Posted on 09/12/2024 4:32:18 PM PDT by nickcarraway
It's also super easy to prepare.
You have a wide range of vegetables to choose from on a regular basis, but research shows that there’s one that’s particularly good for you: watercress.
This leafy green has been deemed the healthiest vegetable by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with an impressive nutrient density score of 100 out of 100. But watercress isn’t just ranked the healthiest vegetable: It beat runner-up Chinese cabbage by more than eight points.
Nutritionists aren’t shocked. “I can believe that watercress is the ‘healthiest’ vegetable,” says Dana Ellis Hunnes, Ph.D., a senior dietitian at UCLA Medical Center and assistant professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Among other things, Hunnes points out that this is a “nutrient-dense” food.
What is watercress and what makes it so healthy?
Watercress is a type of cruciferous vegetable that belongs in the same family as kale, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, arugula, and Brussels sprouts, says Rachel O'Connor, R.D., C.D.N., a dietitian at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. It’s also an aquatic flowering plant (hence, the name) and grows in shallow water or damp soil, Hunnes says.
Watercress got top honors thanks to its perfect nutrient density score. “Nutrient density is the ratio of nutrients in a food to the amount of energy — or calories — it provides,” O’Connor says. “A nutrient density score is essentially a numeric value given to rate how nutritious certain foods are.” The more nutrient-dense a food is, the more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants it has per calorie per gram, Hunnes explains.
Watercress has a few compounds, including 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM) and sulforaphane, which have been linked to a lower risk of cancer, O’Connor says. The vegetable is also rich in vitamin K. While watercress contains fiber, the levels of the nutrient aren’t as high as they are in some fellow cruciferous vegetables. One cup of cooked broccoli, for example, will provide around 5 grams of fiber, while one cup of watercress provides less than 1 gram. “Fiber is an important component to our diets for numerous reasons, so watercress should definitely not be the only cruciferous vegetable one eats,” O’Connor says.
Do any other vegetables come close?
The CDC’s study lists out more than 40 so-called “powerhouse” fruits and vegetables. While watercress was the only one that received a perfect score, the runners-up are also worth noting. Those include:
Chinese cabbage (91.99 points)
Swiss chard (89.27 points)
Beetroot (87.08 points)
Spinach (86.43 points)
How much watercress do you need to eat?
It is generally recommended that you have four to five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and four to five servings of cruciferous vegetables a week. But you can have watercress as much as you’d like, Hunnes says. “You could eat one cupful at a time,” she says. “You could eat it more often or less often, too.”
While you can cook watercress, it may be better to have it raw to reap the full benefits. “Watercress, like other vegetables, loses some vitamin C and B vitamins when cooked,” O’Connor says. “Vitamin C is water-soluble and sensitive to heat, and it can leach out of vegetables when they are exposed to hot water. B vitamins are similarly heat-sensitive.” So, use it as a base for salads, toss it in a sandwich, or sprinkle it on top of a stir fry for added nutrition.
No matter how you prepare it, Hunnes stresses that you should have more than just watercress. “Even if it is the healthiest of all vegetables, it’s still better to eat a wide range of vegetables and fruits than to just stick with one,” she says. “That allows you to get a fuller complement of nutrients.”
Dandelion greens are pretty good. I see the beet roots are too.
I love watercress.
What is arugula?
There’s nothing about beets and I love beets. I even drink that red water they are boiled in.
Collard or musrard greens..any day! Harris and Obama don’t have a clue what they are.
I thought watercress was used as a decorative food on a plate.
#PureBlood
Bwah-hahahahahhaha...
THAT is exactly the first thought that ran through my head when I read the headline.
“Joe Biden”?
Aussies all love beets. They taste like the dirt the are grown in. Make purple pickled eggs though.
CDC lost what respect they had during Covid. Eff the CDC.
Double double animal
My favorite vegetable
My rib eats it daily
Bitter purplish green lettuce
It’s ok
Not as bitter as raddichio
Watercress can go to hell.
Three foods give me a noticeable surge of energy the day after eating them: beef liver, pizza, and beets. The pizza, I suspect, does it by tomato paste and salt.
It’s best to buy mostly from the produce section, but don’t try to talk me out of meat/fish, butter, eggs, half&half, coffee and chocolate. A food saint I am not.
Then in produce: any greens, plus nuts, spices, beans.
Avoid sugar.
Say grace.
Brush after every meal.
Pigs turn vegetables in to bacon...
Pigs turn vegetables in to bacon...
What’s your superpower?
Where does Poke Salat rank?
Chatsworth Osborne Jr’s favorite sandwich.
Most of the “vodka” in America is just watered down grain alcohol. Grey Goose and Ketel One are wheat based, same for Smirnoff and Absolut as I recall. Stolichnaya is wheat and rye. I do recall running across a Polish vodka that was made from potatoes.
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