If you'd like to make your diet healthier by adding more vegetables
to your meals, cucumbers are a great choice. Cucumbers are widely used
in traditional diets as well as spas across the world for a reason:
They are good for health.
In this research paper alone, cucumbers are said to have the following benefits:
potential antidiabetic, antioxidant activity, cleansing action of
toxins and waste, soothing effect against skin irritation, and
prevention of constipation. And here are 10 health benefits of cucumbers
in more details.
1. Help you stay hydrated
Cucumbers are 95.2 percent water, which means that a 5-ounce serving contains 4.8 ounces or 150 ml water. That's already about 26 percent of your daily water intake through food.
2. Support heart health
Cucumbers contain potassium (152mg per cup), which can help lower blood pressure. A review of the best studies conducted on potassium intake
showed that a higher intake "is associated with lower rates of stroke
and might also reduce the risk of total cardiovascular disease."
As less than 2 percent of U.S. adults consume the recommended 4,700 mg potassium per day, eating cucumbers is an easy way to start increasing your potassium consumption.
3. Protect your brain from neurological diseases
An anti-inflammatory substance called fisetin is present in cucumbers, as well as strawberries and grapes.
It has recently been suggested that fisetin plays an important role in brain health: It would have "the ability to reduce the impact of age-related neurological diseases on brain function," and it would also help maintain cognitive function in people with Alzheimer's disease.
4. Protect your skin against the effects of aging
There is a reason why cucumbers are used in skin care: They have been shown to be effective as a potential anti-wrinkle agent in cosmetic products, protecting our skin form the effects of aging.
5. Fight inflammation in the body and reduce the risk of cancer
Cucumbers can help lower the inflammatory response in the body. They contain polyphenols called lignans, which can potentially reduce the risk of certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases.
They also contain plant nutrients called cucurbitacins, which have anti-cancer properties: "Scientists have already determined that
several different signaling pathways required for cancer cell
development and survival can be blocked by activity of cucurbitacins."
6. Relieve pain
Flavonoids, which are anti-inflammatory substances, and tannins in cucumbers have both been shown to limit the release of free radicals in the body and to reduce pain.
As explained in the Journal of Young Pharmacists,
"traditionally, this plant is used for headaches; the seeds are cooling
and diuretic, the fruit juice is used as a nutritive and as a demulcent
in anti-acne lotions."
7. Reduce bad breath
Bad breath is usually caused by bacteria in the mouth. Fiber and water-rich vegetables like cucumbers can boost your mouth's saliva production, which in turn helps wash away the bacteria that cause the odor in the mouth.
8. Protect your bones
Cucumber are a good source of vitamin K: One cup contains 22 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin K. This vitamin is essential for bone health, as low vitamin K intakes have been associated with a higher risk for bone fracture. Vitamin K is also important for improving calcium absorption in the bones.
9. Prevent constipation
Cucumbers are rich in water, and their skin contains insoluble fiber. Both water and fiber help food to move through the digestive tract quicker and more easily, helping prevent constipation.
10. Maintain a healthy weight
Cucumbers are very low in calories (16 calories per cup) and they also contain fiber in the skin. And foods that contain fiber can help maintain a healthy weight.
There
are many ways you can enjoy cucumbers: raw in salads as a side with
your meals, fermented as a pickle, or in vegetable juices. Choose
organic over conventionally grown cucumbers, as cucumbers were ranked
the 9th most contaminated food by the Environmental Working Group.
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Body of 9-Week-Old Was Allegedly Left to Decompose in His Crib Until His Mom Complained About the Smell
The Florida couple accused of murdering their nine-week-old baby boy
allegedly let the infant waste away in his crib, and then the closet,
for more than a week after his father beat him to death, officials said.
Joseph Walsh, 36, was charged Tuesday with first-degree felony murder in the death of his newborn son, Chance, who had been missing for more than a month
when his body was found in a shallow grave in the woods less than 13
miles from their home, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Walsh and 32-year-old Kristen
Bury, Chance’s mother, allegedly told investigators that the baby had
died early September 16 in their North Port home.
Bury, who was also charged with
first-degree felony murder in her son’s death, went on to allegedly tell
detectives that Joseph repeatedly struck Chance. At one point she
claims she told Joseph, “you are going to break his f****** neck,” the
affidavit said.
“Joseph said to Kristen that he
was going to bash his (Chance’s) head into the ground at one point
during the argument. Kristen never called 911 or took any measures to
prevent Joseph from abusing Chance,” the court document said.
The document said that the
couple, who are both alleged long-time drug users with a criminal
history, “made the conscious determination not to contact EMS or any
other medical assistance.
“Joseph said during his
interview that Kristen told him she did not want them to call 911
because she did not want to lose both people she loves in the same day.”
After he died, Chance was placed in his crib, where he was left to
decompose until Bury complained about the smell, the affidavit said.“Joseph wrapped Chance in numerous garbage bags, and then placed the decomposing remains of Chance in the closet of the bedroom,” the court document said.
On September 24— eight days after Chance was killed— Bury and Walsh made two trips to Elliot Court where they dug a shallow grave and then buried their son.
Bury directed detectives to the gravesite, where a fragment of blue surgical gloves was found.
“Kristen disclosed that Joseph was wearing blue ‘hospital [surgical] gloves’ when he was digging the hole, but the gloves were damaged by the shovels and fragments were likely left behind,” the affidavit said.
The couple left Florida on September 27 to “start a new life somewhere else,” Walsh allegedly told police. They were subsequently involved in a car crash in South Carolina and told relatives three different accounts of what happened to their son, authorities said.
Though there has not yet been a positive identification of the body, Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight told reporters he’s “confident that it is Chance.”
The cause of the child’s death was not yet released.
Walsh was held without bond on
the murder charged and on $150,000 bond for one count of child neglect.
He was set to appear in court on Wednesday.
Bury made her first appearance
in court on Saturday, keeping her head down for most of the proceedings.
Bury was held on $150,000 bond for the child neglect charge and no bond for the murder charge.
Neither Walsh nor Bury have entered a plea. Information for the pair’s attorneys was not available.
The Florida Department of
Children and Families noted in a statement that the department did not
have any prior investigation involving Chance, but it had “multiple past
interactions with Joseph Walsh, including the removal of seven children
from his custody."
“The murder of Chance Walsh is
absolutely heartbreaking ... In the wake of this tragedy, DCF has
immediately begun an internal quality assurance review,” Mike Carroll,
secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families, said in
the statement.
“The review will include all the
interactions that Joseph Walsh and Kristen Bury have had with the
agency to determine what, in addition to the previous removal of all
children in Mr. Walsh’s custody, could have been done to prevent this
tragedy," the statement said.
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