Cucumber juice: useful properties and methods of application
Cucumber is a low-calorie and very healthy vegetable. He earned immense popularity, but never became the vegetable from which juice is prepared on an industrial scale. Our ancestors constantly used cucumber drink in cooking and for medicinal purposes. The benefits of it are unique because it consists of 90% structured water, which brings great benefits to the human body.
Peculiarities
Cucumber is a very popular vegetable, it is used for ingestion and used for cosmetic and dietary purposes. Juice is made from it, which has a composition that charitably affects the biochemical processes of the entire human body. With the constant use of such a drink, you can get rid of many diseases, the juice is used as a preventive measure for a number of diseases, in addition, it has the ability to rejuvenate the entire body.
Scientists say that the composition of cucumber juice is similar to the composition of human blood, they argue that this drink quenches thirst very well, has the ability to compensate for the lack of moisture in tissues and saturates with essential vitamins and minerals.
At the same time, cucumber juice has not yet received due recognition even among people who constantly monitor their healthy diet. Experts have not found a logical explanation for why cucumber juice has not become popular throughout the history of mankind.Cucumbers are grown everywhere, they have a low price, they can be found on sale throughout the year, and the taste of such a drink is sometimes much more pleasant than the juice of some of its green relatives.
Calorie content and composition
Cucumber juice is a dietary product with a low calorie content (14 kcal per 100 ml), in its composition it has a little fiber, 0.1 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of carbohydrates and 0.8 grams of protein. Nature has rewarded this vegetable with a huge amount of vitamins and minerals, the volume of which, with regular use, is able to fill the necessary needs of the body.
Juice contains many substances of the periodic table: calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, manganese and phosphorus, chlorine, iodine, iron, chromium, selenium, zinc, fluorine and copper. The drink also contains very rare minerals such as cobalt, aluminum and molybdenum. There are many vitamins in the drink: group B, vitamins A, C, PP, E, which are necessary for the proper functioning of the body.
Benefit and harm
With regular use of cucumber juice, its natural properties treat and improve the condition of the body:
- the presence of iodine in its composition contributes to the normalization of thyroid function;
- is a good diuretic, due to which edema is removed;
- doctors recommend for diseases of the blood, heart, kidneys and vascular diseases;
- removes toxins and toxins;
- improves metabolic processes in the human body;
- stabilizes the hormonal balance of the body;
- cleanses the liver, so it is prescribed in the treatment of jaundice;
- by cleansing the lungs, it helps to reduce coughing;
- normalizes the work of the gastrointestinal tract;
- relieves excess weight.
Elderly people, in the absence of contraindications, should use cucumber juice, which is especially useful for them, as it reduces joint pain and reduces the risk of stones in the organs. With a slight increase in pressure, the juice perfectly normalizes it.
It is necessary to monitor the volume of the drink consumed, since a large amount may cause a violation of the water balance (you can not use more than one liter per day or 100 ml with a single consumption).
It is not recommended to use cucumber juice for diseases of the digestive and urinary systems. Pure cucumber juice should not be given to infants, but various vegetable mixtures made on its basis are very useful for them.
You will learn more about the beneficial properties of cucumber juice by watching the following video.
Recipes in cooking
We offer several recipes for making healthy juice and cocktails.
- Juice with salt and spices. Grind the sliced \u200b\u200bpieces of cucumbers with the skin in a blender, then filter. In the same way we prepare horseradish juice, mix it with the prepared juice, add dill and a few peppercorns. The resulting mixture is left for two days at room temperature (no more than + 18 ... 20C) for fermentation. After two days, the juice is ready, it must be cooled, and you can use it.
- One and a half kilograms of cucumbers are cut into small pieces and placed in salt water for 4 hours (at the rate of 1 tablespoon of salt per 1 liter of water). With a mixer, chop the horseradish root and one hot pepper, add ground black pepper, cumin and dill. We put all the spices in a glass jar. After soaking, grind the cucumbers in a blender, and squeeze the juice, which we pour into the prepared seasonings.Mix everything well and leave for two days at room temperature for fermentation. After the required time has elapsed, the finished juice is placed in the refrigerator for cooling.
- Cooking in a blender juice cocktails and drink chilled:
- add a little celery root juice to the prepared cucumber juice;
- make a mixture of cucumber and carrot juice;
- chop 300 g of spinach and one cucumber, it is recommended to drink such a cocktail in a course for 10 days;
- kefir is mixed with cucumber juice (1/1), the resulting mixture is whipped with a blender, add salt and dill to taste.
- Cucumber-tomato juice is best suited for harvesting for the winter. From tomatoes and cucumbers we make juice (in equal proportions - 1/1), which we pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil, then add salt. Cook the resulting mixture over low heat for ten minutes, remove the foam that appears. We sterilize the jars into which we pour the juice, then close them with lids, wrap the jars with a towel until they cool completely.
This juice is best stored in the cellar.
Recipes in cosmetology
There are cosmetic products on sale that include an important component - cucumber juice, such tonic creams moisturize the skin of the face well and help get rid of acne and blackheads.
Interest in cosmetics made from natural products is growing from year to year, and this is justified, because they have a huge potential for improving skin, hair and nails.
From time immemorial, women have been putting cucumber circles on the places around the eyes, there is very delicate skin, and the cucumber gives it extra nutrition.
It should be noted that a more effective effect on the skin of the face will be when applying freshly squeezed juice, which is enough to hold on the face for 5 minutes.
We offer recipes for cosmetics that can be prepared at home.
- Lotion for oily face. We take 3 cucumbers, clean and grate, dilute the gruel with 0.5 liters of medical alcohol, diluted to 40 degrees. The resulting composition must be infused for half a month at room temperature, then it should be filtered through gauze and placed in the refrigerator for storage. The prepared lotion tones the skin, eliminates black spots, promotes skin elasticity, fights acne. Apply the lotion twice a day.
- Lotion for normal skin. Squeeze the juice from one cucumber and add 50 ml of glycerin, shake well, put this mixture in a glass container and put it in the refrigerator, where you can store homemade lotion for no more than a week. Such a cosmetic product does not dry out the skin and moisturizes well, it should be used once a day.
- Acne mask. Peel and grate one cucumber, add two drops of lemon juice, mix well. We apply the prepared mask for half an hour on the face. The use of such a mask narrows the pores and whitens the skin of the face. This procedure should be repeated 3 times a week for a month.
- Wrinkle mask. Squeeze the juice from one cucumber, add one tablespoon of milk, one teaspoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of wheat flour. Beat the resulting mixture well with a mixer and you can proceed to the cosmetic procedure. We apply the mixture on the face and décolleté for 25 minutes, and rinse with water at room temperature. The required course is 10 masks, which should be repeated at intervals of three days, such a mask helps smooth fine wrinkles and fights dark circles under the eyes.
- Juice ice. A very good cosmetic product is juice, which is frozen in molds, such ice cubes should be wiped daily on the face to give elasticity to the skin of the face.
Recipes in dietetics
Nutritionists say that losing weight by drinking cucumber drink is very effective. The composition of the juice contains tartronic acid, which does not allow fat deposits to be deposited in the human body. To achieve the desired effect, you should follow a few tips from nutritionists.
- Do not drink a large amount of the drink in its pure form, the diet should not consist of only one cucumber juice.
- The best effect can be achieved by including a certain number of days of unloading with cucumber juice in the weight loss program. With this approach, it is possible to restore the mineral balance of the body and replenish it with the necessary vitamins.
Nutritionists advise: to achieve the best effect, you need to drink cucumber juice mixed with celery juice.
For weight loss, you can use a very popular diet on cucumbers and kefir, you can not use it for more than seven days. Two kilograms of vegetables and one liter of kefir are consumed daily, and one and a half liters of water are also drunk. The diet consists of two components and is consumed in several doses throughout the day. This diet can be slightly diversified:
- on the first day, sliced \u200b\u200bcucumbers filled with kefir are used;
- on the second day, greens or a pinch of cinnamon can be added to cucumbers with kefir;
- for the third day, kefir, cucumbers and greens are whipped in a blender.
Effective diets with two vegetable components, such as tomato-cucumber and cabbage-cucumber.Such diets include eating vegetables together or separately, observing a diet of at least five meals a day. Do not forget about the consumption of one and a half liters of water per day.
Tips & Tricks
Cucumber juice can be purchased at a health store or made from cucumbers grown in your garden.
Due to the fact that useful substances are stored in juice for a very short time, it should be understood that a purchased drink will not bring proper benefits, among other things, it contains a large amount of preservatives.
When preparing juice with our own hands, we take cucumbers grown in the country. The entire cucumber goes into processing along with the peel, as it contains many useful substances. If you decide to make juice from purchased cucumbers, then the skin must be peeled, because wax can get into the juice, with which manufacturers cover vegetables to increase shelf life.
The prepared drink should be consumed immediately, and if something is left, it can be frozen, but it is not recommended to store it in the freezer for more than two days, where it loses all its useful properties. There is no point in storing juice in the refrigerator (without freezing), such a drink will not have useful properties in an hour.