Watercress - The vegetable that tops the list of nutritious vegetables announced
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a list of 41 most nutritious vegetables and fruits. Notably, among them, there is a very popular vegetable in Vietnam ranked at the top of the list with an absolute score of 100/100, which is watercress.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a list of the 41 most nutritious fruits and vegetables. Photo: Fooducate.
In Vietnam, watercress usually grows well in winter, has a characteristic pungent aroma, and a slightly bitter and spicy taste. The two most prominent nutrients in watercress are vitamin C and vitamin K. The amount of vitamin C in this vegetable is even more than oranges and lemons.
Watercress has many nutritional values.
Physician and scientist Bui Dac Sang, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, shared:
Watercress is a familiar vegetable. Some people do not like it because they often think that this vegetable is grown in dirty places, easily infected with parasites. If bought at the market, many housewives complain that the vegetable contains a lot of duckweed, even worms on the vegetable. However, this is a "super vegetable" with high nutritional value.
According to research by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), watercress brings great nutritional value to health, being rated by scientists with a score of 100 in nutritional value. Meanwhile, spinach only reaches 86.43%, cabbage 91.9%.
Specifically, the compound phenethyl Isothiocyanate (Peitc) in watercress has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, preventing the growth of cancer cells. This compound also has anti-aging effects.
Watercress is a vegetable with high folic acid content, good for pregnant women, preventing birth defects. On average, pregnant women can eat this vegetable 3-4 times a week.
Many people like broccoli and kale but ignore watercress, not knowing that they are both cheap and have a lot of vitamin K. Eating a small bowl of watercress is enough to provide the body with vitamin K every day. Vitamin K helps the heart stay healthy, stabilizes blood clotting ability and protects bones.
In addition, watercress also contains a lot of vitamin C, B vitamins, E and iron, phosphorus, iodine which have the effect of protecting health, preventing diseases, infections, anti-aging...
Watercress has a high folic acid content which is good for pregnant women, preventing birth defects. On average, pregnant women can eat this vegetable 3-4 times a week.
Watercress is a vegetable with many uses, but not everyone should eat this vegetable.
According to Oriental medicine, watercress is a cold vegetable, slightly bitter and acrid in taste, has diuretic effects, helps digestion, and detoxifies. In particular, people with diabetes can use watercress regularly to help stabilize blood sugar and supplement fiber.
When your body is tired, you eat a lot of greasy foods, banh chung, sticky rice, you can take watercress, grind it or squeeze the juice to drink with carrots to help purify and cool down.
However, watercress is often grown underwater or in fields, making it susceptible to parasites. When eating watercress, you need to wash it thoroughly. If you eat it raw, only eat watercress grown on land. People with hyperthyroidism should not eat watercress because it contains high levels of iodine, which can make the disease worse.
How to grow watercress at home simply but with high yield
Grow watercress in foam boxes by: Filling the foam box with water for 30 minutes to test the tightness - wrap 5-sided tape to create firmness.
Watercress does not need much soil, so you can crush the coal slag and spread a 10cm thick layer on the bottom, mix in 200g of phosphate. Next is a layer of soil (loam mixed with a little rice husk or soil composted with fish manure - bean dregs) so that it is 5cm from the edge of the barrel, sprinkle 20g of NPK - mix well.
Growing watercress does not require too much water in the container, just enough to cover the surface. You should water it every morning but just water it lightly to wet the plant because the plant's water needs in the cold season are not high (if it is sunny, you need to water it).
Furthermore, watercress grows very strongly in rainy and drizzle weather, so when it rains, mix some very diluted fertilizer to create conditions for the plant to grow strongly.
Note: the soil must not contain organic waste or leaves, stumps, or roots that have not decomposed because they will rot the soil. Make a finger-sized hole 3cm from the edge of the barrel so that when it rains, water does not overflow the edge.
The first two crops do not need fertilization. After harvesting the third crop, start watering with hydroponic solution (if available) or fertilize with 2g of nitrogen after each harvest, occasionally add 1-2g of potassium when fertilizing.
Notes when eating watercress
Although watercress is very good for health, according to Dr. Phan Thi Thu Phuong - Department of Examination (Dang Van Ngu Hospital), the risk of infection with large liver flukes is very high if processed incorrectly because this vegetable is often grown and lives in water and mud. Many people subjectively think that just dipping it in boiling water will soften the vegetable and make it usable without boiling it thoroughly. Using it to make salads, blanching it without cooking it... can lead to the risk of infection with large liver flukes.
Flukes nesting in the liver can easily create abscesses. If not treated promptly, the abscesses will rupture and damage the liver. To ensure safety, people who regularly eat watercress should remember to wash it many times when preparing it. At the same time, comply with cooking at 100 degrees Celsius for 3-5 minutes because at high temperatures, the larvae are destroyed before eating.
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