We are often bombarded with articles telling us about the latest food fads and crazes. Those of us who are health fanatics will often have fridges stacked full of leafy green vegetables. However, it can seem like a never ending game of playing catch up to try and stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the latest dietary trends. It poses the question of what vegetables really are the best? One day it’s broccoli, the next it's cabbage. How can we compare the nutritional benefits of vegetables against one and other?
The Centre for Disease Control carried out a study to determine what fruits and vegetables are most likely to reduce the risk of chronic diseases. The study measured foods against one another to see which had the greatest nutrients per calorie to one and other. The foods would be given a Nutrient Density Score out of 100 based on this method. The only food to receive a perfect score was watercress.
The study found that pound for pound, watercress contains more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, more vitamin C than an orange and more folate than bananas. In addition watercress also contains essential properties such as vitamin A, antioxidants, magnesium, phosphorus, B12 and B6 which are all required to maintain a healthy immune system and body.
Simply integrating watercress into your weekly food routine, could be a great way of unlocking the strong nutritional properties that we could all use a bit more in our lives. With a bold peppery flavour, there are plenty of ideas which you could play around with to include in your weekly meals. Watercress is best when fresh and raw, as the nutritional properties are their fullest in this state. Watercress could be the perfect supplement to jazz up a salad, or even to add to neutral foods and even sandwiches.
Unfortunately there is no elixir of life, or magical potion which will give us everything we need to keep ourselves healthy. Watercress may be the next big thing in terms of a superfood but it won’t solve everything on its own. Our advice is to have a balanced and varied diet, and to keep up the good work by staying active whenever you can!
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