Among garden and indoor plants, more and more popularity is gaining watercress is a very unusual plant that has a rich vitamin composition and unusual taste.Therefore, below we tell about the healing properties of watercress and its other features.

The chemical composition of watercress

The use of watercress in the first place is provided by its rich vitamin and mineral composition, which causes the unusual taste of this plant. Externally, watercress is a common green plant, which, when grown, produces branched stems capable of being pulled up to a height of 0.6 m. The main part of the stems occupy small leaves of watercress,  which are valuable for culinary. It is they contain rich chemical composition of lettuce:

1. Essential oils.
2. Fatty oils (cress oil can be used for dressing dishes).
3. Flavonoids.
4. Important minerals are calcium, phosphorus, iodine and magnesium.
5. Vitamins (as the most common - C, A, PP, B, and very rare, such as vitamin D and K).

Did you know? Unlike other vegetable greens, watercress has greater precocity, as well as good resistance to low temperatures. This allows you to grow this plant throughout the year, both in the beds and in the apartment.

The beneficial effects of watercress on the human body

   Useful properties of watercress allow using this food product as for prevention,  so for treatment of complex diseases of the human body.

For the respiratory system

Watercress is a unique natural remedy recommended for people who want to quit smoking. Due to the content of flavonoids in this plant, nicotine particles are not only quickly eliminated from the body, but the smoker loses the craving for their new preparation. For the same reason, watercress is very useful for residents of cities, who do not often have the opportunity to travel to nature and breathe clean air. This plant is able to cope with the influence of harmful ecology on the human body.

  A very useful salad for asthmatics,since fresh juice from this plant is able to organize cleaning for the bronchi and all respiratory tracts, thereby greatly facilitating asthma breathing. With regular use of juice reduces the risk of asthmatic cough, as well as asthmatic attacks with suffocation.

To provide such a beneficial effect on the body, a person suffering from asthma can drink juice three times a day, 2-3 tbsp. l  In difficult cases, the dose received such a drug may be increased or replaced by infusion. For this purpose, 2 tsp. fresh or dried plants should be placed in a thermos, pour a glass of boiling water and infuse for at least 2-3 hours. Take as prescribed by your doctor.

Important! Regular consumption of watercress can be an excellent prevention for people with poor eyesight, as well as for those who have an increased risk of developing cataracts.

For the gastrointestinal tract

  Cress vitamin has a beneficial effect on the digestive process.  It is recommended to eat it to those people who suffer from poor and unstable appetite, as well as have poor digestion.

In addition, the regular use of watercress can normalize the work of the stomach and intestines, its components and structure contribute to a very rapid cleansing of the body from toxins and other accumulations. This in turn leads to the normalization of metabolism in the body, allowing a person to lose weight.

However, this does not mean that every day you need to make salads only from watercress. This plant is much more useful to mix with other useful and light vegetables,  getting vitamin salads without dressing and using spices. Such a recipe is indispensable for maintaining the functioning of the stomach during the diet and speeding up the desired result regarding body shaping.

For the nervous system

   Watercress is an excellent tool for the prevention of diseases of the nervous system, even if they are chronic. Do not forget about the high content of essential oils in cress, which together with vitamins and minerals act as building components for the nervous system, and with the regular inclusion of this plant in the diet contribute to:

• eliminate sleep disorders;
• stabilization of the functioning of nerve cells;
• normalization of pressure;
• out of protracted depression;
• the formation of an optimistic attitude to the world.

For the thyroid gland

  The use of watercress in food allows you to improve the activity  such an important hormonal center of the human body, as thyroid.  First of all, this beneficial effect is due to the high content of iodine in it. If you suffer from problems with the thyroid gland, which has ceased to produce the required amount of hormones, the use of this green will help you correct this difficulty.

Also, watercress allows you to prevent such problems as hyperthyroidism  and its high content of iodine and other minerals contributes improve brain function and thought processes.

Did you know? It is believed that the use of watercress can affect the body to prevent cancer, in particular in the area of ​​the thyroid gland, as well as contribute to the improvement of prostatitis. To improve masculine strength, it is recommended to include in the diet not only the greens of this plant, but also its seeds, from which it is also possible to prepare an alcohol tincture.

For skin

But the masses with watercress will be useful for the skin at any age, due to which that plant in recent years has become very common in cosmetology.  But besides cosmetic improvement of the epidermis, such masks can have a beneficial therapeutic effect in the presence of purulent formations, acne and inflammatory rashes. In this case, you will need not just masks, but saturated compresses of crushed leaves and stems of the plant. Leave them on the skin for only 10 minutes, so as not to cause the opposite result.

The impact of cress on the skin is a deep cleansing, as well as the removal of infections, which contributes to the rapid recovery. Thanks to these features this plant is used even in the treatment of wounds and burns.

For cosmetic purposes   Watercress is used not only fresh:

•   To improve the condition of the skin are preparing  special decoctions of watercress leaves, which are boiled in a crushed state for 5 minutes, cooled and left on the skin as a mask for 15 minutes. After such a mask should wash with clean cool water.
• For smoothing wrinkles and skin elasticity freshly grated watercress is mixed in equal proportions with yogurt. As a result, there should be no more than 3-4 articles. l mask that is applied to the face for 10-15 minutes. After washing off the face mask, it is also recommended to wipe it with a piece of ice.

Watercress is an annual plant. It has long been added to food as a spice and is used to treat many ailments. To understand the benefits and harm of watercress, it is necessary to get acquainted in detail with its composition. Moreover, the application is all parts of the plant - leaves, seeds, roots.

Composition and calorie

Salad has a caloric content of 32 kcal. Green energy value: 2 g of proteins, 1 g of fat, 4 g of carbohydrates.

The benefits of watercress for the human body is priceless, thanks to a rich vitamin set and low calorie content.

The benefits of cress for health

The healing qualities of the plant were appreciated in antiquity. The leaves were used for wound healing, treatment of skin and gallstone diseases. Already modern medicine recommends watercress to improve vision, prevent eye diseases and oncology.

For men and women

Watercress benefits are invaluable for both women's and men's health. The fair sex appreciate the greens for low calorie, a positive effect on the skin and hair. And men appreciate the ability of greens to restore potency, enhance sexual treatment, treat prostatitis.

During pregnancy and breastfeeding

Women in position should also pay attention to the watercress. Greens added to salads or other dishes facilitate the removal of excess fluid from the body, improve intestinal motility and eliminate constipation.

Attention! Lactating mothers should consult a pediatrician before consuming the plant. Since this green is a strong allergen.

For kids

In order for the immune system to function normally, it is enough to add a little salad to children's dishes. The benefits of watercress for the health of the child is manifested in its tonic and anti-inflammatory qualities.

At the slightest cold symptoms, it is enough twice a day to give the child a warm infusion of leaves or use leaves as mustard plaster. Due to the mild expectorant effect, the infusion of greens will help treat a strong cough.

For the elderly

Reasonable addition of leaves to dishes will help to normalize pressure and restore restful sleep, reduce nervous tension. The benefits of greenery are also manifested in the reduction of joint pain. The use of this plant will be an excellent prevention of eye diseases and maintenance of vision.

What is useful cress for weight loss

Dishes with salad are suitable for women who want to lose weight. Low calorie, in combination with a high content of vitamins and minerals, make greens an indispensable additive for salads. What is the use of this plant? Fresh juice improves digestion and helps to eliminate toxins from the body. Therefore, weight loss occurs naturally and easily.

Use in medicine: folk recipes

• to normalize digestion, take a foliage. A glass of boiling water poured crushed leaves (25 g) and insist 25-30 minutes. Strained infusion is drunk before meals, 3 times a day, according to dessert spoon;
• cough and bronchitis are also treated with cress infusion. A glass of boiling water diluted 3 tbsp. spoons of crushed leaves. Strained infusion drink warm, 3 times a day before meals, 2 tbsp. l;
• in case of mastopathy or breast sealing, compresses from fresh leaves are used. The crushed greens are applied on the diseased area for 2-3 hours;

A special benefit of external use is the acceleration of wound healing. On the affected skin impose an ointment with watercress. For its preparation, fresh leaves are well ground and mixed with melted butter (in a ratio of 1: 5).

The use of watercress in cosmetology

The nutritional and healing properties of the plant are also manifested when used externally. The benefits of greenery are beyond doubt: the skin is smoothed and its tone is leveled, inflammatory processes stop and inflammation disappears.

With problems with hair

The use of watercress for hair due to the presence of sulfur. This element is necessary for the formation of keratin. The plant promotes hair growth, prevents their loss. The benefit is manifested in the fight against dandruff - fresh juice is rubbed into the scalp.

Face Masks

Thanks to the ability to combine plants with different products, it is easy to make a mixture for any skin type.

Basic masks:

• in acne rashes, it is recommended to cut the leaves, add a little water and slightly boil it (literally 5 minutes). The leaves are removed from the water and cooled down are applied to the face. After 5-10 minutes, remove and rinse the skin with cool water;
• benefits for oily skin: chopped leaves (2 tbsp. l) mixed with honey (1 tsp). Add egg white and impose on the face. The mask is washed off with cool water in 10-15 minutes;
• for normal skin, a mask of mashed salad in mashed potatoes (10-14 leaves), olive oil (1/2 tsp) will suit. Add 7-10 drops of lemon juice and apply on the skin for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, wash off the mixture;
• to even out skin tone, use a mixture of pounded leaves and sour milk (2 tbsp.). Mask hold for 10 minutes and wash off with cool water.

In case of spring avitaminosis, desquamation becomes a frequent skin problem. The use of watercress is manifested in the ability to eliminate this problem. A mask of 5-10 pounded leaves and heavy cream will help. Porridge mixture is applied on the face and incubated for 10-15 minutes. Wash off with warm water.

As a preventive measure, you can use cosmetic ice in the summer. To do this, leaves with a little water and lemon juice are whipped with a blender to a puree-like appearance. The mixture is laid out in molds and frozen. In the morning wipe face. The main benefit is the alignment of skin color.

Cress in cooking

Thanks to the original taste, the plant is used as a savory additive for different dishes. The leaves are used in the preparation of salads, soups, sauces, casseroles, sandwiches, fresh green cocktails.

The use of the plant is preserved both in dried and stewed form:

• ground dried leaves seasoned omelet or scrambled eggs;
• fruit salads, sprinkled with dried plant, acquire an unexpected taste;
• grass flavor unobtrusively emphasize the smell of meat or fish dishes;
• lovers of cottage cheese and cheeses can also experiment with the tastes of familiar foods.

In order not to be disappointed in the plant, it is desirable to introduce it into the diet gradually. And then it will be easy to create your own original recipes for familiar dishes. Since the use of dried herbs is less, it is advisable to use it fresh.

Possible harm and contraindications

The use of watercress for the preparation of delicious dishes and masks for the face is undeniable.

But we must also take into account the damage that the plant can cause to the human body:

• this plant crop is a strong allergen. Therefore, sensitive people are advised to carefully apply. Before using the plant, it is better to make a test - apply some juice to the skin and evaluate the body's reaction;
• hypotensive undesirable to get involved in this green because the pressure can drop dangerously;
• with the abundant addition of herbs to food, headaches and insomnia can be observed.

When using any products it is desirable to comply with the measure. And then the harm of the plant does not have to feel on your own body. The particular use of the plant is manifested due to the presence of substances that ensure the preservation of cellular structures.

Tip! Adding leaves to the daily diet reduces the risk of developing and developing blood cancer.

The choice of quality product and storage

Watercress has many varieties. The leaves can be of a different shade (even bluish or yellowish), shape. When buying the quality of greenery is primarily checked by touch.

Attention! Fresh leaves are elastic and juicy. The sheet plate must be solid, intact (without tears or holes).

It is not recommended to eat dried or sluggish leaves, since the content of nutrients in them will be minimal. Incomprehensible stains or growths can be symptoms of a plant disease, and such a product is better “bypassing”.

If you are not going to use greens right away, then it is better to wrap it in parchment or thick paper. If there are only plastic bags, it is recommended to make holes in them - for ventilation. Pre-washing greens is not recommended, otherwise wet leaves can quickly rot. The best option is a food container in which the leaves will not crumple. Store greens preferably in the refrigerator. Plucked leaves remain juicy for 5-7 days. Therefore, longer than a week to keep the greens in the refrigerator does not make sense. Frost cress for the winter better in plastic containers.

Conclusion

This plant can not be attributed to the widely advertised, so the benefits and harm of watercress is better to check personally. It is believed that a person should eat 500 g of various fruits / vegetables and greens every day. It is in fresh, unprocessed foods that most of the nutrients are stored.

This plant grows very quickly, so growing it on the windowsill is a great option to fully enrich the diet with vitamins in the winter and summer.

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About the positive properties of watercress became known in ancient times. The plant with a spicy taste and pleasant aroma was used not only in the preparation of dishes, but also as a means to care for the skin of the face and hair. Watercress is unpretentious in the care, and it is easy to grow at home. In taste the leaves of the plant resemble horseradish or radish.

Nutritional value and calorie

Watercress has a high and low calorie. With a value of 32 kcal, the amount of proteins in 100 grams is 2.6 g, fat is less than 1 g, and carbohydrate is 4.5 g. Almost 90% of the water is fresh (photo).

The benefits and harm to the body are determined by its composition. Watercress contains vitamins A, C, E, PP and group B, as well as choline. There are many macro-and micronutrients in it. These include calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, etc. The leaves of the plant contain saturated fatty acids and essential oils.

Watercress is widely used in cooking. It is added to fresh vegetable salads, cold soups, served as a garnish for fish and meat.

Useful properties of watercress

The rich chemical composition and high nutritional value are the determining factors contributing to the health benefits of watercress. The leaves of the plant contain substances that prevent the appearance of cancer cells in the human body. To do this, fresh watercress is recommended to eat daily. In addition, the substances in the plant:

• normalize the work of the intestines and digestive organs;
• help get rid of slagging and toxins;
• promote effective weight loss;
• increase concentration of attention, improve memory and thinking;
• have a rejuvenating effect on the body's cells inside and slow down the aging process of the skin;
• are prevention of thyroid disease;
• positively affect the functioning of the liver;
• contribute to the improvement of vision and are prevention of eye diseases;
• have a diuretic effect;
• normalize blood pressure;
• perform an antibacterial function;
• improve sleep and appetite;
• tone the body, improve mood and well-being.

Cress, the harm and benefits of which are always taken into account when eaten, has the qualities of an aphrodisiac. In women, the plant improves reproductive function, and in men it increases the potency and testosterone levels in the blood.

Watercress: harm and benefits while losing weight

As part of watercress there are They play an important role in cleansing the body from toxins and toxins. This is the first step towards achieving an ideal weight. The digestive organs work stably, the intestines are cleaned, there is no constipation, which means that the extra weight will not linger for a long time.

But not only for this people losing weight like watercress. Its benefits and harms are determined by the low calorie value. With daily use of salad will be a slow but steady weight loss. In this case, the feeling of hunger also appears quite briefly.

For all its usefulness for weight loss, watercress also helps to remove excess fluid from the body and get rid of edema. In turn, this has a positive effect on body shape and well-being.

The use of this green plant is strongly recommended for people with diseases of the lungs and bladder, dysfunction of the thyroid gland, hypertension, anemia, ARVI and skin problems.

Watercress, the harm and benefits of which are directly related to its composition, should be included in a limited amount in the diet of pregnant and lactating women. It is not recommended to give leaves of a plant to children up to three years.

Harm and contraindications to use

It is proved that only fresh watercress has beneficial properties. The dried plant has no nutritional value and even begins to smell unpleasantly. Its use in dry form is useless.

Among the contraindications to the use of salad can be identified several of the most important.

• It is not recommended to eat watercress for people with a tendency to manifest allergic reactions. In this case, skin rashes and irritation may occur.
• It is necessary to limit the use hypotonics as the substances which are contained in a plant promote decrease of pressure.
• Watercress, the harm and benefits of which are obvious to the digestive system, should not be included in the diet of people with gastritis, ulcers and other diseases of the stomach and intestines.

Watercress has the ability to absorb toxins. That is why you should not collect it along the road and railroad tracks. Compliance with the presented recommendations will help to avoid negative health effects and get only the benefits for the body from the salad.

Watercress is a popular vegetable that has an acrid flavor. He owes this to mustard oil, which is part of its chemical composition. Often those who try its greens for the first time say that it resembles or. Nevertheless, its valuable and useful properties have been known since ancient times.

The ancient Greek philosopher and healer Hippocrates used salad-cress as a regenerating agent, cleaned the blood with it and charged the body with vital energy. The ancient Egyptians used it as a medicine for potency and increasing libido. In the Middle Ages, the plant reached Europe, where it was most popular among the inhabitants of Germany.

Its savory taste more and more wins the hearts of consumers. This plant is in demand also because it is very easy to grow, not only on garden beds, but also at home on the windowsill. In addition, it appears much earlier than other green vegetables, easily tolerates frost and grows quickly.

Plant description, growing and care

Watercress has many different names and varieties. In Afghanistan, it is called tertizak, in Georgia it is called tsitsmati. For Armenians, it is known as kotem, and in Ukraine it is a watercress or zherukha. Often you can hear other names: horseradish, garden cress or pepper.

There are several varieties of plants: curly, whole-leaf and sowing. Each species has its own characteristic differences and varieties.

For example, curly cress has a small semi-raised rosette and fancy rugged leaves. The socket in diameter reaches seventeen centimeters. A characteristic representative of this group of salads is the variety “openwork”. It also includes early-ripening and mid-season plant varieties.

The whole-leaf variety of lettuce is characterized by a rather large horizontal rosette, reaching a diameter of up to twenty one centimeters. Such a species usually grows up to five to six centimeters in height. This group includes late-ripening varieties, the most striking of which is the ducat.

Sowing cress is something between a couple of previous varieties. Its rosette, large and semi-raised, possesses weakly dissected chernodnodelnye leaves. This group includes the most early ripening varieties: “curled”, “fun”, “dansky”.

Of the other varieties of the plant can be distinguished broadleaf and narrow-leaved watercress, news, curly-headed, ordinary cress, local, spring and others.

Watercress is a type of cruciferous crucifer genus. The leaves of this vegetable culture have a green, slightly bluish color. It blooms in June with white or pink flowers. Fruits - pods ripen closer to the middle of autumn.

Watercress - a picky and unpretentious plant. With proper care, fresh greens of the plant will delight all year round.

Growing such vegetables does not require significant labor costs. It can even grow in the sand. But if you decide to grow it in the garden, it is desirable to prepare the ground for this in the fall. To do this, remove all weeds, dig up and add humus. In the spring, the soil must be plowed up and fertilized with compost or mineral complexes.

The seeds of the plant are sown in early spring, and already literally after a month and a half of intensive growth they become fit for human consumption. It can be planted for the winter, it can withstand frost and cold resistance.

As a rule, it should be sown in rows, but it grows well in solid beds. Watercress seeds are quite large, they will be easy to evenly distribute in a row, deepening about one centimeter. The distance between the seedlings should be about five centimeters, so that the rosette of the plant is large. The first shoots appear three days after sowing.

However, landing is not all. In order for the plant to grow quickly and well it is necessary to water it in a timely manner. If this is not done, the klopovnik will throw out the arrow, and its leaves will become rough and tough.

How to water the plant:

1. In the heat of the summer, be sure to water the watercress every day.
2. In cloudy weather, one irrigation is enough for three to four days.
3. Waterlogging, like lack of moisture, has a negative effect on the plant, so it is important to observe the optimal watering regime, and then the grass will be less susceptible to various diseases and pest damage.

We should not forget about loosening the soil and getting rid of weeds.

The plant propagates with the help of seeds, and to use lettuce greens for quite a long time, they can be sown several times a year.

In order to collect a good crop of watercress, you must use the plant feeding. But this should be done as carefully as possible. There should be few fertilizers and they should not be highly concentrated, otherwise the green lettuce leaves will get a lot of nitrates. In such cases, it is best to fertilize the soil before planting plants there.

Watercress is a shade-loving plant, so it is not difficult to grow it at home. And so all year round to have such greens in your kitchen. To do this, you need to take a couple of small boxes that are not bulky and fit comfortably on the kitchen windowsill. Instead of the soil they are allowed to use the substrate and even paper towels.

Lettuce seeds are sown every ten days, successively in each of the boxes. Thus, while the leaves are cut from one plant, the other just grows up. Growing watercress and caring for it is so simple that even the beginners in garden art can do it.

The composition and beneficial properties of watercress

The mineral composition is represented by other salts.

In addition, the plant is rich in essential mustard oil, which contains propsin - a glycoside, giving the salad a characteristic flavor and aroma. The seed contains fatty oil, and the roots of the plant include lepidine, a rather bitter substance, widely used in the synthesis of drugs.

Regular consumption of such a plant in food has considerable benefits for the body:

• normalizes digestion and improves appetite;
• promotes the removal of hazardous toxins and harmful toxins;
• normalizes blood pressure.

This green culture found wide application in the field of traditional medicine. It has long been used for anti-inflammatory and restorative purposes. Watercress is highly valued due to its diuretic, sedative, wound healing, expectorant and anti-sclerotic effects.

This herb improves sleep and effectively relieves depression, due to its flavonoids, which are.

Even in modern medicine such a remarkable plant was appreciated: it is recommended to use it for the prevention of cancer, as well as for eye diseases.

Green leaves of watercress treated skin diseases, ulcers and burns, as well as the common cold. He was good at coughing, bronchitis and other inflammatory processes in the respiratory system.

Also taken tinctures and decoctions of this plant with gallstone disease and joint pain. Used this plant as an adjunct in the treatment of prostatitis and cancer. It was believed that the seeds of such a salad improve potency and increase sexual desire.

As a result of various experiments, already in official medicine, scientists have found that the salad contains substances that help maintain the integrity of blood cells. Therefore, its daily use significantly reduces the risk of blood cancer.

For the treatment and prevention of diseases, tinctures, decoctions, various infusions and oils are used. You can use both fresh and dry herbs. The simplest use is to eat cress leaves every day or drink its juice.

The fresh leaves of the plant, crushed into gruel, perfectly tighten wounds. Imposing greens on the affected areas, it is fixed bandages, which allows to get rid of many skin problems.

The juice of the plant helps to cope with dandruff, and added to the bath - with skin diseases.

With a strong cough, use the original mustard plasters, which contain ground cress seeds ground into powder.

From this plant make healing ointments and oils, but the latter can not be prepared at home. Often used simply infusion of cress seeds in vegetable oil.

The ointment can be prepared by mixing the crushed dried stems and leaves of the plant with petroleum jelly or any fat in proportions of one to three. Before use, it is best to keep such products in a warm place for at least a week.

A high content has a positive effect on the state of the thyroid gland and has a positive effect on the endocrine system as a whole.

Watercress is low in calories, its energy value is only 32 kcal per hundred grams of product. At the same time it has high nutritional properties, nourishes the body with vigor and energy. Therefore, it is very effective in diet programs.

If you eat the leaves of the plant every day, you can get rid of periodontal disease and other diseases of the teeth and gums.

Like any product, watercress has both benefit and harm. It is not recommended for people suffering from peptic ulcer and gastritis, as well as other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Overeating of this vegetable is fraught with the appearance of allergic reactions and irritations. And it provokes the appearance of problems with digestion.

Infusion of watercress leaves

• fresh cress greens - three tablespoons;
• dry grass - two tablespoons;
• boiling water - one glass.

Dry and fresh leaves mix and pour boiling water and insist in a thermos or a warm place for two to three hours.

The decoction is done almost as well, only the leaves must be brought to a boil and cook for about five to seven minutes on low heat.

Use in cooking and cosmetology

Freshly used lettuce leaves are commonly used as food, since they lose most of their valuable and beneficial qualities, as well as their remarkable aroma and characteristic spicy taste, as they are dried or thermally processed.

In Europe, this plant has won the hearts of ordinary people for a long time. In France, for example, Lambion watercress is very popular, with a more spicy, spicy and rich flavor.

With this plant, you can cook almost any dish: be it cottage cheese casserole, scrambled eggs or a regular sandwich.

Indispensable this plant and in cosmetology. In this area, its leaves, juice and even oil are used. After applying masks based on it, the skin looks cleaner and fresher, and the hair becomes soft and silky. Watercress has anti-inflammatory properties, which has a calming effect on problem skin, relieves acne and acne.

At home, you can also prepare masks on the basis of such a plant, which will help get rid of the peeling of the skin, normalize the work of the sebaceous glands, as well as suspend the aging process and smooth fine wrinkles.

Mask for oily skin

For cooking will need:

• cress greens - two tablespoons;
•   - one teaspoon;
• egg white - one thing.

Fresh lettuce leaves chop and mix with other ingredients. Apply on face and hold for about ten to twelve minutes, and then rinse with warm water.

Cleansing mask for normal skin

For cooking you will need:

• fresh cress greens - eight to ten leaves;
•   - one teaspoon;
•   - Five to ten drops.

Grind greens into mush and mix with other ingredients. Apply the mixture on the face and hold for ten minutes. After the procedure, wash with warm, and after cool water.

Instead of conclusions

Watercress is a savory spicy plant widely used in various spheres of human life. For its sharp taste and specific aroma, it is valued in cooking. It is used as a spice or seasoning for various dishes. The valuable composition of vegetable culture made it indispensable in traditional medicine and cosmetology. And its high nutritional value and low liking in dietology. The only thing is not worth much to get involved in eating such a plant, otherwise you can earn digestive problems or allergic reactions.

Calories: 32 kcal.

Energy value of the product Cress (Ratio of proteins, fats, carbohydrates):

Squirrels:  2.6 g. (~ 10 kcal) Fat:  0.7 g (~ 6 kcal) Carbohydrates:  4.4 g. (~ 18 kcal)

Energy ratio (b | W | y): 33% | 20% | 55%

Watercress: properties

How much does Cress cost (average price per 1 kg.)?

Moscow and Moscow Region. 333 p.

Cress, being an annual herbaceous plant, at the time of its maximum growth reaches a height of 50 centimeters, but this rarely happens because they eat it in a very young state. Watercress can be called a unique culture, because it is of interest not only for gardeners, but also for cooks. Interestingly, this type of salad does not require special care, so it is often grown on a window sill in a city apartment. It grows remarkably in ordinary pots, adjacent to domestic plants. As food, it is used almost always raw, due to the fact that when dried, the beneficial properties of watercress are lost, and its peculiar flavor is not best converted into an unpleasant odor.

Gourmets say that watercress can turn any dish into an exquisite delicacy. Green lettuce sprouts are used in the preparation of various salads and cold soups. It is also good as a seasoning or side dish for fish and meat dishes, cheese, sausages. Enriching with vitamins food, watercress improves the taste of potatoes, scrambled eggs or scrambled eggs.

The benefits of watercress

It is no secret that this small plant hides a great vitality. The benefits of watercress will consist in the content of such vital mineral salts as potassium, calcium, iron, copper and magnesium, along with vitamins K, E, C, B, D and A. Recently, watercress is counted among the products that have anti-cancer properties. European scientists claim that eating this salad can prevent damage to blood cells, therefore, to protect us from such a terrible disease as blood cancer. Would love to believe them.

If we take into account the fact that watercress has a slight diuretic effect, then the use of this plant is very useful for hypertensive patients. By the way, even in ancient times, men enjoyed drinking watercress before going on a romantic date, because they believed that it was a good aphrodisiac and a stimulant to maintain potency.

The watercress and the beauty area, that is, cosmetology, are not bypassed, where they are very respectful of this plant. The extract of young shoots is often an important component of many cosmetics that act on the epidermis as an antioxidant. For aging skin, the use of watercress is manifested by daily rubbing of the face with ice cubes prepared from a mixture of mineral water and juice of this wonderful.

Watercress Harm

The harm to watercress to consumers is virtually unknown and can only affect the case of individual rejection of this food, expressed in various allergic reactions.

The proportions of the product. How many grams?

The nutritional value

Spices and spices

Watercress: composition, benefits and properties, application

If you ask nerds what is watercress, they will say that this is an annual herb of the cruciferous family, and this will be the correct answer. However, for people far from science, it is important that this herb is very easy to grow - in any place and at any time of the year, and add it to various dishes that become much tastier and healthier from it. In fact, watercress can be grown even in a city apartment in the winter - on the windowsill, and to please yourself and your home with delicious fresh greens.

Meanwhile, watercress is known to people since ancient times, and its history is no less rich than its vitamin and mineral composition.

Even in the ancient Greek and Roman chronicles tells about the beneficial properties of this edible herb; Hippocrates argued that watercress has healing properties - purifies the blood and returns vitality to the sick. In ancient Egypt, oil obtained from cress seeds treated sexual coldness in men and women, and obtained good results. In the Middle Ages, salad began to grow in Europe, and especially loved it in Germany.

There are several types of watercress: there is a curly, with heavily rugged leaves, ripening very quickly; there is a whole leaf - it is larger, and ripens late; The sowing cress belongs to the early ripening varieties, and more is known - its leaves are large, and they are cut slightly. The color of the leaves of lettuce is different: yellowish-green, green or slightly bluish.

Watercress is pleasant to many because it has a savory, spicy, bitter and slightly spicy taste: to someone it resembles horseradish - and it is called podrennik, and to someone - mustard, and botanists believe that the taste of this plant is mixed.

In spring, watercress grows earlier than many green vegetables, as frosts are not terrible for it, it is undemanding to the soil, and it grows very quickly.

The composition of watercress

The chemical composition of all varieties of this salad is almost the same, and has only minor differences, so you can choose for yourself any variety, and grow it for your pleasure.

There are a lot of vitamins and other useful substances in watercress, and their combinations have developed very well. These are carotene, vitamins A, E, C, K, D, PP, vitamins of group B - almost everything; minerals - phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, iodine; proteins, sugars, carbohydrates, essential oils, glypside propsin and alkaloid lepidine, flavonoids and fatty oil.

The benefits and properties of watercress

What properties of watercress are useful for us? If you use it regularly, it does a lot of good things in our body: it improves appetite and regulates digestion, removes toxins and slags, normalizes blood pressure.

In folk medicine, it has long been used as a fortifying and anti-inflammatory agent, as well as a diuretic, expectorant, sedative, wound healing, antisclerotic.

Watercress has antioxidant properties, relieves depression and improves sleep.

Salad leaves in folk medicine treated wounds and ulcers, burns, skin diseases; cold - especially bronchitis and persistent cough; gallstone disease; joint pain.

As an aid, watercress was used in the treatment of prostatitis and oncological diseases. Men were recommended to use unripe seeds of the plant or their alcohol tincture - it was believed that this increases sexual activity.

Modern medicine has discovered substances in the watercress that ensure the integrity of the structure of blood cells - thus the likelihood of developing cancer of the blood when eating lettuce is sharply reduced.

Broths, tinctures and tinctures are made from the seeds, leaves and roots of cress, making oil using fresh or dried plants. In fresh leaves, there is usually no shortage, as it is easy to grow lettuce - you can use it a week after the sprout appears. The simplest thing is to eat watercress 2-4 times a day, or to drink juice - 1-2 tbsp., But regularly, almost every day - this will already improve health and get a healing effect.

For the treatment of acne and pustules, fresh greens of lettuce minced in gruel are used - it is applied to the affected areas and fixed with bandages. When dandruff, fresh juice is rubbed into the scalp, and skin problems are added to bath water.

For edema, mastopathy, prostatitis, redness and peeling of the skin, lettuce juice is ingested, and at the same time make compresses on problem areas with its crushed greens.

With a cold, you can put mustard plasters, in which instead of mustard, watercress seed powder is used.

Topically applied ointment, prepared on the basis of lettuce, as well as oil, prepared from its seeds. Oil of cress in a pure form of the house can not be prepared, because it requires special equipment, but you can insist on vegetable oil seeds. Oil should be 2 times more than the seed.

To prepare the ointment, the dried leaves or roots of watercress are ground to powder and mixed with fat or petroleum jelly - 1: 3. Both oil and ointment should be kept in a warm place for at least a week before use.

Instead of juice, you can use infusions and decoctions of watercress. To cook them, you need to take 3 tbsp. fresh leaves, or 2 tbsp. dry, and brew them with a glass of boiling water. The infusion is ready when the leaves are brewed for 2-3 hours in a warm place or in a thermos.

To get a decoction, you need to bring the leaves to a boil, boil for 5-7 minutes over low heat, and then cool. Take before meals, 1/3 cup; if you suffer from insomnia or anxiety, they also drink before bedtime.

You can just eat salad every day, and then sleep will improve, and the destructive effects of stress will decrease.

With bronchitis and a strong cough, they drink the broth or infusion hot, several times a day. Due to the high content of iodine, watercress supports the normal activity of the thyroid gland, preventing the development of endocrine diseases. If you combine the use of watercress with juices while maintaining diets for weight loss, the weight is reduced much easier, and the body does not cause any harm - the salad compensates for the lack of other products and saturates, eliminating the feeling of hunger.

For the prevention of periodontal disease and other diseases of the teeth, you should eat young greens of watercress every day; you can instead have green germinated seeds.

Cress in cosmetology

In cosmetology both watercress itself and its juice and oil are used: all these derivatives are good for skin and hair care - hair becomes healthy and beautiful, and the skin is cleansed and refreshed. Especially effective is the use of masks with cress for acne and acne. In beauty salons, it is used in combination with other herbal ingredients in anti-inflammatory serums.

Homemade watercress masks

At home it is also easy to make masks with watercress and other products, if you show a little patience. Of course, all components of the masks must be fresh.

When contaminated and oily skin covered with acne, useful mask of fresh boiled lettuce leaves.

Washed and chopped leaves are poured with water, so that they are barely covered, and boil for about 5 minutes on low heat, then cooled and put on face for 5 minutes. Wash off the mask with water at room temperature.

For oily skin, a mask of fresh crushed cress leaves with egg white and honey is suitable.

Mix 2 tbsp. chopped herbs with honey (1 tsp) and one protein, and for 10-12 minutes, apply on face. Wash with water at room temperature.

In normal skin, fresh lettuce leaves (8-10 pieces) are ground in mashed potatoes, olive oil (1 tsp) and lemon juice (5-10 drops) are added. Put on face and hold for about 10 minutes. Wash off first with warm and then cool water.

Smoothes fine lines and improves the complexion of a mask of gruel of lettuce leaves (2 tablespoons) and the same amount of yogurt. Mix components thoroughly and apply on face for 10 minutes. Flush, as in the previous mask. You can wipe the skin with an ice cube.

Soothes the skin and removes the peeling mask of salad with cream. Crushed lettuce leaves (3-4 pieces) are mixed with heavy cream and ground to obtain slurry. Put on face for 10-12 minutes. Wash off as described above.

Cress in cooking

In cooking, watercress has been used for a long time and very widely, but here in Russia it is not yet as popular as, for example, in Western Europe: there it is combined with meat and fish dishes, it is made from soups, salads, souffles, gravy and sauces, seasoning for second courses and cold appetizers. They like to eat salad raw, but vegetarians also blanch it, cook it with wine and sugar, with oil dressings.

You can cook stews, cottage cheese casseroles and omelets with watercress, and sandwiches with it are not just tasty and low-calorie - they are very beautiful and look great on the table. Meal with watercress is very suitable for those who want to get rid of a few pounds of excess weight.

Many people think that watercress dishes are boring and monotonous, but they can decorate any holiday table and also easily become part of the daily menu.

Regular cabbage salad will be bright and appetizing if you add fresh cress salad to it. Finely chopped parsley and basil are mixed with thinly chopped cabbage, onion rings, cucumbers and watercress, poured with olive oil or seasoned with sour cream - a tasty and healthy salad is ready. Instead of salt, it is better to use the juice of sour fruits or berries.

A more nutritious and nutritious, but no less useful dish will be a salad with the addition of pumpkin seeds. First, prepare the dressing: whip in a salad bowl the juice of half a lemon from 1 tbsp. olive oil; then add 3 carrots, grated on a fine grater, a bunch of watercress and mix. Sprinkle on top boiled eggs (2 pcs.), Grated on a large grater. Pour a few drops of vegetable oil into a frying pan, pour pumpkin seeds (1 tbsp), fry for 2 minutes, then add honey (1 tsp), remove and sprinkle the salad.

Fresh salad can be eaten all winter, if you sow seeds every 12-15 days. Watercress leaves grow quickly, so they can be constantly cut and added to various dishes, turning them into healthy and tasty delicacies.

Gataulina Galina

Watercress. Beneficial features. Growing up on the windowsill

Irina March 17, 2014 Press Salad. Beneficial features. Growing up on the windowsill

My dear readers, I have news for you. Hope that nice. In the near future, we will discuss on my blog how to grow greens on your windowsill. How do you like this idea? I really like her. We all understand that spring is a time when you need to support yourself, your loved ones with vitamins, microelements. And not everyone has the opportunity to do it in the suburban areas, and even before the growth of greenery on them is still far away. I suggest that all of us turn our window sill into a small garden like this. And strengthen the immune system, and the eye to please. After all, seeing how greenery appears in front of your eyes at home is always wonderful. It's great if you attract your children to this activity. Also it will be useful for them to learn and see everything.

After reading all the information, you can grow everything yourself, ask questions if you have any problems, get answers, and also take part in the “Garden on the windowsill” contest that I plan to spend on my blog. I will publish the conditions of the competition as soon as possible, but for now take a camera and start taking pictures of all your steps. From planting greens to the time of harvest. I really smile. But I think the idea is clear. The competition will be very simple, accessible to all. All prizes are cash.

How will everything happen now? We will grow watercress, green onions, parsley, dill and spinach. If you do not like something, it does not matter. Choose for yourself only what will be useful and interesting for you.

And Alena Fedorenchik will acquaint and teach all of us the subtleties of growing greens. She will also help us with all the advice, if something is not clear. Alyona leads her website At the family table. This project is devoted to the topic of family meals and how they can be used to strengthen family relationships, first of all, the attachment of children to their parents.

1. watercress
2. scallions
3. parsley, dill and spinach.

And at the end of the cycle of such articles you will also receive many useful things from Alena. I will not talk about all now. Follow articles heading "Garden on the windowsill." I give the word to Alena.

And I want to start, perhaps, with the easiest to grow a plant - watercress. I will tell a little about its useful properties.

Watercress. Beneficial features.

Despite the rather nondescript appearance - a long stalk with a small bundle of leaves at the apex - this plant is rich in many useful substances. Watercress contains salts of calcium, iron, phosphorus, iodine, potassium and others, mustard essential oil (it gives the plant its characteristic taste and smell), B vitamins and a large percentage of vitamin C. Thanks to the last, watercress is even used as an anti-scorching agent . And watercress helps to improve sleep, appetite and digestion, to cope with coughing and even high blood pressure. Plus, it has an antimicrobial effect, due to which it is used in traditional medicine (as part of ointments) for healing wounds.

Well, I hope, I have already inspired you to try to grow this wonderful plant at home. And now I will tell you how we can grow watercress at home.

Watercress. Growing on the windowsill. A photo

Watercress is remarkable for the fact that for its cultivation you can not even use the soil. In fact, you can use any dish (plate, bowl, plastic container), on the bottom of which a substrate is laid - cotton wool, sponge and even a paper towel can be used as such. I myself sprouted my first seeds of cress on a paper towel.

So, what to do:

• we take the substratum from above listed at home
• we put it on the bottom of the chosen dish with a layer of at least 1.5-2 cm,
• we soak it with water (it is best to take the already settled water supply) - not much, because we will add more water when we sow.

Our sowing base is ready. Next we take ourselves watercress seeds, pour them into any container and fill with a small amount of water. You will see: water will enclose each grain into a shell — this is done in order to evenly distribute the seeds, because they are sown densely. And then we just gently pour the water along with the seeds onto our prepared surface, trying to put the seeds on it in one row and more or less evenly.

There is nothing more to be done with the seeds themselves. We cover our container with food film or a regular plastic bag to create a greenhouse effect, and put it on the window sill away from the battery and into a semi-shadowed place (the cress doesn’t need a lot of light and it also does not like heat very much).

Watercress seeds spit pretty quickly - usually within a day, and a day later sprouts appear. Then we remove the film and then just take care of the sprouts: we water them regularly (the cress loves moisture very much), spray it with water from a spray bottle to increase humidity, and turn it around the axis 180o daily so that the stems are not stretched to one side.

Usually, cress – salat is ready for use approximately 2 weeks after sowing, when the stems reach a height of 6–8 cm.

As you can see, everything is quite simple.

How to grow watercress in the soil?

If you want to do everything according to the rules and grow watercress in the soil, then this is what you need:

1. A flower pot - plastic or ceramic, as long as there are holes in the bottom for draining excess water. For the cress, you can choose low pots, because it does not need a high layer of soil.

2. Drainage - it is placed on the bottom of the pot with a height of 2-3 cm.

3. It is desirable to take the soil itself, which includes biohumus. I personally took just universal.

The soil is poured onto the drainage with a layer of 2-4 cm, and cress seeds are poured on it, just as described above.

Then the seeds are sprinkled with a thin layer of soil - 0.5-1 cm, which is still slightly moisturized, and also covered with a film. All the rest is done in the same way as in the first variant described above. The only thing that sprouts can appear a day later, because they still need to germinate through the soil layer. And when the film is removed, the care of our cress will also not differ from that described above in the first embodiment.

Actually, this is all that you need to know for the successful cultivation of watercress. I just want to add that the cress doesn’t re-grow after cutting, so, to get a continuous crop, it is usually sown once every 10-14 days (possible in the same soil, possible in a new pot).

Successes you in growing!

I want to thank Alain for such a master class. Just a miracle! Everything is so gradual, detailed, everything is very clear. Just do not be lazy.

Audio - supplement to the magazine "Aromas of happiness."

Dear readers, do you know what else is news for all of us? Audio came out - an appendix to our spring number “Flavors of happiness”. I hope you are familiar with our magazine. If not yet, be sure to subscribe to it. And you will immediately come to the mail our last number. You can look through it, download it to your computer, and now also listen to those who do not have time. You can subscribe to our magazine here: http://irinazaytseva.ru/aromatu_s4astia We have also invested beauty and soulfulness in the subscription page. I have long been looking for something that will personally please me. I hope you too. It's nice that subscribers write to me: “Irina, I look at your page as if spellbound. For an hour this music sounds, and I can not hear enough. Thanks you". How dear to me such words.

Our magazine was voiced by Yulia Gabdulina and Ekaterina Gerasimova. One article is voiced by the author, Lyudmila Pontun.

All subscribers to the magazine will receive a link to download an audio application. If you have not subscribed to the magazine, you can do it on the subscription page http://irinazaytseva.ru/aromatu_s4astia I wish you a pleasant viewing and listening to all the articles of our magazine.

My soulful gift for today George Davidson Marriage D "Amour  Wonderful music and beautiful video series.

I wish you all health, joy, new pleasant spring troubles.