Cucumber

Cucumber

The iconic image of a woman resting with cucumber slices on her eyes, strongly implies its cooling and freshening nature. Cucumber can be used to relieve thirst and freshen breath, to cool you down form summer’s heat, cool your liver and aid your urinary system. Cucumbers, which aid the removal of uric acid from the blood, is great for those who suffer from gout.

Properties

Taste: Sweet

Natural Attributes: heavy, dry, liquid

Tissue impact (Vipak): sweet (nourishing)

Thermal impact (Virya): cooling

Dosha impact: Increases Kapha, slightly increases Vata and decreases Pitta 

Digestive impact (Agni): hard to digest

Channels (Srotas): opens

Feces: moves 

Urine: diuretic

Strength (Bala): improves strength

Mind (Manas): Sattvic

Effect: detoxicant, hypotensive, ophthalmic, refrigerant, anti-inflammatory, skin tonic

Chinese five element impact: Wood, Fire

Chinese medicine syndromes: Liver fire, Stomach Fire, Heart Fire, Lung Dry, Large Intestine Dry

Medicinal properties 

• Blood-circulation-liver: eyes (topically): relieves hot, inflamed, swollen, dry or irritated eyes, the appearance of bags, conjunctivitis. Cools liver, reduces blood pressure, water retention, detoxifies blood, reduces visible signs of cellulite (topically)
• Bones-joints-tendon-ligaments: gout
• Skin: (topically) rejuvenates, treats hot inflamed skin, acne, eczema, rosacea and psoriasis, burns
• Kidney-Bladder: urinary, bladder and kidney function, reduces infections
• Respiratory system: sore throat
• Digestive system:freshens breath, thirst, inflamed stomach or intestines, improves taste, worms and especially tapeworms 

Harmful for: cold dampness, watery mucus,  diarrhea.

Varieties

• Pickled cucumber: aids digestion, cleans and strengthens intestines.