Cucumbers and little known methods of protect against type two diabetes

Diabetes is a growing concern as millions of Americans are being diagnosed each year.

Diabetes is defined as a lack of insulin production. Insulin is vital to the breakdown of glucose (sugar), used for energy in the body. Diabetics are constantly having to monitor sugar levels and watch what they eat to prevent detrimental health problems down the road.

Today we have a guest post from Suzanne over at Diabetic Diet Recipes. Suzanne is an avid blogger, geared towards raising awareness on healthy eating habits and its associated benefits to support those living with diabetes on a daily basis. Today she will be talking about cucumbers and it’s associated benefits with Type II Diabetes… Please Welcome, Suzanne!

Will you be cool as a cucumber? Not merely is the cucumber known for it’s power to cool off the body, it has additionally been seen to help with jaundice, diarrhea, epilepsy, sore throat, conjunctivitis (redness of the eye) and swelling of extremities.

Many times you should try to deseed the cucumber as the body can have trouble digesting the seeds. It is possible to deseed them yourself easily by cutting them in two and utilizing a spoon to take out the seeds or in order to eliminate this step it is possible to buy cucumbers that are already seeded.

Fresh cucumbers are easy to add to salads and for an easy salad just toss diced cucumbers with sliced red onions, red tomatoes and your favorite all-natural, low-fat balsamic vinaigrette. This is a fast way to make a refreshing salad that reaps some great benefits of cucumber.

Anti-diabetic Advantages of Cucumber:

Beta cells present in the pancreas produce the hormone insulin.Cucumber is found to have a hormone necessary for beta cells in the insulin production. Moreover, the Glycemic Index of cucumbers is found to be zero.

Why Cucumbers have not a glycemic index listed? Does this signify they don’t raise blood sugar?

No !. It means that under the “rules” for the concept of the glycemic index, it is too hard to get an accurate number. This is because you’ll need to eat a very big amount of the food to get 50 grams of carbohydrate at once to be tested. Usually, the lower the amount of carbohydrate in a vegetable and the more fiber it has, the less the rise in blood glucose will be.

The carbohydrates are primarily responsible of the raise of the glucose level.But the carbohydrates contained in the cucumber are easily digestible in a diabetes patient’s stomach.

Advice for Preparing Cucumbers:

Unwaxed cucumbers do not need to be peeled but need to be washed before cutting. Cucumbers are generally sliced, diced or cut into sticks.

Just a few Quick Serving Ideas:

- Use half-inch thick cucumber slices as petite serving “dishes” for chopped vegetable salads.

- Mix diced cucumbers with sugar snap peas and mint leaves and toss with rice wine vinaigrette.

- For refreshing cold gazpacho soup that takes five minutes or less to make, simply purée cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers and onions, then add salt and pepper to taste.

- Add diced cucumber to tuna fish or chicken salad recipes.

Cool Cucumber Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

- 3 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch slices

- 1 carrot, peeled and shredded

- 1/2 red onion, sliced paper-thin

- 1/3 cup minced cilantro

Dressing:

- 1/2 cup rice vinegar

- 2 tsp. honey

- 2 tsp. Reduced-sodium soy sauce

- 1 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

- Pinch dried red pepper flakes

Preparation per 8 servings:

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Marinating time: one hour

1. Combine the cucumbers, carrots, red onion, and cilantro in a large bowl.

2. Combine the dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over cucumbers, cover, and refrigerate for one hour. Salad may be eaten with a fork.

Nutritional Values per Meal: 1/2 cup

- Calories: 25

- Calories From Fat: 10

- Total Fat: 1 gram

- Saturated Fat: 0.1 grams

- Cholesterol: milligrams

- Sodium: 50 milligrams (without added salt)

- Total Carbohydrate: 5 grams

- Dietary Fiber: 1 gram

- Sugars: 3 grams

- Protein: 1 grams

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