Walking to Lower Blood Pressure #30

I must start by repeating cucumbers are my least favorite of healthy foods. If I had to eat a cucumber every time I ate a bowl of oatmeal...I would throw my super family size carton of Quaker in the trash and that would be the end of me and oatmeal.   Years ago, when Cindy and I were first married, her mother made a cucumber thing I really did like.   She would take sliced lengthwise cucumbers along with sliced white onions and put in a mixture of vinegar, herbs, and a small amount of sugar in a mason jar and let sit for a couple of days in a refrigerator.  This was a summertime dish and is the only way I have enjoyed cucumbers. So why am I writing about them?  Cindy has made me aware of their health benefits and what I am missing.  I can't vouch for the accuracy of all the cucumber facts stated here, this comes from one of those e-mails that go around and you pass it on.  I have checked out all the facts about the health benefits and they are accurate.

Cucumbers contain vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, folic acid, vitamin C and several other vitamins.  I had to look up folic acid not being sure of its benefits.  Folic Acid is vitamin B9, which prevents anemia, produces healthy red blood cells, and is important to pregnant women to have healthy levels. It promotes cell division and fetus growth. Supposedly, cucumbers are good to snack on when you need a quick pick me up rather than having caffeine.  Cucumbers also contain potassium, magnesium, which aid in the lowering of blood pressure.  The other benefits are having ascorbic acid and caffeic acid which prevent water retention.  When used topically, cucumbers can be used to treat swollen eyes, burns, and dermatitis.  You know, after researching the health benefits of cucumbers I certainly see why a heart patient would eat them.

Some other benefits of cucumbers include using to keep your bathroom mirror from fogging, killing pests in your flower garden, Hmmmmm,  polishing your shoes, stops squeaky door hinges, or lastly, how cucumbers were used by early explorers in the dead of winter who defied starvation and survived by eating cucumbers in the Northwest Territories.  Sounds good, but I'm just wondering back in the 1700's, exactly where did those guys find cucumbers while backpacking through the great northern wilderness in blinding snowstorms. 

Anything you can eat that is good for your blood pressure and helps promote healthy cholesterol levels should be a food we heart patients eat.  Walking also is great for your blood pressure.  And you know, treadmill, track, mall, or trail, it is all the same. It is probably my favorite exercise, and I have admitted the treadmill can be boring at times.  I decided to find out why walking is so good for your blood pressure?  Well it makes your heart stronger, and a stronger heart pumps more blood with less effort.  If your heart works less to pump more blood then the force on your arteries decreases, which lowers your blood pressure.  For those of you who have a heart condition and or high blood pressure it takes 1-3 months of regular exercise to begin to have an effect on your blood pressure.  Once you start walking not only will you get the health benefits, but you will see a difference in your waistline.  For me, walking has been an important part of my rehabilitation from heart surgery.

My fitness center has a spa and I've seen lots of ladies sitting back in recliners, wrapped in towels, with stuff all over their face and cucumbers over their eyes.  I wonder if they know they can kill the snails in their garden with those cucumber slices when they are done.