Top 10 Cress Microgreens Nutritional Benefits
There’re many cress types out there, but only two types are cultivated and eaten. Watercress and garden cress are the only cress types that find a way to our tables, and not only are the leafy greens delicious but they are also beneficial to our bodies. Garden cress originated from Persia and belongs to the cruciferous family. Watercress, which was once considered a weed, was first cultivated in the UK in the 1800s but now grown in watery beds around the world. Cress can be grown as a microgreen and harvested in about 1 week.
2025 Update: As microgreens surge in popularity, recent studies highlight cress as a standout for its nutrient density and sustainability, making it a top choice for home gardeners and health enthusiasts alike (Tallei et al., 2024).] Let’s explore its nutritional benefits.
1. High in Antioxidants
Watercress and garden cress microgreens are packed with compounds called antioxidants, which prevent free radicals from damaging your cells. Free radicals are harmful molecules leading to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress can cause several chronic illnesses including cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
Diets high in antioxidant-rich foods such as watercress can help protect your body against oxidative stress, which lowers the risk of these diseases. A study was done on 12 different cruciferous vegetables to determine their antioxidant levels. Watercress outperformed all other vegetables. Studies have also linked watercress to a lower risk of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
2. Provides Cardiovascular Benefits
Scientific studies indicate that vitamin C keeps the cardiovascular system healthy and adding garden cress to your diet is one of the most steps you can take towards a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, garden cress also has vitamin K, which plays a main role in maintaining cardiovascular health.
Watercress microgreens also have some health benefits, just like garden cress. They help lower cholesterol which improves heart health. Watercress also helps lower blood pressure. To improve your heart health, start by growing and consuming these cruciferous microgreens as salads.
3 A Powerhouse of Carotenoids
Did someone ever tell that you should eat carrots often to enhance your vision? You would be surprised to realize that it’s not just the carrots that carry the visionary benefit. By consuming anounce of garden cress, your body will have close to 40% od the Daily Value of vitamin A in the form of carotenoids.
As you may know, or according to scientific proof, vitamin A and carotenoids are one of the most vital nutrients for your eyes due to their ability to minimize the risk of cataracts, impaired night vision, retinitis pigmentosa, and age-related macular degeneration which is a common cause of blindness in older people.
4. Maintains Healthy Bones
A low intake of vitamin K may increase one’s risk of bone fracture. Enough vitamin K in your system will improve bone health by modifying the proteins essential for forming the bone, improving the absorption of calcium in the body, and reducing the amount of calcium a person loses in their urine.
Eating just one cup of watercress microgreens every day would help someone meet their daily vitamin K requirement. Studies have also shown that watercress is a good source of calcium, which further supports bone development and strength.
5. Aids Weight Loss
Cress microgreens may have the ability to aid weight loss. The food is incredibly nutrient-dense. One cup of cress microgreens contains about four calories and several essential nutrients. If you are trying to drop some fat, you should workout and add this nutritious low-calorie vegetable to your diet.
Both watercress and garden cress microgreens have the ability to aid weight loss. You can pick whichever is available in your area.
6. Good for Your Teeth Too!
I bet cress microgreens would choose another way of being crashed into pieces rather than being chewed, but they appreciate it, though, by giving back to your teeth. Garden cress contains glucotropaeolin which is a pre-cursor to benzyl isothiocyanate(BIT), a compound capable of fighting dental caries.
A 1988 study published in Microbios Letters found that BIT reduced the growth and the production of Streptococcus mutans, a bacterium that has been linked to the development of dental caries.
7. Helps Treat Anemia
Garden cress microgreens contain vitamin B6 which is essential in creating hemoglobin in the blood. That hemoglobin in the blood is transported by red cells throughout the body to help oxygenate the cells to mobilize iron.
When one has insufficient red blood cells, they may suffer Anemia leading to fatigue, headaches, and pain. Research has shown that the consumption of vitamin B6 will help lower symptoms of anemia. Watercress microgreens could have the same health benefit to your body.
8. Helps in Cancer Prevention and Treatment
a 2019 review indicated that a compound known scientifically as 3,3’-diindolylmethane, which is found in cruciferous vegetables, has protective properties against cancer, and you already know that cress microgreens belong in that vegetable family. Recent research in animals and test tubes has concluded that consuming a lot of cruciferous greens has a direct association with a lower risk of bladder or bread cancer.
Studies suggest that a compound known as sulforaphane also gives these vegetables the ability to fight cancer. This compound is responsible for giving vegetables their bitter taste. Watercress microgreens are among the cruciferous greens that are bitter.
9. Beneficial for Lactating Mother
Frequent consumption of garden cress or watercress microgreens helps to encourage the mammary glands to produce milk in lactating mothers. Due to this reason, lactating mothers are encouraged to eat this kind of food to facilitate milk production for their babies.
Furthermore, due to the high protein and iron contents of garden cress and watercress, it’s ideally given to breastfeeding mothers right after they give birth.
10. Provides Dietary Nitrates
Watercress and garden cress microgreens, among other leafy greens, contain a high level of dietary nitrate, which then increases nitric oxide and can have positive effects on one’s health. According to a 2019’s study on rats, it was found that a high intake of dietary intake could help lower blood pressure.
Another study on the effects of a high dose of dietary nitrates on humans showed that it might reduce the amount of oxygen needed whenever someone is exercising and would help enhance athletic performance.
Conclusion
Though watercress and garden cress microgreens are not very popular, their nutritional profile makes them worth trying. After all, you don’t eat “popular,” you eat what’s right for your health. Growing these microgreens is not a difficult process. It’s the same as growing radish and broccoli microgreens.