Recently, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a list of nutritious fruits and vegetables. In it, agricultural and nutrition experts have identified the best vegetables for human health.

The CDC says the standards are based on the concentration of essential vitamins and minerals in each fruit and vegetable. Common vegetables like spinach and beets have a total score of around 100. But the only vegetable that gets a perfect score of 100 is watercress.

Mỹ đánh giá rau tốt nhất thế giới hóa ra là rau quen thuộc với người Việt - 1
US CDC experts say watercress is the most nutritious vegetable in the world . Photo: News

Watercress is a small, round, leafy green vegetable with a slightly peppery flavor. It is related to kale and cabbage. It is highly nutritious.

According to ancient documents, watercress is one of the vegetables that appeared in ancient Greek, Persian and Roman civilizations. The vegetable has a spicy taste, and even appeared on the menu at the first Thanksgiving.

Because it lives in a humid environment, some regions still consider it a weed. But later, watercress became a reliable, nutritious food source.

According to the BBC, street vendors in London during the Victorian era considered watercress to be “poor man’s bread.” For thousands of years, this vegetable has been used for medicinal purposes throughout Europe and Asia.

"Watercress has incredible health benefits. It's high in vitamin A and potassium, more than lettuce. It also has more vitamin C than oranges. That's why Captain James Cook considered it a miracle food, taking it with him when he traveled the world," said Dr Amy Lee, head of nutrition at Nucific.

Mỹ đánh giá rau tốt nhất thế giới hóa ra là rau quen thuộc với người Việt - 2
Vietnamese stir-fried watercress dish. Photo: Cookpad

While in some parts of the world, watercress is not a popular vegetable, in Vietnam, it is a familiar vegetable on the dinner table. The vegetable can be prepared in many ways, from stir-frying with garlic, cooking soup with minced meat or becoming a hotpot vegetable.

Although considered "the best vegetable in the world", experts say that watercress is often grown underwater and is an aquatic vegetable, so it can be home to tapeworms, leeches, and leeches. Therefore, this vegetable needs to be cooked and should not be eaten raw or undercooked.

"When preparing watercress, do not overcook it because more vitamins will escape," Dr. Lee noted.

According to Dan Tri

Japanese women often eat a vegetable dish 30 minutes before meals to help them stay young longer . When they want to lose weight or take care of their skin, Japanese women often eat a vegetable dish 30 minutes before meals. They are sold in abundance in the market at dirt cheap prices.