Some foods are considered superfoods with properties as potent as drugs, but without the harmful and toxic effects they are increasingly recognized for. That's why some people call them alicaments! This concept born from the contraction of the words food and medicine is in full development.

However, it is important to distinguish between natural and industrial foodstuffs.

The first ones are generally extracted from plants with medicinal and curative properties often known for a very long time. Some plants used by our ancestors since antiquity are only beginning to be recognized by the current official authorities. From this point of view, the example of cranberry juice is very representative. Used since the dawn of time in case of urinary infection, it was recently validated by the AFSSA (French Agency for Food Safety). Unfortunately, this type of recognition is still very rare despite numerous significant and validated scientific studies. It is true that it is impossible to patent a plant, unlike chemical molecules, from which the pharmaceutical industry lobby gets fat.

The second type of food, industrial food, is artificially enriched with natural or non-natural substances with beneficial properties, such as omega-3 enriched oils.

Links between diet and cancer

The long-forgotten link between healthy eating and good health is increasingly being revived. In the absolute, our food should be and should have remained our best prevention against disease and especially against cancer and other so-called "civilization" diseases that ravage our current populations and this at increasingly early ages.

The latest emerging research on immunotherapy clearly demonstrates the anti-cancer power of a properly conducted diet.

According to a report by the World Cancer Research Fund UK, 30 to 40% of all cancers are the result of poor eating habits. Professor Emeritus Pierre-Marie Martin, a French oncologist, goes even further by stating that one cancer out of two could be avoided by adopting a healthy and balanced diet and by avoiding chemical additives and other endocrine disruptors.

Légumes protective.

Vegetables from the cruciferous family, especially broccoli, cauliflower and common cabbage, are known for their anti-cancer properties. Other plants of the cruciferous family are less known. They should however hold our attention because of their very beneficial virtues. This is the case with watercress. Its interest is twofold, it prevents the formation of cancerous cells, but also slows down the development of possible cancers.

Watercress

Watercress or officinal cress is known by the Latin name of Nasturtium Officinale. It should not be confused with its two cousins, the ground cress (Barbarea Verna) and the Alenese cress (Lepidium Sativum).

Watercress loves water. It is cultivated in very aqueous medium. Its wild harvesting should be avoided, as it may harbor a parasite in the form of a worm known as liver fluke. This organism causes severe liver disease, but it is rare. If you want to be reassured, it is better to buy it from a specialized market gardener and preferably of organic origin.

Its small rounded leaves have a pungent taste. It can be eaten in salads, chopped as a dressing in the same way as parsley or coriander, cooked like spinach or in soup.

Its chemical composition is as follows:

- Minerals: significant amounts of iron and calcium - interesting amounts of magnesium and zinc.

- Vitamins: lots of vitamin C, provitamin A and folic acid - good amounts of vitamin E, vitamin K and all the B vitamins (unfortunately except B12).

- Significant presence of glucosinolates: this sulfur derivative is transformed by myrosinase (an enzyme present in the plant) into isothiocyanates and in particular phenethyl-isothiocyanates (PEITC). It is these particularly antioxidant molecules that give watercress its pungent flavor.

Despite being green in color, it contains a lot of carotenoids (zeaxanthin, lutein, other interesting antioxidant active ingredients.

Rich in chlorophyll (a natural chemical molecule with a structure similar to our hemoglobin), it allows a purification of the blood and a light detoxification of the liver.

It is by consuming it raw of course that you will benefit the most from this set of protective and beneficial substances for the health.