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You’ve got a variety of greens to select from regularly, however analysis reveals that there’s one which’s notably good for you: watercress.
This leafy inexperienced has been deemed the healthiest vegetable by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with a powerful nutrient density rating of 100 out of 100. However watercress isn’t simply ranked the healthiest vegetable: It beat runner-up Chinese language cabbage by greater than eight factors.
Nutritionists aren’t shocked. “I can imagine that watercress is the ‘healthiest’ vegetable,” says Dana Ellis Hunnes, Ph.D., a senior dietitian at UCLA Medical Heart and assistant professor on the UCLA Fielding College of Public Well being. Amongst different issues, Hunnes factors out that it is a “nutrient-dense” meals.
Associated: 7 Best Watercress Salads
On condition that watercress isn’t a staple in most American fridges, it’s comprehensible to have questions. Right here’s why this vegetable is so wholesome, plus the best way to get extra of it in your plate.
What’s watercress and what makes it so wholesome?
Watercress is a sort of cruciferous vegetable that belongs in the identical household as kale, broccoli, Chinese language cabbage, arugula, and Brussels sprouts, says Rachel O’Connor, R.D., C.D.N., a dietitian at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia College Irving Medical Heart. It’s additionally an aquatic flowering plant (therefore, the identify) and grows in shallow water or damp soil, Hunnes says.
Watercress bought high honors due to its excellent nutrient density rating. “Nutrient density is the ratio of vitamins in a meals to the quantity of power — or energy — it supplies,” O’Connor says. “A nutrient density rating is actually a numeric worth given to fee how nutritious sure meals are.” The extra nutrient-dense a meals is, the extra nutritional vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants it has per calorie per gram, Hunnes explains.
Associated: 16 Ways to Enjoy Watercress
Watercress has a couple of compounds, together with 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM) and sulforaphane, which have been linked to a decrease threat of most cancers, O’Connor says. The vegetable can also be wealthy in vitamin Okay. Whereas watercress incorporates fiber, the degrees of the nutrient aren’t as excessive as they’re in some fellow cruciferous greens. One cup of cooked broccoli, for instance, will present round 5 grams of fiber, whereas one cup of watercress supplies less than 1 gram. “Fiber is a crucial part to our diets for quite a few causes, so watercress ought to positively not be the one cruciferous vegetable one eats,” O’Connor says.
Do every other greens come shut?
The CDC’s research lists out greater than 40 so-called “powerhouse” vegatables and fruits. Whereas watercress was the one one which acquired an ideal rating, the runners-up are additionally price noting. These embrace:
How a lot watercress do that you must eat?
It’s usually recommended that you’ve 4 to 5 servings of vegatables and fruits a day, and 4 to 5 servings of cruciferous greens per week. However you’ll be able to have watercress as a lot as you’d like, Hunnes says. “You could possibly eat one cupful at a time,” she says. “You could possibly eat it extra usually or much less usually, too.”
When you can prepare dinner watercress, it could be higher to have it uncooked to reap the complete advantages. “Watercress, like different greens, loses some vitamin C and B nutritional vitamins when cooked,” O’Connor says. “Vitamin C is water-soluble and delicate to warmth, and it will possibly leach out of greens when they’re uncovered to scorching water. B nutritional vitamins are equally heat-sensitive.” So, use it as a base for salads, toss it in a sandwich, or sprinkle it on high of a stir fry for added diet.
Irrespective of the way you put together it, Hunnes stresses that it is best to have extra than simply watercress. “Even when it’s the healthiest of all greens, it’s nonetheless higher to eat a variety of greens and fruits than to only keep on with one,” she says. “That permits you to get a fuller complement of vitamins.”
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