Watercress is a type of vegetable that has succulent stems and leaves, with dark green leaves and a silver outer skin and a purple-red stem. Watercress has a sour taste. This is a type of vegetable that was previously only uprooted to eat against hunger and cut for fish to eat to treat fish diseases because watercress has good antibacterial properties.
Watercress grows wild along roads, pathways, and vacant lots. But the World Health Organization recognizes watercress as a medicinal plant with the effect of treating joint diseases, gynecology, reducing pain, diuresis, supporting the heart, treating high fever, pinworms, stimulating bile secretion. Now many countries in the world prefer to use watercress. In Vietnam, watercress is also uprooted and sold outside the market for a very cheap price of only 5000 VND per bundle.
Benefits of watercress
Watercress has many biological activities such as Flavonoids, Coumarin, Monnoterrpene Glycoside, Phenolic compounds that are good for health. Watercress also contains many omega-3s, vitamins, minerals, and some compounds that are good for health. Flavonoids in watercress help to prevent the development of abnormal cells, support cardiovascular diseases, and boost the immune system. Flavonoids are also good for women in the menopausal stage, reducing hot flashes and discomfort for them.
In watercress, there are also many essential minerals for the body such as iron, manganese, calcium, copper… in the roots, stems, and leaves. The leaves of watercress are also rich in selenium, magnesium, vitamin A, and vitamin C.
Plant-based fats from watercress are rich in omega-3s and do not contain cholesterol. Isolated fatty acids from watercress have proven to be good for the health of the cardiovascular system.
Especially in watercress, there is a component called Protulaca oleracea that can reduce body weight, free fatty acids in the blood, and increase blood insulin, increase insulin sensitivity, improve the decrease in glucose uptake and lipid metabolism in mice with diabetes. So watercress is considered a precious remedy for patients with diabetes.
Medicinal recipes from watercress
An article by Dr. Pho Thuan Huong in the Health & Life newspaper says that watercress is listed in the medicinal category of the World Health Organization for the treatment of joint diseases, gynecology, pain relief, diuresis, heart support, reducing high fever, treating pinworms, stimulating bile secretion, lowering blood sugar, and nourishing. Use externally to treat eczema, pimples, and ulcers.
If you want to use watercress as medicine, you should choose red-stemmed plants and use them fresh or dried.
You can refer to some of the following remedies for the whole family:
Children with diarrhea: Crush fresh watercress, squeeze juice, boil it. You can add a little honey for easy consumption.
Women with leucorrhea: 30ml of watercress juice + 2 egg yolks beaten evenly boiled to drink.
People with high fever, rash: Drink raw watercress juice, apply residue on the body.
People with acute and painful urinary tract infection: Drink raw watercress juice.
People with drug poisoning: Crush fresh watercress, take juice to drink, apply residue to the navel.
People with bloody diarrhea: 200g of watercress, finely chop, cook with 100g of glutinous rice into porridge (without salt) and eat when hungry.
People with acute and chronic diarrhea: Cook 1kg of watercress with 3 liters of water and filter to keep 1 liter. Adults drink 3 times a day, 700ml each time (used in hospitals).
Women with postpartum urine retention: 100g of fresh watercress, crushed and squeezed to get 30ml of juice, boil or soak in water. Add 10g of honey to drink.
Women with postpartum bleeding: 200g of fresh or 60g of dried watercress. Drink the extract divided into 2 doses per day.
When deworming is needed: Crush 300g of fresh watercress, squeeze juice, boil with a little salt or sugar. Drink twice a day when hungry, continuously for 3 days is 1 course. Drink 1-3 courses.
In case of chapped lips and mouth ulcers: Watercress juice or concentrated extract applied topically.
In the case of toothache: Fresh juice or concentrated extract used for gargle.
In the case of burns: Mix powdered dried watercress with honey and apply to the affected area.
In the case of long-lasting acne: Crush fresh watercress and apply it on the skin.
In the case of scalp fungus, athlete’s foot, head scabs: Cook watercress into a paste to apply to the affected area or burn dried watercress into ashes to sprinkle on.
In the case of whooping cough: 100g of watercress, boil with 200ml of water, add 30g of rock sugar and boil until 100ml, divide into 3 doses per day, drink for 3 days, the disease is reduced by 50%. Continue drinking for 3 days to improve more and be healthy.
In the case of coughing up blood: Drink the extract (squeezed fresh) or boil to a concentrated extract, eat watercress in various ways (raw, boiled, stir-fried, soup) until recovered. If caused by tuberculosis, combine with anti-tuberculosis drugs according to the treatment regimen of specialized physicians.
Women with vaginal itching: Fresh or dried watercress soaked in water for rinsing.
Patients with hemorrhoids: Cook watercress and eat, leave water for hot compress and soaking. Do it every day for 1 month. The sooner you treat, the faster you recover.
In the case of insect or snake bites: Crush watercress to take juice and drink immediately, apply residue to the bitten area (even in the case of encountering cutaneous leishmaniasis, ground wasp, mosquito bites…). Watercress is only used for first aid and support, then the patient needs to be taken to the hospital.
Cancer patients: China has used watercress to treat many types of cancer.
Esophageal cancer: 30g of fresh watercress boiled until soft, a little soybean powder cooked into porridge, add honey. Eat every day.
Colorectal cancer: 10g of watercress, 30g of cockscomb, drink the extract every day.
Acute leukemia patients: 30g of watercress, 16g of yarrow, 12g of baiji, 16g of simpleleaf chastetree. Drink the extract every day.
In addition, watercress is used to treat anemia, liver, and spleen pain by using watercress to cook soup, boil as a daily dish.
Watercress is also an easy-to-grow vegetable, so you can also plant it in pots for your convenience in cramped urban areas. In rural areas, people often go to uproot wild watercress.
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