Watercress is called "sai yeong choy" in cantonese. It is infact one of my favorite vegetable, which I enjoy as soup. Sai yeong choy is popularly used by the chinese to boil as soup, and taste extremely good when consume slowly in extremely hot serving. In the later part of the years, I came across some serving Watercress as fried vegatable which I enjoy equally. However, when you fry it, you must use the young shoot which will be crispy and easy to bite in.
Now I came across this scientific discovery article to share with you. The articles reads as follows;
"UK Scientists say watercress is the new super food, able to prevent certain types of cancer. According to a study published this week in the British Journal of Nutrition, the consumption of a three ounce portion of watercress reduced the presence of a key tumor growth factor six and and eight hours after eating the watercress in healthy patients who had previously been treated for breast cancer.
The study was conducted by the Cancer Research Center at the School of Medicine, Soputhamption General Hospital in the United Kingdom. The study concluded watercress is as therapeutic as traditional drug treatments with tamoxifen and herceptin, commonly used chemotherapy drugs.
The study also said that through regular consumption, watercress "has the potential to confer valuable protection against cancer in general." Watercress has the ability to turn off HIF 1, a signal sent out by cells calling for blood supply," said noted aging scientist Dr. Nicholas Perricon. When HIF1 becomes incorrectly regulated, otherwise harmless precancerous clusters of cells have the opportunity to grow to form invasive tumors. "Scientists have been looking for anti-angiogenesis agents for years because if we can turn off the blood supply, we can kill the cancer," said Perricone. "And it looks like watercress can do that."
Another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in February 2007 showed that, in addition to reducing DNA damage, a daily dose of watercress increased the ability of cells to further resist DNA damage that may be caused by free radicals.
In thre study, 60 men and women, half of whom were smokers, consumed their usual diet plus 85 grams of raw watercress daily for eight weeks. Blood samples were analyzed for plasma antioxidant status and DNA damage in lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. Watercress consumption significantly reduced lymphocyte DNA damage.
In the time of the Romans, Greeks and Persians watercress was used as a natural medicine, prescribed for migraines, anemia, eczema, kidney and liver disorder and tuberculosis.
So don't know what soup to cook for the family? Make it watercress soup once a week"
I would strongly recommend you try this if you have not taken watercress soup before. One thing I can be sure is that I have been taking watercress since childhood and it is cheap and easy to obtain in a lot of places. And while consuming is as part of food, it brings in these miracle value that the scientists now say.
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