Cucumbers are cooler than you think. Honestly, I’ve always thought of them as a salad afterthought – a white-ish space filler that you can take or leave. Turns out they’re pretty potent nutrient bombs and are even useful outside of the kitchen.

Why talk about cucumbers now? Because for some reason, this has been a bumper year for cucumbers in my garden; I’ve been picking 6-8 cucumbers every couple days and my fridge and counter are full. Invasion of the Cucumbers! Over the next few weeks we’ll explore new ways to eat them and reasons why we want to.

WHY WE LOVE THEM

Natural News.com had a great list of cucumber benefits. Let’s look at the first two:

1.Quick pick me-up – Cucumbers are a good source of B vitamins. Put down your sodas and coffee and eat a cucumber slice.

I haven’t tried this yet. The thought of not having coffee in the afternoon makes me sad. Perhaps if I fill a coffee mug with cucumber slices…

2. Rehydrates body and replenishes daily vitamins – Cucumbers are 95 percent water, keeping the body hydrated while helping the body eliminate toxins. Cucumbers have most of the vitamins the body needs in a single day. Don’t forget to leave the skin on because the skin contains a good amount of vitamin C, about 10 percent of the daily-recommended allowance.

At 95% water, cucumbers are like portable, spoon-free soup. This also explains why I’ve been peeing so often this summer. They’re like water you can chew.

HOW WE EAT THEM

Cucumber Peach Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 small or ½ large peach

½ banana (frozen if you’d like a cooler smoothie)

1 small or ½ large cucumber (taste the peel – if it’s bitter, peel the cucumber. If the seeds are large, remove them.)

1 Tb lemon juice

1 packet Truvia (or sugar, honey, etc)

½ cup water

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

Natural News article: http://www.naturalnews.com/036769_cucumbers_health_benefits_rehydration.html#ixzz3i5YLJT64