My grandma used to say, “Never eat cucumbers at night. Else, you’ll have indigestion.” Many people avoid having cucumbers at nighttime. But, munching some pieces of cucumber at night offers endless benefits. In this blog, you’ll know some of the health and skin benefits of eating cucumber at night.
Cucumber is widely loved and makes an easy snack to munch on. Have it raw or in a salad with dressings, the vegetable contains plenty of nutritional value. Not only is it a cooling snack to eat, but it also has a high source of vitamin K, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory flavonol called fisetin, which plays an essential role in promoting brain health.
Nutritional Value in Cucumber
According to cucumber nutrition data, half a cup of cucumbers with the peel has about
| Carbohydrate | 1.9g |
| Cholesterol | 0g |
| Fat | 0.1g |
| Water | 95.23g |
| Calories | 7.8g |
| Fiber | 0.3g |
| Potassium (2 % DV) | 76.4mg |
| Vitamin K ( 11% DV) | 8mg |
What Is The Right Time To Eat Cucumber?
Always have cucumber at least 20-30 minutes before dinner. Eating cucumber before dinner will fill your stomach. Consequently, you’ll eat less. As cucumber contains 95% water, your calorie consumption decreases. Eating cucumber at night also promotes digestion. Plus, your body will get the required amount of water from the cucumber (not too much, not too less). This, in turn, will enable your body to maintain balance.
As per Ayurveda, low-caloric foods should be taken after the sun sets. And, the best time to eat them is between 7 pm to 9 pm. Cucumber is also a low-calorie food. Hence, according to that rule, the right time to eat cucumber is between 7 pm-9 pm.
Health Benefits of Eating Cucumber at Night
1. Digestive Health Benefits
One of the major benefits of eating cucumber at night is that it improves digestion. Including cucumber in dinner will not make you suffer from acidity at night. Moreover, it won’t make you feel heavy.
Cucumbers work as coolants for our stomach. When you eat them at night, the water content in them gets enough time to soften your stools and regulate your bowel movements. In this way, cucumbers promote hydration and improve our stool consistency. As a result, our ability to digest food increases.
2. Aids In Weight Loss
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Cucumber provides 16 calories per 100 grams as it is a low-calorie food. It has a saturated fat content and zero cholesterol. Due to vitamin C present in cucumber, it lowers body fat. It keeps our stomach full so our desire to eat becomes less. This is because of the fiber content in cucumber. So if you want to become slim, munching on cucumbers at night will definitely help.
If you restrict the calorie intake the positive byproduct is weight loss. Furthermore, this is a healthy weight loss as you are not losing weight by starvation, you give what your body needs.
It’s always recommended that your breakfast should be at 70 – 80% of your total capacity, Lunch should be at 50 – 60 % of your total capacity, and dinner should be as low as possible. And, here cucumber helps a lot.
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3. Good for Kidney and Gallbladder
Being a good diuretic, cucumber promotes urination, which eliminates toxins from the Kidney. The presence of sulfur and good silicon help in removing uric acid in an efficient way. Cucumber also cures gallstones and kidney stones and prevents further stone formation.
Consuming cucumbers regularly at dinner also helps dissolve small kidney stones.
4. Works As Liver Detoxifier
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From drugs and alcohol to unknown foreign substances, the liver helps to detoxify the materials of our body, and ensuring that toxins are safely removed from your blood is one of the liver’s most critical jobs.
Detoxifying can lead to many positive enhancements, such as an increase in energy levels, slowing the aging process, boosting immunity levels, improves strength, endurance and vitality.
Cucumbers are diuretic in nature and are loaded with Anti-oxidants, Vitamin K, and essential minerals that energize your liver and boost its function. So eating cucumber at night benefits your liver as it has to work less hard as compared to other home-cooked food.
5. Prevents Cancer
The fiber in cucumbers protects from colorectal cancer. Also, cucurbitacin present in cucumbers possesses anti-cancer properties. Due to the presence of cucurbitacins and lignan content, cucumber is considered an anti-cancer in nature. Cucurbitacins help in blocking cancer cell growth and as a result, people can survive more. Pinoresinol, lariciresinol, and secoisolariciresinol are the three types of lignans present in cucumber. These lignans play an important role in preventing cancer. (Estrogen-related cancer risks like prostate, breast, uterus, and ovary are significantly reduced.)
6. Improves Sleep Quality
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Of the many benefits of eating cucumber at night, one is that it gives you sound sleep. Cucumber is rich in magnesium content, this effectively heals insomnia and induces sleep.
A study was conducted on 46 people to determine the efficiency of magnesium in improving sleep. People who consumed magnesium supplements experienced multiple sleep quality parameters like increased sleep time, sleep efficiency, and more.
100 grams of unpeeled Cucumber provides approx. 147 mg magnesium. Even though one single cucumber cannot meet your daily magnesium intake quota, it still has a good amount of magnesium than your traditional home-cooked dinner. For that reason, including cucumber in dinner can improve your sleep patterns, especially if you’re suffering from insomnia.
7. Speeds Up Brain Development
Cucumber is rich in various nutrients. These nutrients speed up brain development. Phosphorus in cucumber can also control high blood pressure. High blood pressure is responsible for stroke and cognitive decline. Vitamin C of cucumber protects brain cells from oxidative damage, improves brain and nerve function, and improves your memory, creating of neurotransmitter – dopamine which regulates emotional response and movements and protects the brain from age-related degeneration such as stroke, Alzheimer, etc.
8. Good For Bones and Joints
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Cucumber contains vitamin K which maintains our bone density. The presence of silica in cucumber skin does wonders for our bone health. Silica boosts collagen production. Collagen ensures both smooth movements of bone joints and healthy bones. The ability to make tendons and flexible ligaments is due to collages.
For the formation of healthy bones, silica works in tandem with calcium. By eating 100 grams of cucumber, you get 16 grams of calcium. The presence of phosphorus in cucumber is responsible for healthy bones. Cucumbers can also prevent Osteoporosis.
9. Maintains Heart Health
Cucumbers, when taken with dinner, become a superfood for your heart. They’re loaded with vitamins, magnesium, and potassium. According to the journal of the American Heart Association, potassium is good for heart health. It says that taking 3500mg of potassium every day can lower the risk of stroke.
Eating cucumber at night balances electrolyte levels in your body. This, in turn, promotes a healthy heart rate.
10. Treats Erectile Dysfunction
The treatment of erectile dysfunction is one of the major benefits of eating cucumber at night for men. It works as a natural sex enhancer. As a result, your male partner’s performance in bed will improve.
Generally, erectile dysfunction occurs in men aged between 40 and 70 years. According to the dietician, Shona Wilkinson, citrulline in cucumbers enables the body to overcome stress. It also increases blood flow to the penis.
Skin Benefits of Eating Cucumber at Night
11. Rejuvenates Dull and Dry Skin
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Eating cucumber every night brings freshness to your dull skin due to its hydrating and cooling properties. Cucumber contains B vitamins like niacin and riboflavin along with vitamin C and zinc which are key to maintaining perfect glowing skin.
12. Removes Skin Wrinkles
Lack of hydration in our skin makes our skin prone to fine lines and wrinkles. Cucumber has high water, which keeps our skin hydrated. This, in turn, maintains the elasticity of our skin keeping wrinkles and fine lines at bay.
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13. Cleanses Your Skin
Cucumber can be used as a skin cleanser. The skin pack of cucumber opens the pores of your skin and helps in cleaning it. Applying this face pack results in soft and supple skin. Cucumber juice also helps in flushing toxins from our body.
14. Soothes Skin Irritation
The anti-inflammatory and cooling effect of cucumbers might help ease the redness of the skin, pain, and irritation, which can be caused by insect bites, sunburns, and rashes.
15. Provides the Skin With Instant Glow
Cucumbers have an abundant amount of silica, which is responsible for giving an instant glow to your skin. Cucumbers are extremely rich in vitamins and minerals that help to soothe inflammation, reduce redness, and get rid of blemishes.
16. Heals Inflamed Skin
Have the cucumbers or in a salad with dressings, the benefits of eating cucumber for the skin are endless. If you have inflamed skin, eat cucumbers daily. The caffeic acid and vitamin C in this superfood fight to reduce inflamed skin. It also repairs damaged skin and reduces pores on the face.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How Many Cucumbers Should You Eat at Night?
Eating one cucumber a day is okay. But, more than that may cause side-effects. Cucumbers are mostly filled with water. So, overconsumption of cucumbers may fill your urinary bladder, causing a frequent urge for urination. In this way, it can interrupt with your sleep.
What’s the Best Way to Eat Cucumbers at Night?
Cucumber salad and raita are two delicious ways of eating cucumbers. Whatever way, you’re making your cucumber dish, just avoid to add cheese or sugar. Make sure your dish remains low in calories. That’s what you should aim for.
Whether you’re making a tasty salad or cooking a dish with cucumber, try to take cucumber unpeeled. The peel of a cucumber is packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. So, eating them unpeeled means getting devoid of all those nutrients.
Can Eating Too Much Cucumber Be Harmful?
Eating excessive cucumbers can lead to Hyperkalemia. It’s a rare medical condition, which increases potassium levels in the body. Furthermore, excessive consumption of cucumbers also causes abdominal cramps and affects the kidneys.
