Watercress

Studies in people

• Benefit

  Heart and blood sugar health²

  Watercress may improve cholesterol, blood sugar and inflammation, but most evidence comes from small or animal studies.

• Benefit

  Heart and blood vessel health³

  In adults, watercress capsules lowered LDL cholesterol and changed many blood markers, but scientists say larger studies are needed.

• No harm found

  Blood sugar after meals⁴

  In healthy men, eating watercress with a high-fat meal did not lower blood sugar or insulin.

• Benefit

  Exercise-related cell damage⁵

  In ten men, eating watercress before hard exercise reduced signs of DNA damage and fat damage.

• Benefit

  DNA damage and cancer risk⁶

  In people, eating watercress daily was linked to less DNA damage, which may relate to cancer risk.

• Open question

  How the body handles medicine⁷

  In people, eating watercress lowered some breakdown products of acetaminophen, but not the main ones.

• Benefit

  Lung cancer risk in smokers⁸

  In smokers, eating watercress changed how their bodies broke down a tobacco chemical linked to lung cancer.

• Benefit

  Cholesterol and blood fats¹⁴

  In overweight people, watercress extract improved bad cholesterol and some blood markers over five weeks.

• Open question

  Cancer-fighting pathway in the body¹⁵

  In people who ate watercress, a cell pathway linked to cancer slowed, but scientists do not yet know if this helps.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Breast cancer spread¹⁶

  In lab studies, watercress extracts stopped breast cancer cells from breaking down tissue and spreading.

Found in some samples or products

These come from where it was grown, how it was processed or cooked, or what it was made into. They are not about the ingredient itself, so the signal does not count them.

• Foodborne illness outbreak¹²

  In France, people who ate raw watercress from one producer got sick with fascioliasis.

How it’s made and used

• How the body handles it⁹

  Eating watercress released a compound called PEITC in people, which showed up in their urine.

• Cancer protection and genes¹⁰

  In people, watercress isothiocyanates left the body at similar rates regardless of GST genotype.

• Nutrient absorption from cooking¹¹

  Cooked watercress still turns some of its natural compounds into ones the body absorbs, but far less than raw watercress does.

• How smokers break down nicotine¹³

  In smokers, eating watercress changed how their bodies processed nicotine breakdown products, but not nicotine itself.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.