Cucumbers belong to the same botanical family as melons and squashes and are usually divided into slicing or pickling categories!!!
Find out The Health Benefits of Cucumbers on the flip…
CelebNHealth247.com has learned that the amazing cucumber has unique polyphenols in plants called lignans. In the past, it was mostly studied in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli or cabbage and allium vegetables like onions or garlic.
Finally, cucumbers have now been studied further and they contain three of these lignans which have a strong history to show they reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancers such as breast, uterine, ovarian, and prostate cancers.
The fresh extracts form cucumbers have more recently been shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties as well. The research has to be considered preliminary as its only been tested on lab animals, but the research has been consistent. In addition, the cucumber extracts help scavenge free radicals which help improve antioxidant status.
Cucumbers are also a great source of other antioxidant nutrients which include: Vitamin C, Beta Carotene, and manganese. Cucumbers also have numerous flavonoid antioxidants whish are: quercetin, apigenin, luteolin, and kaempferol. They have been known to provide us with an increase in overall antioxidant capacity. Adding fresh cucumber extracts have been shown to show a reduction in inflammation in animal studies.
When it comes to the anti-cancer benefits of the cumber research still has to say they are in the preliminary stage. What is interesting though is that pharmaceutical companies are already studying one group in the cucumber called cucurbitacins. The pharmaceutical companies are hoping that their research might find a new anti-cancer drugs. Human trials are expected soon to show that cancer cell survival can be blocked by these cucurbitacins, which will confirm the anti-cancer benefits of cucumbers when eaten in a normal daily meal plan.
The second group of cucumber phytonutrients to provide anti-cancer benefits are its lignans. The role of the plant lignans for the prevention of cancer has to do with the bacteria in our digestive tract. Consumption of the lignans such as in the cucumber can have our digestive tract use them and convert the lignans into enterolignans. Basically they bind with estrogen receptors and the overall outcome is a reduction in estrogen related cancers such as breast, ovary, uterine and prostate cancer.
I do not know about you but it appears to me that the cucumber is not getting enough attention as many other foods. I am not a fan of cucumbers, but it sure seems like adding them into our diet may be a good thing. Looks like I need to eat fresh cucumbers and not just pickles. What do you think about eating cucumbers for our its potential health benefits?
