreas for producing the insulin your body needs. Through research this has proven to be very beneficial to people suffering from diabetes. Cucumbers also contain quite a bit of fiber, magnesium, and potassium. All three of those work very effectively when it comes to regulating blood pressure, and make cucumbers great for treating both high and low blood pressure.
Recipes
Lemon/Mint/Cucumber
- 3 cucumbers
- 2 lemons
- a few sprigs of mint
Strawberry/Cucumber/Lime/Mint
- 1 cup cucumbers
- 2 limes
- ¼ cup mint
- 1 cup strawberries
Cucumber/Lemon
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 2-3 lemons