Cucumbers

Nonsweet fruits that are often referred to as vegetables, cucumbers are a vitamin- and mineral-rich foods that make a wonderful chip replacement—as in Cool-As-a-Cucumber Nachos—in a raw fooder’s kitchen along with bringing softness and crunch to salads and pure water to juices. Cucumber scores an 80 out of 100 in Dr. T.C. Fry’s “A General Guide to Food Selection.”

Cucumbers are in peak season in July and August. An average cucumber measures 8¼ inches long, weighs 301 grams and contains 45 calories. Cucumber contains 95 percent water.

Cucumbers come from the family of Cucurbitaceae. The fruit is among the oldest cultivated crops, originating on the plains of India.

Cucumbers, which contain an ample amount of protein and fat for a fruit, are a rich source of Vitamins C and K along with magnesium, manganese and potassium.

China produces the most cucumbers, with 40.7 million tonnes in 2010. Iran and Turkey each produced about 1.8 million tonnes in 2010. Russia and the United States round out the list of the leading five producers, with 1.16 million tonnes and 883,000 tonnes, respectively, grown in the same year.

Stats for 100 Grams of Cucumber, with Peel, Raw

• 15 calories

Notable Nutrients

Percentages based on the Reference Daily Intake for a 2,000-calorie diet

• Vitamin C: 4.7%
• Vitamin K: 20.5%

Carbs/Protein/Fat

• Carbohydrates: 83.8%
• Protein: 10.3%
• Fat: 6%

Food Type

• Nonsweet fruit

Sources

• Self Healing Colitis & Crohn’s by Dr. David Klein
• http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/2994
• http://www.cronometer.com
• http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/cucumber.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucumber