16 Superb Health Benefits of Cucumber

Pick a handful of firm, dark green cucumbers and pop them into your shopping basket.

Congratulations! You have just bought yourself a fruit (yes, the cool cuke is fruit, not a vegetable) full of good health!

Here is a short list of the impressive health benefits that a cucumber carries:

• Keeps you hydrated. If you are too busy to drink enough water, munch on the cool cucumber, which is 96 percent water. It will cheerfully compensate!
• Fights heat, both inside and out. Eat cucumber, and your body gets relief from heartburn. Apply cucumber on your skin, and you get relief from sunburn.
• Flushes out toxins. All that water in cucumber acts as a virtual broom, sweeping waste products out of your system. With regular use, cucumber is known to dissolve kidney stones.
• Lavishes you with vitamins. A B and C, which boost immunity, give you energy, and keep you radiant. Give it more power by juicing cucumber with carrot and spinach.
• Supplies skin-friendly minerals: magnesium, potassium, silicon. That’s why cucumber-based treatments abound in spas.
• Aids in weight loss. Enjoy cucumbers in your salads and soups. My favorite snack? Crunchy cucumber sticks with creamy low-fat yogurt dip.
• Revives the eyes. Placing chilled slices of cucumber on the eyes is a clichéd beauty visual, but it really helps reduce under-eye bags and puffiness.
• Cuts cancer. Cut down your risk of several cancers by including cucumber in your diet. Several studies show its cancer-fighting potential.
• Stabilizes blood pressure. Patients of blood pressure, both high and low, often find that eating cucumber brings relief.
• Refreshes the mouth. Cucumber juice refreshes and heals diseased gums, leaving your mouth smelling good.
• Helps digestion. Chewing cucumber gives the jaws a good workout, and the fiber in it is great for digestion.
• Smooths hair and nails. Silica, the wonder mineral in cucumber makes your hair and nails stronger and shinier.
• Soothes muscle and joint pain. All those vitamins and minerals in cucumber make it a powerful enemy of muscle and joint pain.
• Keeps kidneys in shape. Cucumber lowers uric acid levels in your system, keeping the kidneys happy.
• Good for diabetics. Patients of diabetes can enjoy cucumber while also reaping its health benefits: cucumber contains a hormone needed by the cells of the pancreas for producing insulin.
• Reduces cholesterol. A compound called sterols in cucumber helps reduce bad cholesterol.

[via Care2]

Celery Lowers Blood Pressure Naturally and Effectively

While most doctors prescribe powerful hypertension drugs that cause numerous side effects, there is a simple way to reduce blood pressure and balance cholesterol levels, and it doesn’t come in a bottle. Celery has been used for centuries to treat everything from urinary tract infections to skin conditions, but it is most profoundly useful as a treatment for hypertension. This is due to its high concentrations of a substance called 3-butylphthalide, described by researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center as a chemical that both reduces blood pressure by relaxing the smooth muscle lining of blood vessels, and purifying the blood of toxins.

The study abstract concluded with:

“Conclusions: The results from this pilot study suggest that celery seed extract may have clinically relevant blood pressure–lowering effects, indicating that additional clinical research is warranted.”

Eating or juicing just four stalks of celery a day prompts a decrease in both blood pressure and cholesterol levels. In addition to this health-giving benefit, celery is also full of vitamin C, fiber, and potassium, so it is a great post-workout replenishment. Celery is also 90% water so it is a very alkalizing food. During the Roman Empire, celery was fed to livestock to help de-acidify their diets. It also helped to cure the effects of feasting heavily, and was eaten the morning after a glutenous night of binging.

One of your favorite pale green vegetables, celery (Apium graveolens), is even mentioned by Homer in the Odyssey in 850 B.C. and by Chinese healers alike as a powerful healing food. Celery has also been used by Dutch healers since the eighteenth century and Chinese herbalists since the fifth century.

It is estimated that Americans spent more than 5 billion dollars on hypertension drugs in just the past five years alone. Celery is an inexpensive way to treat this disease without side effects that accompany drugs like Adderall or Celexa, Cipro, and Hydrocodone. Why would anyone want to suffer from nausea, dizziness, loss of sexual appetite, light headedness, insomnia, and other unpleasant side effects when celery provides only life sustaining nutrients and a natural hypertension solution?

Just be sure to purchase your celery organically, since it is listed as one of the dirty dozen, which is a list of fruit and veggies that contain high levels of pesticide residues when purchased conventionally.

[via Natural Society]