Take one bite of this leafy green and you’ll know that it means serious business. A plant with a 4000 year old history, Nasturtium Officinale, commonly known as watercress has been revered world over for its medicinal properties. Belonging to the mustard family, natural chemicals found in this leafy green that impart a characteristic pungency and kick to it are also responsible for its kickass healing benefits. Through its bright green color and its sinus clearing horseradish like taste, watercress can turn a ho-hum salad or a sandwich into a totally epic one.
A hot off the press Jan 28th, 2013 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition confirms the role of the leafy green in reducing exercise induced DNA damage. Although exercise is healthy, stress induced on the body during intense exercise, such as pokies online running a marathon, can cause damage to it and alter genetic material. According to the study, regular consumption of watercress reduces this damage by neutralizing the harm caused by exercise-induced free radicals through its high antioxidant content.
Even if running a marathon, or an eight of one, does not remotely appeal to you, adding this leafy green to your diet is still a spectacular idea. Watercress not only reduces the risk of developing cancer, but also hinders existing cancer development by cutting off blood and oxygen to growing tumors.
As if all this was not enough, watercress can make you look good too. Watercress is an especially rich source of vitamins A, C, E and K and minerals such as calcium, manganese, iron and iodine. Yes, iodine can balance your thyroid hormones and correct all the beauty issues that go with an imbalance such as hair loss, weight gain and lackluster skin. Ancient Romans used the leafy green to prevent baldness and Hippocrates is known to have built his first hospital in Greece near a river so that he could have an abundant supply of watercress to treat his patients.
You don’t have to move riverside to reap the benefits of watercress. Just pick up a bunch or two on your next trip to the grocery store and toss the green regularly into your salads, soups and green smoothies.
Sources:
•British Journal of Nutrition; Acute and chronic watercress supplementation attenuates exercise-induced peripheral mononuclear cell DNA damage and lipid peroxidation. (Accessed, February, 2013)
•Watercress; The Original Superfood. (Accessed, February, 2013)
