Health Benefits of Cucumber

To stay hydrated and fresh during hot summer days you should eat more cucumber.  Its 95% is water and its vitamin C content has its refreshing effect. It provides water and fibre; two basic elements for your digestive system. Cucumbers contain numerous antioxidants, including the well-known vitamin C, beta-carotene. flavonoids, such as quercetin, apigenin, luteolin, and kaempferol.

For instance, quercetin is an antioxidant that many believe prevents histamine release and Kaempferol  may help fight cancer and lower your risk of chronic diseases including heart disease. Cucumber contains potassium, which is associated with lower blood pressure levels. A proper balance of potassium both inside and outside your cells is crucial for your body to function properly. It also holds phytonutrients called cucurbitacins, which also have anti-cancer properties. Cucumber also has its anti-inflammatory effect. Cucumber encloses multiple B vitamins, including vitamin B1, vitamin B5, and vitamin B7 (biotin). B vitamins are known to help ease feelings of anxiety and buffer some of the damaging effects of stress. This vegetable contains an anti-inflammatory flavonol called fisetin that appears to play an important role in brain health. In addition fisetin benefits in improving memory and protecting nerve cells from age-related decline.¹ This healthy vegetable can play an important role in your daily raw food diet as juice, smoothy, soup or salad.

Winter Comfort foods

Soups 2

Tomato soup

Nutritional value of tomato:

Tomatoes contain dietary fibre, vitamin A in form of beta-carotene, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin B6, niacin, folate, biotin and the following minerals copper, potassium and manganese. Provides essential antioxidants.

They are good for you heart, skin, hair, eyes and kidneys.

Ingredients:

cubed tomatoes	5
shallot	1
cloves of garlic	4
chopped red pepper	1
peeled and cubed potatoes	2
water	500ml
rosemary  leaves	6
basil leaves	7-8
salt	Up to your taste
pepper	Up to your taste
butter	1tsp
olive oil	1tsp

Melt the butter in a medium size pan add the shallot, garlic and chopped pepper stir them in. 

Mix the potatoes and the tomatoes in and salt the mixture.

Add the water and cook it for 10 minutes

Blend the soup with fresh rosemary and basil leaves.

Stir the olive oil into the creamy soup.

Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet is encouraged by the traditional dietary patterns of Greece, Southern Italy, and Spain^. This diet include proportionally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, seeds, fruits, and vegetables, quite high consumption of fish, reasonable consumption of cheese and yogurt, moderate wine consumption, and low consumption of meat and meat products.

This diet is rich in monounsaturated fat and fibre.

The moderate consumption of red wine contributes to good health because it contains antioxidant.

 Although a big group of these foods contain high level of salt (links to high blood pressure) the diet has beneficial health effect, which is reflected by the high life expectancy in these countries.

Addition to the diet the life style; culture and physical activity, labour is very important.

The Mediterranean diet appears to be better than low –fat diet, it decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease by 30% more, lowers the cholesterol level and blood pressure.

Compare your diet to the Mediterranean diet:

Content of Mediterranean diet	Your  diet
Olive oil Seeds Nuts Legumes Fruits Vegetables Fish Cheese Wine Meat Meat products

How you  should improve your  diet eating more: