After a long, frigid winter, the warmer weather of spring is more than welcome. Turning from hearty comfort food to light, refreshing meals, spring is bursting with flavor. When the weather turns from cloudy to sunny, it's time to switch from hot to cold soups.
The cucumber is often overlooked, but this valuable veggie has a lot of healing qualities that should certainly not be ignored. It’s full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and so many other things that help to nurture the body. From the skin to the seeds, here are 10 amazing healing qualities of the so very cool cucumber.
1. Cleaning Out Toxins
I’m sure you’ve heard how important it is to drink enough water. The question is, though, what kind of water should we be drinking? We are becoming chronically dehydrated and contrary to popular belief, the answer isn’t to simply “drink more water.” In order to get your body hydrated, you need to start thinking quality over quantity.
I used to get really bad headaches all the time (I’m talkin’ tons of tears). Thankfully, I only suffer from headaches occasionally now, and I’m convinced the improvement has to do with diet.
The hemp plant has been cultivated for approximately 12,000 years and is one of man’s earliest crops. The benefits of the seeds have been known for about 3000 years, where it has been used medicinally and is a dietary mainstay in China. Hemp seeds are a compete protein containing all twenty amino acids.
The agave plant ranges from the southwestern United States down through Central America to the northern regions of South America. It is the same plant that is used to make tequila. For centuries, the native peoples gathered the plants and removed the leaves to extract the sap from the core. They boiled the sap to form a thick nectar. Agave nectar did not find its way into modern America until the 1990’s when the process of hydrolysis could be applied to the agave. This process heats the extracted agave juice in a mass production, making it a viable commercial product.
Raw asparagus juice…is that even legal? After getting tired of my daily cucumber-apple-ginger combo, I decided to break out of my juicing shell and get a little weird…
The season is changing, and so are the recipes. Fall brings a bounty of pumpkins, cranberries, apples, and a whole variety of new flavors. Soon the days of ripe red tomatoes, corn roasting on the grill, and juicy watermelon will turn to comforting, hearty meals. Before you embrace the new bounty of nature, give summer a bon voyage with this panzanella salad.
This sandwich is a staple that is so easy to make and perfect to cool off with in the middle of a hot day. The hummus adds a bit of protein and creaminess to complement the crisp and cool veggies, while also giving you an opportunity to experiment with different flavors.
Symptoms of summertime begin to occur with the onset of the season; you feel the sunburn on your skin, the irritating itch of poison ivy, mosquitos and ticks, and some of the swimmers experience Swimmer’s Ear. True signs of summer! I'm going to walk you through Mother Earth's Medicine Cabinet to show you how you can naturally remedy some of the season’s most well-known ailments.