The low carb paleo Thai cucumber salad is perfect for the summer season. It is a paleo diet-friendly side dish recipe. Thai food is a favorite cuisine of many people due to its bold, fresh, and spicy flavors. Often Thai dishes are not paleo-friendly or low carb as it served with noodles or rice and sauces with added sugars. But this cucumber salad recreates the Thai food with delicious flavor and diet-friendly.
This cucumber salad with low carb is paired with Thai inspired spices dressing and thin slices of cucumber.
What is the Paleo diet?
Table of Contents
A paleo diet is a diet program based on foods similar to the period of the Paleolithic era, which was 10, 000 years back. The Paleolithic refers to the ancient Stone age, which was the prehistory of humans. This period was characterized by the original growth of stone tools that present 99% of the prehistory of human technological.
Generally, a paleo diet includes fish, lean meats, fruits, nuts, vegetables, and seeds. These foods are obtained by hunting in the past time. A paleo diet restricts the food that rises while farming while 10, 000 years back. These foods are grains, legumes, and dairy products. The other names of the paleo diet include caveman diet, stone age diet, and hunter diet.
Aim of Paleo Diet
Paleo diet aims to consume human-like food of stone age. The diet’s thought is that the human body is genetically not matched to the modern diet that developed with farming practices â an idea identified as the discordance hypothesis.
Gradually, farming changed with time, and people discovered grain, dairy, and legumes for staples in the diet. This comparatively late and rapid change in your diet mentioned by hypothesis Outpaced-the-body’s-ability-to-adapt. This mismatched food and lifestyle believed to contribute to diabetes, obesity, and heart ailments.
Low Carb Paleo Thai Cucumber Salad Recipe
is the best side dish for summer with low carbs. It is easy and light to
prepare. It contains spicy Thai dressing to make your taste buds happy.
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 Large Cucumbers
- 1/2 cup Fresh cilantro leaves (chopped)
- 1/4 cup Sesame seeds (toasted)
Dressing
- 2 tbsp Lime Juice
- 1-1/2 tbsp Fish sauce (Red Boat brand for Paleo)
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
- 1 clove Garlic minced
- 6 Chilies crushed or red pepper flakes 1/4 tsp
- 2 tsp Sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper
Instructions
- Take a medium bowl and whisk the fish sauce, lime juice, soy sauce or coconut Aminos, garlic, vinegar, pepper flakes, and chilies, salt, sesame oil, pepper.
- Slice thin cucumber using a spiral mandolin slicer or vegetable slicer to get thin cross slices. Add it in a large bowl with cilantro.
- Include dressing before serving and combine well by tossing. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and cilantro.
Nutritions of Cucumber
Cucumber is a super nutritious vegetable. One cup of fresh cucumber provides the following nutritions.
- Calories: 16
- Protein: 1 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Sugar: 2 g
- Fat: 0 g (0 g saturated)
- Carbohydrates: 4 g
- Sodium: 2 mg
- Vitamin C: 14 % RDI
- Magnesium: 10 % RDI
- Vitamin K: 62 % RDI
- Potassium: 13 % RDI
- Manganese: 12 % RDI
Health benefits of Cucumber
Antioxidants And Micronutrients
According to a scientist, cucumber is a basic food for a fresh salad. Cucumber has a group of polyphenols named as lignans, which helps to prevent cancers linked with estrogen. It also provides other antioxidants such as flavonoids and beta carotene that are helpful to fight inflammation and protect your cells from a chronic ailment.
Cucumbers Manage Blood Pressure
Hypertension and high blood pressure can cause to develop another health risk such as stroke, aneurysm. As the cucumber contains high electrolyte potassium, it helps to lower the sodium triggered water retention and normalize blood pressure mentioned by American-Heart-Association.
If you have high blood pressure, then make sure to avoid harmful habits like manage a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and more saturated fats and cholesterol.
Help Digestion
Cucumber contains only 15.5 calories that come from the fiber presence. Fiber helps to boost your gut health and regulate bowel movement. It also benefits in managing high cholesterol and diabetes and prevent overeating.
Cucumbers Make You Mega-Hydrated
Hydrating the body is important to move nutrients into the cells, flushing bacteria, and preventing constipation. Cucumber contains enough water to keep you hydrated.
The content of water depends on the portion of cucumber you consume. It contains 95% of water and significantly fulfills the hydration.
Gut Health-Friendly
As mentioned, cucumber contains more fiber, which helps to support your gut health. When you eat cucumber in pickle form, they provide super nutrients. The cucumber pickle made with vinegar, salt, and other spices. The fermentation process makes it a perfect food for gut health. Promoting good bacteria in your gut helps to benefit functional bowels and immunity.
Boost Healthy Weight
Cucumber is healthy food for weight loss and amazing addition to a healthy lifestyle containing healthy fat, whole grains, and lean protein. Eating cucumber may fill your stomach for a longer time by replacing junk foods.
Manage Diabetes
Cucumber is a healthy vegetable for managing diabetes. It helps to lower cravings for snacks of sugary foods and manage insulin levels.
It is a crispy, cool, and low carb food that helpful for diabetes people. Cucumber is the best source of vitamin K, vitamin C, and potassium. You can include cucumber slices to wraps and sandwiches in an afternoon snack.
Strengthen Your Bones
Calcium is an essential nutrient for bone strength. It provides vitamin K that is helpful in women during the postmenopausal phase and also prevents the risk of fracture of bones. Vitamin K helps to lower blood clots and prevent blood thinning.
Cucumber Is A Versatile Cooking Vegetable
Cucumbers provide different flavors, and it can be added to many dishes and snack recipes.
Promote Cardio Health
Cucumber salad provides plenty of antioxidants such as flavonoids, which helps to prevent heart diseases. The seeds of cucumber also provide benefits for regulating blood fats is consumed dry extract every day. It also reduces bad cholesterol and promotes healthy cholesterol by lowering triglycerides.
Prevent Cancer Risk
Along with sesame seeds, flax, broccoli, cabbage, apricots, strawberries, and other plant-based foods, cucumber also contains a natural substance named as lignans. The bacteria present in the digestive system convert lignans into the synthesis that bind over estrogen receptors. According to studies, cucumber prevents estrogen-related cancers, including ovary, breast, uterus, and prostate.
Soothe Skin
Popping some slices over puffy eyes helps to remove puffiness. The cucumber pulp is made of water, caffeic acid, and vitamin C, that are natural chemical to provide anti-inflammatory properties. This combination induces soothing effects over the skin and lowers the skin irritation, swelling. For these reasons, cucumber is considered a topical remedy for many skin problems.
Prevent Bad Breath
Cucumber is the best vegetable to lower the bad breath and prevent odor generated by bacteria trap with food substances. The cucumber fluid induces saliva and chewing that helps to cleanse and wash your mouth to remove the smell.
Relieve pain
Cucumber salad helps to provide anti-inflammatory properties and relieve your pain. It removes the free radicals from the body and lowers the pain.
It is best for a headache by providing diuretic and cooling effects.
Kills Intestinal Worms
Cucumber is one of the natural remedies for removing tapeworms from your intestinal tracts. Cucumber provides enzyme Erepsin that is effectively killing the tapeworms.
Sustains Electrolyte Balance
Cucumbers improve the blood pressure level in your body at the maximum. Cucumber is the best source of potassium for neutralizing blood from sodium influences and helps to manage electrolyte balance.
Support Dental Health
Cucumber helps treat gum ailments like weak gums, and pyorrhoea. It keeps your mouth healthy by removing bad breath. The photochemical available in cucumber kills the bacteria in the mouth and neutralizes mouth acid and boosts salivation.
Cures Hangover
Cucumber benefits of removing hangover and headaches. It rehydrates your body and removes toxins that present in alcohol. The content of electrolytes, vitamin B, sugar in cucumber helps to lower the hangover intensity.
Detoxifies Your Body
Cucumber is a basic vegetable to detox your body. Consuming cucumber salad provides 95% of water to hydrate and remove toxins from your body. The content of water in cucumber work to clean your system by removing waste.
Other Ingredient Benefits of Cucumber Salad
Cilantro
Cilantro produces flavorsome addition to your salads, soups, dishes, and curries. It is also described as Coriander in some parts of the world. All the parts of the cilantro plant are safe.
Manage High Blood Suga
Having high blood pressure creates a risk of type-2 diabetes. Cilantro is another healthy ingredient for reducing high blood pressure. People using diabetes and BP medicine should be careful while consuming cilantro as it effectively reduces the blood pressure.
Provide Immune-Boosting Antioxidants
Cilantro provides many antioxidants, which help to treat cellular damage occurred by free radicals. These syntheses include quercetin, terpinene, and tocopherols, which boost the immune system and prevent cancer risk and neuroprotective effects.
Relieve Inflammation and Pain
Consuming cilantro every day also relieves pain and inflammation.
Skin Health
Coriander also beneficial for skin health and prevent the effects of ultraviolet B rays damage.
Antifungal Properties
Cilantro provides antifungal properties and prevents infections like thrush. It also relieves the fungal infection.
Sesame Seeds
Adding sesame seeds in your Thai paleo cucumber salad provides crunchy and flavorful taste. Per 100 gms of sesame seeds provide 573 calories. These seeds contain many essential health benefits from its content of antioxidants, nutrients, and vitamins.
The sesame seeds contain rich fatty acid (mono-unsaturated), and oleic acid containing 50% of fatty acids. The presence of Oleic acid reduces bad cholesterol and promote good cholesterol. Consuming good cholesterol helps to prevent the risk of stroke and coronary artery ailments by benefiting a healthy lipid profile.
The sesame seeds also provide dietary protein and amino acids, which is helpful for growth. Per 100 gm of sesame seeds provide 18gm of protein, which 32% of everyday recommended value.
Sesame seeds provide sesamol, furyl-methanethiol, phenyl ethanethiol, guaiacol, and furaneol. These compounds help to prevent free radicals. These seeds are excellent sources of minerals and vitamins, including niacin, thiamin, folic acid, riboflavin, and vitamin B6. Its mineral content includes Calcium, manganese, iron, zinc, selenium, magnesium. These nutrients help in the production of hormones, red blood cells, muscle activities, and bone health.
Lemon Juice in Thai Paleo Cucumber Salad
Rejuvenates Skin
Consuming lemon juice provides benefits for the skin. It promotes younger skin and improves texture and appearance. Lime provides antioxidants and flavonoids that boost collagen. The vitamin C and the flavonoids keep your hydrated and rejuvenate your skin.
Improves Digestion
Lemon juice helps to improve digestion. Limes contain acidic properties that help to break down saliva and promote digestion. The flavonoid content of lemon helps to stimulate secretion in the digestive system.
Fights Infections
Adding lemon in the cucumber salad prevents infection during the flu and cold season. It also helps to strengthen your immune system and remove the infection.
Promote Weight Loss
Lemon is a suitable ingredient for weight loss. The content of citric acid helps to promote metabolism and burn excess calories for fat storage.
Portion control and regular physical activity help to lose excess weight.
Lowers Blood Sugar
The content of vitamin C in lime also helpful for managing diabetes. Lime provides a low amount of glycemic index and regulates blood sugar. It also manages blood sugar spikes.
Lower Heart Disease
Lime also benefits potassium and magnesium, which boosts heart health. Potassium is an essential mineral for reducing blood pressure and promote blood circulation and prevent stroke and heart attack risk. High blood pressure accompanied by high cholesterol causes to narrow and harden the blood vessels and increase heart attack risk.
Prevents Cancer
Certain health conditions create the risk of uncontrolled and abnormal growth of cancerous cells in kidneys, breasts, and lungs. Adding lemon in your diet helps to fight with diseases and prevent cancer growth.
Reduces Inflammation
Gout, arthritis, and other problems in joints occur by inflammation. Vitamin C from your diet lower the inflammation and reduce your symptoms of arthritis.
Fish Sauce in Paleo Thai Cucumber Salad Recipe
The Thai recipes include fish sauce, so this cucumber salad also contains fish sauce. Fish sauce comprises of sea salt and anchovies. Typically, anchovies are sea salt in the form of crust and packed in barrels to get fermented. Natural bacteria breakdown the fish with amazing alchemy or fermentation and convert it into briny and funky liquid.
Generally, the fish sauce takes months to two years to complete the fermentation. The raw types of processed fish sauce are fermented at room temperature to maintain its omega-3 fatty acids and enzymes.
Fish sauce is considered good for health. It provides a good amount of riboflavin, iron, niacin, vitamin B12, B6, and magnesium. It is good for appetizing. Fish sauce is a good condiment for cucumber salad.
Adding soy sauce helps to lower bad cholesterol if consumed in the proper amount. Other benefits of soy sauce include
It prevents breast cancer risk
Soy sauce lower the weight
Soy sauce helps to prevent diarrhea.
It enhances gastric enzyme secretion.
It provides antimicrobial and prevent bacteria such as shigella flexneri, staphylococcus aureus, vibrio cholera, and salmonella enteritidis, pathogenic E. coli., and Escherichia coli.
Apple Cider Vinegar in Paleo Thai Cucumber Salad Recipe
Vinegar is an essential ingredient of cucumber salad. It is in use for centuries and was used for treating wounds. Recently, people discovered vinegar for weight loss, heart health, and treating dandruff.
Consuming vinegar prevent obesity, type2 diabetes, and manage insulin.
It also contains chemicals called polyphenols that prevent cell damage and prevent cancer.
Garlic
Garlic is an essential flavoring root herb in cooking. Consuming garlic helps to prevent lung cancer. Sulfur synthesis available in garlic works effectively for killing harmful cells of glioblastomas, which can cause a brain tumor. Garlic also manages high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Black pepper
Including black pepper also flavor cucumber salad. It belongs to the Piperaceae family and adds a great addition to dishes and salad recipes. You will need to use black pepper powder by crushing the dried peppers.
Consuming black pepper also benefits your health in several ways, including cancer prevention, stimulate digestion, support weight loss, improve skin, manage depression.
Chilli flakes
Adding red chili flakes in cucumber salad provides the best health benefits. It is a multi-benefiting spice that brightens the flavor and prevents health issues.
Consuming red chili flakes also helps to clear congestion during the flu and cold season and prevent allergy. It happens because of this spice heat up the body and clear lungs and nose.
Also, red chilies flake helpful for diabetic people. It helps to manage high levels of insulin in bloodstreams.