A : Watercress is best eaten raw as it loses a proportion of its health benefits when cooked. However, watercress is also a useful ingredient when used in cooked dishes as it adds a unique flavour to soups, stews and stir fries and does retain a proportion of its fantastic properties.
How do you cook raw watercress?
Zap watercress in the food processor with a little oil and some parsley for a vibrant herb sauce, or add some nuts and cheese and call it pesto. Watercress is at home in almost any stir-fry—swap it in for any Asian green—or simply sautéed with butter and perhaps some radishes.
Is cooked watercress good for you?
Eating watercress can help support the health of your heart. Antioxidants (carotenoids in particular) have been linked to lower blood pressure, lower risk of heart disease, and even a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Is watercress healthier cooked or raw?
Vitamin B is another water-soluble vitamin present in high levels in watercress and this too is reduced when watercress is cooked, while minerals like potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc may be reduced by up to 60 to 70%. All this suggests it’s best to eat watercress uncooked.
Can you heat up watercress?
Although its incredible health benefits are at their most potent when it is consumed raw, watercress can also be added into a range of hot dishes to add a delicious flavour as well as fantastic colour and texture.
Can you get liver fluke from watercress?
People usually become infected by eating raw watercress or other water plants contaminated with immature parasite larvae. The young worms move through the intestinal wall, the abdominal cavity, and the liver tissue, into the bile ducts, where they develop into mature adult flukes that produce eggs.
Should I boil watercress?
Like kale, watercress doesn’t need to be cooked for very long to yield tender and tasty results. In fact, you’ll probably cook watercress for shorter amounts of time than kale because the leaves are thinner and much smaller than kale leaves.
What are the side effects of eating watercress?
There are no known side effects of watercress at routine doses.
Which is healthier spinach or watercress?
Spinach is richer not only in vitamins but in minerals as well. Spinach has 15 times more iron, five times more zinc, and nearly four times more magnesium than watercress. Spinach is also richer in potassium, copper and contains higher levels of sodium.
Do you eat the stems of watercress?
The entire watercress plant is edible – leaves, stalks and even the flowers. Only the roots are best discarded as they don’t taste great! Everything else can be eaten raw or added to your favourite dish to add that classic peppery flavour.
Is watercress a laxative?
It is a powerful diuretic and natural laxative — it is a good gout and rheumatism remedy — it flushes uric acid from the system. Crushed Watercress leaves can be applied as a poultice for gout and rheumatism.
Is watercress anti inflammatory?
Provides Beneficial Anti-inflammatory Effects
Watercress is also loaded with antioxidants, which can help neutralize harmful free radicals to fight inflammation at a cellular level. These antioxidants play a key role in maintaining immune function, enhancing eye health, promoting better blood sugar control and more.
How do you get the bitterness out of watercress?
My mother-in-law, an expert of making watercress soup, once taught me her trick of how to make watercress soup without bitterness. It’s so simple. You need to add the watercress in vigorously boiling water in batches, not in warm water or anywhere not up to the boil. Then your soup won’t give you bitterness.
How much watercress should I eat daily?
Watercress is part of the fruit and vegetable food group, with 80g (one cereal bowl full) providing one of the ‘at least five a day‘ portions recommended by the Department of Health to help reduce the risk of some cancers, cardiovascular disease and many other chronic conditions.
How long does watercress last in the fridge?
To keep watercress fresh for up to 5 days, store it in the refrigerator in a deep bowl, upside-down with the stems submerged in cold water and the leafy tops covered with a plastic bag. Drain well before using.
Can watercress make you ill?
When taken by mouth: Watercress is LIKELY SAFE in the amounts found in food. Watercress is POSSIBLY SAFE when taken by mouth in amounts used in medicine, short-term. When it is used long-term or in very large amounts, watercress is POSSIBLY UNSAFE and can cause damage to the stomach.
What kills liver flukes in humans?
It’s possible to eradicate liver flukes completely. An infection will usually be treated with a drug called triclabendazole. It’s given orally, usually in one or two doses, and most people respond well to this treatment. A short course of corticosteroids is sometimes prescribed for acute phases with severe symptoms.
Can I eat watercress from my pond?
You would not collect untreated water from the river to drink and, as watercress has such a close relationship with the water in which it is grown, by eating wild watercress you risk ingesting contamination which could make you ill.
What are the health benefits of watercress?
Watercress is a good source of vitamin C. This nutrient has a long list of health benefits, including supporting collagen production to keep your hair, nails, skin and joints healthy. Vitamin C also has immune-boosting and wound healing properties.
What goes well with watercress?
Avocado, bell peppers, broccoli, butternut squash, chilli, cucumber, fennel, ginger, horseradish, leek, onion, orange, pear, persimmon, potato, sweet potato.
How do you clean watercress?
To wash it, leave the bunch held together by a rubber band and plunge into a sink or basin of cold water and swish around, then drain and pat dry on a clean towel. Watercress can be torn into pieces and added to salads for a peppery bite, or sautéed and served warm.