Don’t Ignore Watercress – The Superfood to Keep You Young!
I’ve always loved to eat watercress as it’s tastily pungent, fresh and bursting at the seams with goodness. It’s just a shame that in winter we in the UK eat so few salads as a nation, because it is fresh raw veggies that are full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Watercress has been eaten for its health giving properties for many thousands of years. It was Hippocrates, the father of medicine – and he knew a thing or two – who, in 400 BC – set up his first hospital by a stream so he could grow watercress for his patients.
In the 16th century watercress was grown in Germany for commercial purposes. Napoleon loved to eat it too! And in 1808 the first watercress farm opened near Gravesend in Kent. In Victorian times watercress was transported by train to Covent Garden Market to be bunched up and sold to passersby. Healthier than chips!
What makes watercress stand out from so many other vegetables? Well for a start it is packed with vitamin C (containing more than oranges!) easily digested calcium (who needs tablets to ward off osteoporosis?) It is also abundant in folate, iron, zinc, magnesium, calcium, iodine, manganese, phosphorus and potassium. What’s more it will help to prevent cataracts especially in older people. That’s because it is rich in rich phytonutrients such as betacarotene, lutein and zeaxanthin. Maybe you won’t need that cataract surgery after all!
So where can you get this wonderful plant which is so much more than a garnish? Indeed it is often left on people’s plates in restaurants and parties. What a waste of good food! Well the good news is that watercress farms are springing up all over the UK. Watercress is not the easiest of plants to grow due to the sheer volume of water it needs to proliferate. And you need 30,000 seeds to produce around 3000 seedlings.
Maybe there is only so much watercress you can manage to eat raw! The good news is that there are so many recipes for its use as a cooked dish. Watercress soup is delicious and would be marvellous as an easily digestible meal for the elderly. You can add it to stir fries, sauces and pasta dishes and even to scrambled eggs – the possibilities for using this wonderful healthy plant are endless!
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