Forget kale, which has long been considered the best vegetable for health by nutritionists. The latter have in fact just rediscovered a long-forgotten vegetable (but which our grandmothers were particularly fond of for making their soups) and which has just earned its stripes of “healthiest vegetable“.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) evaluate food and assigns them a nutrient density score based on their concentration of essential vitamins and minerals. The highest-rated vegetables are “foods providing, on average, 10% or more of the daily value per 100 kcal of 17 eligible nutrients.” And there is one who just got the perfect score of 100/100.
More vitamin C than an orange
Nutritionists (rightly) consider green leafy vegetables to be “superfoods.” But while spinach, chard and beet greens all score around 80, there is one vegetable that scores 100: watercress!
This vegetable, which grows in bodies of fresh water (we also call it watercress) has many virtues. It is an excellent source of vitamins A and K, as well as iron, calcium and potassium. “And to top it off, it has more vitamin C than an orange,” explains Dr. Amy Leenutrition manager at Nucific.
Its only drawback: it is difficult to find because it likes neither the cold of winter nor the intense heat of summer. It only flourishes near watercourses in spring and autumn. On the other hand, you can often find young shoots of watercress in organic stores that you can sprinkle on your salads to benefit from the benefits of this “supervegetable”… and what’s more, it will give them a slightly more “spicy” taste.
Source: www.topsante.com
