Top 10 health benefits of watercress
From helping with eye and skin health to supplying a range of nutrients, discover how watercress can improve your well-being
What is watercress?
Watercress has a protected status known as TSG (Traditional Speciality Guaranteed), which means it has to be grown in flowing spring water to be labelled as watercress. It’s a leafy green belonging to the brassica family (which includes broccoli, cabbage and kale), and shares a similar taste profile with these vegetables. It has a peppery flavour that gives a kick to salads. It’s also a nutrient powerhouse, packed with over 50 vital vitamins and minerals.
In summary, here are the key health benefits of watercress:
- May help maintain good vision
- May improve skin health
- Protective antioxidant properties
- Can support mental health
- May help protect against cancer
- High in plant protein
- Useful source of iron
- Useful source of fibre
- May help with recovery after exercise
- Counters inflammation
Nutritional profile of watercress
An 80g (raw) serving contains:
- 18kcal
- 2.4g protein
- 0.8g fat
- 0.3g carbohydrates
- 1.2g fibre
- 136mg calcium
- 1.8mg iron
- 36mcg folate
- 49.6mg vit C
What are the 10 top health benefits of watercress?
1. May help maintain good vision
Watercress is naturally high in vitamin A meaning it's a great food to help protect healthy vision.
2. May improve skin health
Our skin cells need continual repair. To do this we need antioxidants – watercress contains vitamin E, one of the most important nutrients that we require to make antioxidants. It also contains a variety of dietary antioxidants, too, which support skin health.
3. Protective antioxidant properties
The bitter taste watercress comes from the antioxidants within it. These have many roles in maintaining good health because of their function in everyday cell repair – essentially anti-ageing. Antioxidants are also great fuel for our gut health, which itself supports a number of health functions.
4. Can support mental health
The gut-brain axis is the mechanism by which what we eat is believed to impact our mental health. Watercress was awarded the highest Antidepressant Food Score in research done in Australia in 2018, thanks to its array of nutrients, botanicals and benefits to our gut microbiome.
5. May help protect against cancer
The beneficial antioxidants in watercress, specifically its glucosinolates, may be associated with protection against types of bowel cancer. Research is ongoing in many areas; consumption of watercress has also been associated with improved response to treatment of certain types of skin cancer.
6. High in plant protein
Watercress is a rich source of plant protein – more than 50% of its energy comes from protein. An appetising soup can be a very helpful way to benefit from this, especially for those in their elderly years when it can be hard to maintain muscle strength. Its flavonoid antioxidants may support muscle repair, too.
7. Useful source of plant iron
It’s easy for iron levels to drop when eating mainly plants as their iron content is not as easily available for the body to process when compared to that found in red meat, for example. It’s a key nutrient, especially important during pregnancy, older age and for teenage girls (nearly 50% of whom in the UK have low iron levels). Watercress is rich in vitamin C which makes its iron much easier for us to absorb.
8. Useful source of fibre
Including fibre-rich watercress as one of the 30 different plant foods to eat every week is great for gut health because its antioxidants are like rocket fuel for our beneficial gut microbes.
9. May support recovery after exercise
Intensive sport can leave our immune system weakened, meaning longer recovery times. Being rich in vitamin C, and a source of fibre and antioxidants to support our gut health, watercress gives us vital nutrients for a strong immune system. Its iron, protein and many other vital nutrients make it a great addition to a smoothie aimed at sports performance and recovery.
10. May help protect against diabetes
New research is starting to show many benefits from plants with a bitter taste, not least watercress. The plant micronutrients responsible for this have potential to help our metabolic health and protect us from inflammatory processes that occur for example with type 2 diabetes. These same bitter botanicals can help to steady the appetite, too.
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Get inspired with these watercress recipes
Leek, pea & watercress soup
Watercress & chicken stir-fry
Salmon & watercress quiche
Pea & watercress soup
Peppered mackerel, new potato & watercress salad
All health content on bbcgoodfood.com is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional. If you have any concerns about your general health, you should contact your local health care provider. See our website terms and conditions for more information.
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