You’ve probably heard that cucumbers are good for your health. But did you know they have other uses, too?

Cucumbers are good for lots of things you’d never think of, like preventing slugs from taking over your garden. Just put a few slices into an aluminum pie pan and set it out in your garden. The cucumber reacts with the aluminum, creating an odor that’s undetectable to humans — but garden pests can’t stand it!

Need to look your best for an event? There’s a reason why you always see pictures of women at fancy spas with cucumber slices over their eyes. Not only does it cool the tissues around the eyes and ease puffiness, but the phytochemicals in cucumbers tighten up the collagen in your skin, which decreases the appearance of wrinkles!

This same trick helps lessen the orange-peel look of cellulite, too. Just gently rub your problem areas for a few minutes with a piece of cucumber, and let it work its magic.

If you’re like me, and you just love that “pampered at the spa” feeling, here’s a way you can have it every day: Just cut up a cucumber and boil it. The cucumber-scented steam will destress and delight you.

And of course you can drink cool cucumber water, too. Just put some cucumber slices into purified water in a glass container and refrigerate for a few hours. Cucumber water is a great way to stay hydrated, and it takes away water boredom. I blogged about it and other kinds of infused water a while back. Check it out here. 

If you’re into juicing, cucumber juice and celery juice are two of the healthiest things you can drink. I wrote about the health benefits of these pale green juices here. 

With the holidays coming up, you might be tempted to overindulge in wine or spirits. Well, here’s a helpful tip for preventing a hangover. (Does it involve cucumbers? You bet!)

Here’s what you do: After indulging, just eat some cucumber slices before you go to bed. That’s it. The electrolytes, vitamins, and carbohydrates in the cucumber slices will help rehydrate you and will replace nutrients your body loses from drinking alcohol. The next morning, you’ll be fresh as a daisy, with no hangover!

Cucumber is also great for freshening your breath. Just place a thick slice on your tongue and press it against the roof of your mouth for about 30 seconds. The phytochemicals will eliminate the bacteria that cause bad breath.

So lay in a stock of organic cucumbers, because you never know when you’ll need one! (Make sure you only buy organic cucumbers, because they’re one of the Dirty Dozen, meaning that nonorganic ones are loaded with pesticides.)

Oh, and in case you don’t already know the health benefits of cucumbers, here are just a few:

• Helps improve skin health for a glowing complexion.
• Helps with kidney health, preventing kidney stones and even dissolving stones once they have formed.
• Helps to lower blood pressure.
• Helps prevent constipation.
• Helpful in managing diabetes.
• Keeps your body well-hydrated.
• Helps with blood clotting and bone-building.
• Aids heart health, largely because cucumbers are high in potassium.
• Acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory, cooling inflammation throughout the body.
• Protects your brain, improves your memory, and fights off age-related mental decline. 

The incredible health benefits of cucumbers go hand in hand with those of my Micronized Purple Rice powder (MPR). 

It takes 60 to 100 pounds of heirloom purple rice from Thailand to make just one pound of this superfood! MPR is so highly charged and assimilable, it does not even have to be digested. It is the perfect food, and it goes right to the heart of each cell (the mitochondria) which then produces ATP light energy so the body can heal itself.

Are you using Micronized Purple Rice powder and fresh, cool cucumbers every day? If not, it’s never too late to start!

What are your favorite ways of improving your life with cucumbers? Please share your comments below.