The benefits of cucumber for kids are diverse. This popular summer vegetable is best known for its high water content, helping to prevent dehydration and cool down the stomach. Children can enjoy it raw as a part of fresh salads or a refreshing juice ideal for hot summers. Cucumbers are also a rich source of antioxidants and vitamins that can improve your child’s immunity, protect them from different illnesses, and help manage minor burns or skin eruptions. Read on to know more about the health benefits of cucumbers for children and how to pick the best cucumbers when you go grocery shopping.
What Is A Cucumber?
A cucumber is a torpedo-shaped vegetable with green or dark green skin outside and edible pulp with seeds inside it. It’s quite popular and originates from South East Asia. However, today it is available in most parts of the world. Cucumber is rich in vitamins and antioxidants and has high water content. Many kids consume it during the summer.
Health Benefits Of Cucumber For Kids
1. Vitamin-rich
Cucumber possesses vitamins, such as Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, thiamin, niacin, and folate. Vitamin A ensures good vision, vitamin B6 ensures a healthy hemoglobin count, and vitamin K helps promote bone metabolism and blood coagulation in children. So eating cucumber or drinking its juice boosts your child’s immunity and keeps them healthy, energetic, and free of ailments. (1)
2. Prevents dehydration
Cucumber possesses a high amount of water. In fact, 96% of cucumber is water. Munching a cucumber quenches your kid’s thirst as well as helps replenish the water and minerals in her body. Thus, eating cucumber prevents the risk of dehydration in kids.
3. Antioxidant-rich
Besides vitamins, cucumber is also a rich source of antioxidants. Free radicals resulting out of metabolism are in constant search of free electrons. These free radicals may attack electrons from essential body cells and, at times the DNA, thus causing serious ailments. Antioxidants possess free electrons, and they donate them to a free radical to neutralize it. So eating cucumber prevents free radical scavenging and protects your child from various disorders and ailments (2).
4. Treats stomach disorders
Cucumber is a great remedy to treat stomach disorders, such as acidity and duodenal and gastric ulcers in kids. Offer your kid cucumber juice to treat stomach disorders quickly and effectively.
5. Natural analgesic
Various studies reveal that cucumber possesses analgesic properties and acts as a natural painkiller. Flavonoids in cucumber provide analgesic effects. So, eating cucumber helps alleviate any pain your kid may suffer.
6. Treats skin eruptions or burns
Cucumber is a natural cure for skin eruptions in kids. A skin eruption, bug bite, or small burn can leave an ugly mark on the skin. Cucumber not only helps eliminate the mark but placing cucumber slices on skin eruptions for a few hours helps mitigate the pain and intensity of these eruptions.
7. Prevents constipation
Dietary fibers and high water content in cucumber promotes digestion. Eating cucumber aids in flushing out toxins from your kid’s body and prevents any constipation risks she faces. (3)
8. Healthy hair and nails
Cucumber contains the mineral silica, which is beneficial for hair and nails. Eating cucumber helps keep your little one’s hair and nails strong and shiny.
9. Anti-carcinogenic
Cucumber possesses lignans, namely pinoresinol, secoisolariciresinol, and lariciresinol, which have great potential in preventing any cancer risks. Adequate and regular intake of cucumber prevents the chances of cancer development in children (4).
10. Promotes joint health
Cucumber is an excellent source of not only vitamins but also calcium, potassium, silica, and magnesium. So it effectively strengthens the connective tissues and promotes joint health in kids. Also, cucumber reduces uric acid levels and prevents the formation of kidney stones (5).
How Do You Choose Cucumber For Kids?
Choose a cucumber that has no cuts, soft spots, wrinkles, and bruises. Peel the skin of a cucumber for better results. Let your kid munch a raw cucumber if she enjoys it, or else you can obtain fresh cucumber juice and give her a glass of juice daily.
