Heard the buzz about cucumber juice benefits for detoxing? Ever since Anthony Williams, the Medical Medium, proclaimed that cucumber juice can “cleanse and detox the entire body” the chat in some of the online health groups has been about nothing else.
According to Williams 500 ml or more per day can act as the ‘best rejuvenation tonic in the world”. He recommends drinking it on its own about twenty to thirty minutes away from other foods and drinks. Some people are drinking this juice after the celery juice that Williams recommends drinking first thing in the morning.
Related reading: Will Daily Celery Juice Cleanse Your Body?
There is of course a lot of controversy over his claims and the claims made in online articles about the benefits of cucumber juice. Historically traditional cultures used all parts of the cucumber plant more as medicine than as food to treat nearly every condition of body or mind.
Let’s have a look at the possible power of cucumber juice for detoxing.
Cucumber Juice Benefits for Detoxing
1. It is a Natural Diuretic
Cucumber has a high water content that keeps you hydrated so if you are tired of the plain taste of water you can drink this cucumber juice instead. The hydration helps to dilute toxins and enhances your kidneys ability to flush them out. Cucumber contains caffeic acid that will help you get rid of excess water and could make you look slimmer.
They contain sulfur and silicon, both components increase urination due to the stimulation of the kidneys to detox uric acid. It also inhibits the production of nitric acid and inflammatory enzymes. As a result, you will get rid of swelling, bloating, and edema.
Cucumber is low in calories which makes it a great option for those who want to lose weight and reduce bloating.
2. Alkalizing Food
Our cells detoxify more easily when they are slightly alkaline. Cucumber is an alkalizing food that helps to maintain a healthy pH balance. You will probably read articles that claim that the body tightly controls the pH of the blood by various mechanisms in the body so this idea of acid and alkaline foods is nonsense but hear me out.
Related reading: How To Detox Your Body With An Alkaline Food Diet
It’s true that the pH of the blood is tightly controlled within a few points of 7.35 but a few points one way or the other can make a difference in function of cells. The blood is slightly alkaline but the tissues are slightly acid. The daily body processes like metabolism creates a small amount of acidity. To counteract this the body has a buffering system in place.
When the foods eaten are mainly acid forming (processed and packaged foods, fast foods, additives, sugar, coffee, tea, soda, alcohol etc) one of the systems our body uses as a buffer is alkaline minerals.
If they are not readily available in the blood then the minerals are drawn from the bones. These minerals can become depleted if they are not replaced. There is a danger of osteoporosis if too many minerals are taken from the bones.
Cucumber contains the alkaline minerals magnesium, potassium, calcium, phosphorous and manganese which helps with buffering acidity left behind when acid forming foods like meat, fish grains and dairy products are eaten.
It is important to include alkaline foods into your diet to create a balance and improve your overall health. There is increasing evidence that a more alkaline forming diet may be important for good health.
Alkaline foods slow the progression of kidney disease and improve renal function. Your kidneys work to remove excess acidity, so when you eat alkalizing foods they don’t have to work as hard to filter waste.
3. Contains Essential Detox System Nutrients
Cucumbers provide vitamins B1, B5, and C, the minerals molybdenum, copper, magnesium and manganese which are nutrients involved in the detox pathways. The detox system only functions well when the right nutrients are present. Any deficiencies will result in sub-optimum function.
Copper and manganese are needed for the body’s own anti-oxidant system so will help mop up free radicals that are produced during the natural detoxification process.
While cucumbers don’t contain an abundance of these nutrients they can help to replenish any deficiencies when the cucumber juice is taken in high amounts daily. It is also useful for preventing detox symptoms when you do some detoxing.
This is a crucial mineral for so many body functions. It reduces high blood pressure, water retention, and reduces the risk of stroke. It protects against loss of muscle mass, preserves bone mass, and reduces the risk of osteoporosis. It also prevents kidney stones.
Another nutrient it contains is magnesium, this mineral has the important function of regulating muscle function, protects your heart, prevents strokes, it helps you sleep better, and prevents insomnia. It helps to prevent constipation. Good bowel function is important for good health especially when you detox. Those toxins have to get out of your body quickly!
4. It is Full of Antioxidants
Free radicals are molecules that easily react with your cells, damage them, and contribute to the development of chronic inflammatory diseases. The detox process creates free radicals so we need a lot of antioxidants to counteract them.
Antioxidants are compounds that fight free radicals and improve your overall health. Cucumber has a wide range of antioxidants, some of them are vitamin C, beta-carotene, manganese, flavonoids, and lignans.
Antioxidants protect our cells from the damage, prevent the development of many diseases such as heart diseases, autoimmune or inflammatory conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, migraines, psoriasis, eczema, lupus). They also help to prevent the early loss of vision and eye lens degeneration. Cucumber juice is a one way to get all the benefits from the antioxidants.
Final Thoughts
Cucumber has been called a superfood. It has a beneficial nutritional content that is able to boost overall health, and the best way to take maximum advantages of it is to drink cucumber juice once a day.
If you are already drinking celery juice then you can drink your cucumber juice about 30 minutes afterwards, If you can’t do that then you could drink it about 30 minutes before dinner.
If you don’t like the taste of straight cucumber then you can juice a little green apple which it. I think that some lemon juice would be good too especially if you add a little organic lemon peel. Lemon peel contains d-limonene which induces the phase 2 detox pathways giving an extra boost.
You don’t need anything more than 2 cucumbers to prepare the juice and enjoy its amazing healing properties. If you don’t have a juicer but have a blender you can blend the cucumbers well then strain the mixture and drink the juice. If these cucumber juice benefits appeal to you then don’t wait any longer to try it.
