Guest Blogger: Cucumbers & Little Recognized Approaches To Stop Type 2 Diabetes

Please welcome guest blogger, Suzanne Ault, to Fighting Fatigue.  She is providing great information today on diabetic recipes and you can find more information on her blog, Diabetic Diet Recipes.   To read her complete bio, please click here.

Are you cool as a cucumber?  Not merely is the cucumber known for it’s capability to cool off our bodies, it has additionally been recognized to assist with jaundice, diarrhea, epilepsy, sore throat, conjunctivitis (redness of the eye) and swelling of extremities.

Often you should attempt to deseed the cucumber as the body can have a problem digesting the seeds. It is possible to deseed them yourself easily by cutting them in half and ultizing a spoon to remove the seeds or in order to eliminate this task you can 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 contained in the pancreas produce the hormone insulin. Cucumber is found to have a hormone needed by the 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 imply that they don’t raise blood sugar levels?

Not at all. It means that under the “rules” for the meaning of the glycemic index, it is too difficult 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 the same time to be tested. Generally, the lower the quantity of carbohydrate in a vegetable and the more fiber it has, the less the rise in blood sugar will be.

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

Methods for Preparing Cucumbers:

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

One or two 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 60 minutes.  Salad might be eaten with a fork.

Nutritional Values per Serving Size: 1/2 cup
– Calories: 25
– Calories From Fat: 10

– Total Fat: 1 gram
– Saturated Fat: .1 grams
– Cholesterol: milligrams
– Sodium: 50 milligrams (without added salt)
– Total Carbohydrate: 5 grams
– Soluble fiber: 1 gram
– Sugars: 3 grams
– Protein: 1 grams