It’s the diet that everyone’s talking about, since it truly is the best season for cucumbers. It’s getting really hot out there, and a cucumber salad may be the best choice right now. Today we are talking about a diet which helps you shred a pound a day! Doesn’t that seem nice? It’s a diet that has many followers, one of them even being Jennifer Aniston herself, so without further ado let’s check and see what this unbelievable cucumber diet is all about.
Cucumber Diet Basics
It’s a diet based on cucumbers as we said, or on a cucumber salad to be exact. The cucumber diet plan is simple and easy for everyone to follow. You can even do it from work, in your office, or from the comfort of your home, it simply makes no difference since the salad is quite easy to prepare. It the best option for people who give up on diets solely because of the complicated diet plans, which are not always easy to follow, with the busy lives that we now lead.
The cucumber diet is made up of a few ingredients and it is recommended for up to 14 days, no longer than that. You can opt for a one week, or two weeks plan, it’s all up to you. Both the one week and the two week plans have the same ingredients, the same quantities, and provide amazing results. You will decide exactly how many days you’d like to be on the cucumber diet plan, which will depend on your physical ability, how many pounds you’d like to lose, as well as your mental preparedness, as it also play a huge role here.
What’s on the menu
On the menu of this cucumber diet, you can find only a few simple ingredients, those are:
- A cucumber salad,
- A cucumber shake,
- Boiled eggs, tuna or a chicken breast,
- Boiled potatoes or whole wheat bread, and
- Organic fruits.
You are allowed to drink:
- Plenty of water (2l of water daily are the optimal quantity for an adult)
- Tea
- Coffee
- Both the tee and the coffee have to be unsweetened and without any added milk.
- Sodas, soft and fizzy drinks are not allowed, and so are any other foods and drinks, which are not included on the two lists above.
Sample men
You already found out that throughout the day you are allowed to eat only a limited amount of foods. We already mentioned them in the paragraph above, so now let’s see how much of those products you can actually eat.
During the whole day you have the option of eating:
- 2 boiled eggs, 150 grams of tuna, or 150 grams of lean chicken breast,
- 2 large boiled potatoes or 3 slices of whole wheat bread
- 500 grams of fresh, organic fruits.
The amount of cucumber you can eat is, however unlimited. Eat as much cucumber salad as you wish, and make as many shakes as you’d like.
Now let’s go over to the preparation part and see exactly how we will prepare the salads and the shakes, and how we’re going to combine them with the rest of the ingredients.
A day on the cucumber diet can look like this:
- For breakfast – you can have: 150 grams of tuna and a cucumber salad
- For brunch – you can have: an apple, a peach, a pear (or any other seasonal fruit, as long as you avoid bananas and grapes).
- For lunch – you can have: 2 large boiled potatoes and a cucumber salad
- As a snack – you can have: a cucumber shake
- For diner – you can have: a choice of fruit, but up to 300 grams (and again, try not to eat bananas and grapes, because they are loaded in sugar, and are not recommended for diabetics).
How to prepare your salad and your shake
- Cucumber salad – the preparation is quite easy and it doesn’t take longer than a few minutes. You’ll only need about 400 grams of cucumber, 2 dl of yogurt and a little bit of garlic if you’d like. What you do is you peel of your cucumbers, and cut them up into small slices. Next thing you do is mix them up with the yogurt and the garlic, and add salt accordingly. Bon appetite!
- The preparation of the shake is even simpler, and all you need is a blender, one cucumber, a few spinach leaves and a green apple. If you like you can add a bit of ginger too. What gives it great taste is adding some walnuts and almond on top, so be sure not to skip that step. After you’d gotten your ingredients washed and ready, what you do next is you simply put them all together in the blender and wait until your shake is ready.
We recommend you to drink your shake while it’s fresh, so that you’ll get all the nutrient your body needs. You’ll also be getting a lot of much needed vitamins and minerals, like: vitamin A and K, vitamins C, E and B, as well as magnesium, iron, calcium and potassium. That’s a huge and tasty vitamin bomb for your body, and it’s all in the form of a shake.
The only thing you’ll actually need to pay attention to is the ingredients, especially where you buy them from and their quality. Try to buy organic and freshly picked fruits and veggies, when you can, and never substitute them for their pre-packed or canned alternatives.
Get in some exercise too
A very important part of being healthy and fit is the exercise part. For this and any other diet to work, and give you the wanted results you need to get in a bit of exercise, as well. It can be a light to moderate exercise regimen, or your usual regimen, if you do already have one set up. If you’re new to this, and you haven’t been physically active till now, you’ll need to start off slow, and then gradually build yourself up and into more difficult and demanding exercises. You can start off simply by taking a 30 minute walk around your neighborhood, and that should be just about enough for the beginning.
Is this cucumber diet for me?
This cucumber diet is generally for people who want to detoxify and cleanse their body, but there are some who could benefit the most from this diet. The cucumber diet plan is quite suitable for people:
- Who wish to go through a full body cleanse
- Who wish to lose weight fast
- Whose bodies retain a lot of water
- Who have problems with acne or have very sensitive and oily skin
- Who usually eat a lot of canned, packaged or fast foods
- Who have dark circles around their eyes
- Who want their skin to look younger
- Or who simply want to rid their body from accumulated and unhealthy toxins
Cucumbers throughout history
This veggie goes by many names in many different countries throughout the world, but is commonly known as a cucumber in the English-speaking countries. It has originated in India, and has been cultivated for over 3,000 years now. It was supposedly brought to Europe by the Romans, and has been used ever since. Some of its uses were even for medical purposes, as it was used as pain relief medication, PMS medication, skin rash medication and so on. It has always been used as a cleanser and an electrolyte and energy booster. Cucumber has even been used as acne and anti-inflammatory medication.
Cucumber benefits
- They fight the free radicals in your body (they scavenge for the free radicals in your system),
- They help slow down the aging process in a completely natural way (that’s because they have polyphenol compounds),
- They have analgesic effects,
- If taken regularly, they can contribute to a shift in balance, and lead to an ample antioxidant status
- They are low in calories, having only 16 kcal, per serving. They also have no fat, sugar or protein, and are loaded with vitamins (vitamin K per example makes up 22% of the cucumber).
Now let’s go over to some of its most important benefits:
1. It has antioxidants, which help fight cancer
Cucurbitacins, glucosides, lignans, apagenin and firestin are several compounds which have been known to help fight off cancer. They help protect the DNA as well as the cells from getting damaged by the oxidative stress. Firestin is also known to help with the preservation of the brain’s functions and the cucurbitacins have been reported to have cancer reducing effects, as they can even bring about cancerous cell death. Their main function is to activate the anti-tumor proteins in your body. So be sure to eat foods rich in antioxidants, as they can greatly reduce your chance of developing cancer, even if you do come from a family with a history of cancers.
2. Cucumbers are low in calories, but rich in nutrients
They are among the vegetables with the highest water content, and they have a high content of vitamins and minerals as well. What they do lack is calories, and that what makes them so good. They can also fill up your stomach really quick, since they are mainly make up of water (astonishing 95% to be exact). They are also a good source when you’re feeling thirsty on a warm summer’s day).
3. They help with detoxification
Cucumbers help cleanse your whole body, especially the liver and your digestive tract. They help your body get rid of all the unwanted toxins. They are a diuretic too, as the more you eat them, the more urine your body produces, which is another good way of freeing your body from waste and toxins.
4. They give you a more hydrated and smooth skin
They are often used by many beauty salons, or for home treatments. They are the best compound to have in any soothing and replenishing face or hair mask. They also help slow down the swelling or redness, as well as the acne in some cases. They have also been used to help with sunburns, as they have the power to relieve you from pain and at the same time sooth and relax you. They can be used to make masks, tonics or any kind of creams.
5. They improve your hearth’s health
They have been known to help boost your immune system, with the help of the lignans, which we mentioned before. This compound has been found to be useful in many ways. It improves the function of your heart, it lowers your LDL and improves your blood pressure too. Potassium and magnesium also play a huge role in improving your heart’s condition, and cucumbers have an abundance of them. Foods which are rich in magnesium also contribute to stabilizing your blood pressure, and your heartbeat. They provide a stability in your blood sugar levels, as well as a balance in fluids.
6. They help improve your digestion
This is mainly important in terms of reliving problems you might have with constipation, or any kind of digestion problems in general. The magnesium they provide you with helps keep your gut hydrated as well as your digestive lining, which in term regulates your bowel movements. The shake that you’ll be drinking while on the cucumber diet will help you to never feel bloated again.
7. Cucumbers alkalize your blood
They help you alkalize your blood by reaching a nice pH level balance and will also help fight the effects of an acidic diet. Diseases thrive in a more acidic environment, so by limiting your intake of highly acidic foods, such as sugars, fried foods and refined carbs, and by adding more foods like the cucumber you’ll be helping your body reach a more alkaline state, which is a healthier environment. If you have a balance in your body’s pH levels you’re more likely to experience a decrease in appetite and hunger, as your leptin levels will be lowered.
8. They strengthen the bones
Eating vitamin K helps you get a better bone mineral density and helps you preserve your bones. It is even believed that vitamin K does a better job in building bones than calcium does. And that’s not even all that vitamin K has to offer, it also improves your heart’s health, it helps absorb nutrients, supports the function of the nerves, and even aids in the battle against cancer. Adults and children too are known to have vitamin K deficiencies, as they do not eat enough green veggie, including cucumbers.
9. Cucumbers help fight off headaches
The way they do that is by their abilities to reduce inflammation and swelling and they have been used as such for ages. They have even been used as a natural pain reducer. Another way they succeed in reducing headaches is by balancing the fluids in the body, as they are very rich in water and magnesium.
Possible concerns
- People who are allergic to aspirin may have a slight allergic reaction to cucumbers,
- Cucumbers are waxed before they go on the market, so be sure to always peel them, unless you’re buying them from a trusted source, or you’re buying your produce organic,
- The cucumber diet however is quite limited and is what some may call a fad diet, which is why it may become monotonous in a while, but it does promise results, and at the end of the day, that’s what’s important,
- You may also feel a bit starved at the beginning, but this feeling will soon pass, as your body will start to get used to the limited calories and meal restrictions,
- It may be hard at times to get in the adequate amount of calories, as well as the much needed nutrients, in order for your body to function properly. You may need to take vitamin and mineral supplement to replenish your body. Be sure to take them at night, just before you go to bed. Taking those kind of supplements in the morning boosts your appetite and makes you more prone to overeating,
- And last but not least, make sure you don’t go overboard with the eggs, since the daily recommended dose is about an egg or two. That’s because eggs are loaded in saturated fat, and are therefore unhealthy if taken in large quantities.
Final thoughts
We all know that cucumbers have been around for ages, and ancient folk have even used them to make special traditional medicine. Cucumbers are good at purifying your organism, and at stimulating your metabolism, which in turn cleanses your intestinal and digestive tract. They are good cleansers and detoxifiers, and are especially recommended for people with high blood sugar, since they have an anti-diabetic effect.
They are good at taking out the extra water in your body, and have a lot of positive effects on your skin, that some people often use them to make face masks, or even anti-acne creams. And that’s not all, since they are also good at preventing dehydration, and help you easily cool down on those hot summer days.
