The modest cucumber is actually great for our health and here are ten reasons why:–

1. The most obvious thing we think cucumber is good at is to help with puffy eyes and skin irritations. Placing a slice of cucumber over your eyes can help reduce puffiness.
2. Rubbing cucumber on your skin can help to reduce sunburn pain.
3. Cucumbers can help stimulate hair growth – yes, really. They contain sulphur and silicon which are known to stimulate the growth of hair.
4. Cucumbers are a great source of vitamin B. Eat them with your meals, add them to your sandwiches or add them to drinks for a refreshing change.  The skin also contains vitamin B, so remember to leave the skin on.
5. Cucumbers are 95% water, so they also help to keep the body hydrated.
6. Cucumbers are also good when you are on a diet. They have a high water content and dietary fibre.
7. They can also help to eliminate toxins.  This can also aid digestion.
8. Eating cucumbers is good to help with chronic constipation.
9. They also are good for the kidneys by lowering the uric acid in your system.
10. They are also good at helping with a hangover or headache. They contain sugar, vitamin B and electrolytes, which help your body to replenish essential nutrients.
11. Putting a cucumber slice on the roof of your mouth for 30 seconds can reduce bad breath. Cucumbers contain phytochemicals which kills the bacteria in your mouth that causes bad breath.
12. They contain silica. This helps to strengthen connective tissues, so promotes healthy joints.
13. Silica also helps to make our nails and hair smooth.
14. Mix cucumber with carrot juice to relieve the pain of gout and arthritis.
15. It can help to reduce cholesterol levels, as it contains a compound called sterol.
16. Cucumbers can help reduce or increase blood pressure. They contain fibre, magnesium and potassium which help to regulate a person’s blood pressure.
17. Cucumbers can relieve heartburn when eating.
18. As well as containing essential vitamins, cucumber is also known to contain lignans, which reduce the rates of colon and reproductive organ cancers.  
19. Cucumbers contain a hormone which is required by the pancreas cells to produce insulin, so it is a useful addition to the diet of diabetic patients.
    
    There are obviously a lot of health benefits to eating cucumbers, but they can also be useful in other ways:–
    
    
20. Rub a slice of cucumber over your mirror to clear fog.
21. Rub a cucumber slice over a hinge and it will stop the door squeaking!
22. It can help to keep your stainless steel clean. Rub a cucumber over the surface and it can remove years of tarnish.
23. It can even erase pen marks if you rub a cucumber slowly over the mark.
24. Cucumber can also help in the garden.  Put some slices in a small aluminium tin in your garden and it will keep away slugs and grubs.  They don’t like the smell of the reaction between the cucumber and aluminium.  
25. Cucumbers can even keep your shoes clean. Rub a cucumber over your shoes and get a great shine that repels water.

Cucumbers can be sprayed with pesticides, so it is important to be careful. Try and buy organic if you can OR even better, grow them yourself. They are easy to grow, great for your health and help keep your house clean and garden free from pests.

If you would like to learn more about growing cucumbers, read about more from the experts with our great new eBook.