Boost Vitamin C with Watercress

Watercress’ high Vitamin C content makes it an excellent source of this essential nutrient. Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is one of thirteen essential vitamins necessary for bodily function not produced within the body itself. This means that dietary sources are needed to maintain healthy levels of Vitamin C. Vitamin C has a variety of key functions and characteristics that make it unique. Vitamin C is essential to your body’s growth and development, critical for its antioxidizing properties, ability to synthesize collagen, and capability to reduce the risk of chronic diseases. Vitamin C is water-soluble, so it’s imperative to include Vitamin C in your daily diet.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the most typical risk factors for Vitamin C deficiency are poor diet, mental illness, smoking, alcoholism, anorexia, and dialysis. While symptoms can take months to develop, there are subtle signs to look for.

If your Skin Texture is declining, add more Vitamin C. This includes skin bumps, as well as dry and damaged skin. Vitamin C is crucial in collagen production, a protein abundant in connective tissues like skin, hair, bones, and blood vessels.

Healthy skin contains large amounts of Vitamin C. Specifically in the epidermis, also known as the outer layer of your skin. Here, Vitamin C keeps your skin healthy by protecting it from oxidative damage related to the sun and pollutants from the ozone or cigarette smoke.

If you’re low in Vitamin C, you may also notice that your Hair Follicles are Bright Red. Hair follicles on the surface of your skin contain tiny blood vessels that allocate nutrients and blood. When the blood is short in Vitamin C, the small blood vessels become brittle, breaking more effortlessly and causing bright red spots to appear around the hair follicles. This is known as perifollicular hemorrhage.

Another indication you may be Vitamin C deficient could be easily bruising or if your wounds heal slowly. Like anemia, Vitamin C deficiency and Iron Deficiency often go hand in hand.

Vitamin C may also help protect your body from unexplained weight gain. Vitamin C helps regulate the release of fat from fat cells, reducing stress hormones and decreasing inflammation. Research has indicated a consistent link between low Vitamin C and excess body fat.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant with high potency, protecting your body’s cells from damage. More specifically, Watercress has a high volume of beta-carotene and other carotenoids, which demonstrates the influence of Vitamin C within the leafy green.

Watercress will allow you to hit your recommended daily Vitamin C intake with just 80g or 0.64 cups of its contents, granting you 50 mg of Vitamin C. In comparison, an 80g orange contains only 40 mg of Vitamin C.

One of our favorite ways to add this delicious leafy green to my daily diet is to add it to this delicious pepperoni pizza recipe. If you don’t have time to make something from scratch, just add a handful of the superleaf to your favorite pie… and maybe a little drizzle of honey.

Another excellent way to incorporate Vitamin C is with the Watercress, Arugula, and Avocado Salad.

Eating a well-balanced diet is essential to getting the nutrients your body needs. Therefore, incorporating the world’s most nutrient-dense food should be on everyone’s plate. Watercress blows other foods out of the water regarding taste and nutrition. In addition, it’s the only food on the planet to score perfectly on both the ANDI and CDC rankings.

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Author: Alexis Bozeman, healthy lifestyle content creator