Study Investigates Connection of Watercress to Reduced Cancer Risk

Research performed by scientists at the Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, and the Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, England, looks into the methods by which watercress helps reduce cancer risk, including its ability to reduce DNA damage and alter antioxidant status in healthy adults. The results of this research were published in the Feb. 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (see http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/2/504).

Previous research has shown that cruciferous vegetables like watercress might help reduce the risk of some types of cancers, including lung cancer. In this study, the researchers sought to evaluate the effects of watercress on biomarkers typically related to cancer risk in healthy adults.

The researchers studied the effects of supplementing the diet with watercress in 30 men and 30 womena group that included 30 smokers and 30 nonsmokerswith ages from 19 to 55. Each subject ate 85 grams of raw watercress each day for 8 weeks, in addition to their typical diet.

The effects of this dietary change demonstrated a range of beneficial results, including reduced DNA damage. This effect was particularly noted in smokers vs. nonsmokers. This led the researchers to conclude that consumption of watercress can be linked to a reduced risk of cancer via decreased damage to DNA and possible modulation of antioxidant status by increasing carotenoid concentrations.

Other unrelated studies have shown that phenylethyl isothiocyanateresponsible for the peppery flavor of watercressdemonstrates anticancer properties.