Cucumbers are one of the healthiest fruits on earth. Cucumbers are made up of over 90% water, which helps to keep you hydrated and refreshed throughout the day. In addition, cucumbers contain helpful antioxidants that help your body fight off diseases, aid weight loss, lower blood sugar, and promote digestive regularity.
So you can see that they are incredibly healthy. There are different ways you can eat cucumbers. You can eat it as a main dish with other vegetables, as a dessert, or as a snack.
However, there are ways you will eat cucumbers that will destroy their nutrients, and they may end up performing little or no health function in the body. So it isn’t about eating cucumbers but eating them in healthy ways that ensure you benefit from its nutrients to the fullest; hence, this brings us to the question, what are the healthy ways to eat cucumbers as a snack?
6 Healthy Ways To Eat Cucumbers As A Snack
If you love cucumbers and want to look for more ways to enjoy them as a snack, here are some great options.
1. Eating it raw
Eating cucumber raw is the healthiest way to consume cucumbers as a snack. At the raw state, all the nutrients are intact. A 300 gram of unpeeled raw cucumber contains:
- Water – 96%
- Fats – 0 grams
- Carbohydrates – 11 grams
- Protein – 2 grams
- Calories – 45 grams
- Fiber – 2 grams
- Potassium – 13% of the RDI
- Potassium =13% of the RDI
- Manganese – 12% of the RDI
- Vitamin C- 14 of the RDI
- Vitamin K – 62 of the RDI.
You can slice them in tiny circles and consume them effortlessly. You can decide to mix it up with fried peanuts to spice things up.
2. As salad
Another healthy way to eat cucumber as a snack is to make cucumber salad, which you can eat between meals. You can decide to cut the cucumbers into long ribbons and add some carrots, cabbages, and slices of cooked eggs. Afterward, you can add some ketchup topping or mayonnaise to the mixture. Here, your salad is ready!
3. As smoothies
If you are carving for something cold and refreshing, you can decide to make cucumber smoothies. All you have to do is to blend the cucumbers and refrigerate them. So instead of carbonated drinks, you can take this instead. Here, the nutrients are well embodied.
4. As soup
This is one of the homiest ways to enjoy cucumber. You can make the soup and serve it chilled or warm. To make it a bit spicier, you can add some sweet potato toppings to it.
5. As ice pops
Another healthy to eat cucumber as snacks in warmer climates or during the summer is to make cucumber ice pops. All you have to do is to make a fresh cucumber smoothie and pour it into paper cups or mold and freeze it for some hours. Hurray! Your cucumber ice pop is ready, and you can consume it all day long to keep your body refreshed.
6. As roll-ups
This is another exciting way of making cucumber snacks at home. To make cucumber roll-ups, you need a vegetable peeler to peel them into long strips. After which, you roll them up. To spice things up, you can decide to add some veggies, seafood, and fruits like apples or cheese to the long cucumber stripes before rolling them up.
Some of the unhealthy ways to consume cucumber are:
- Overcooking the cucumbers: Overcooking the cucumbers kills the helpful nutrients, leaving little or no nutrients. If you want your cucumber warm, try streaming it under low heat for a short period.
- Frying the cucumbers: For no reason should you fry your cucumbers before eating them. Frying simply kills all the nutrients in the cucumber.
- Freezing it for an extended period: Freezing your cucumber is not a problem, but when it is done for a prolonged period, it may lead to losing some nutrients.
Conclusion
Cucumbers are healthy snacks, and to fully benefit from the nutrients, you must consume them in healthy ways. If possible, consume your cucumbers in their raw state. If it must be exposed to heat, it should be to low heat and for a short duration.
