Nutrition for Watercress

Calories, Protein, Vitamins and More


image of watercress source

Watercress Nutrition Summary

One cup of watercress (34 grams or 1.2 oz) contains 4 calories and 0.8 grams of protein. Watercress consist of 95% water, 1% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and less than 1% of total fat.

Watercress is an excellent source of many nutrients, including Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, potassium and Vitamin K.

In one cup of watercress:

  • Calories: 4
  • Protein: 0.8 g
  • Sugar: 0.1 g
  • Dietary fiber: 0.2 g
  • Sodium: 13.9 mg
There is no significant amounts of total fat, saturated fat or cholesterol in watercress.

See the Watercress Nutrition Chart for complete recommended daily values.
The specific nutritional values from USDA is for: Watercress, raw.

Calories in Watercress

Watercress has 4 calories per cup or 12 calories for every 100 grams. Most of its calories are from protein and carbohydrates.

67% of calories in watercress are from protein and 33% of calories are from carbohydrates.

Calories from Carbs

A good portion, or 33% of the calories in watercress are from carbohydrates. The carbs in watercress are mostly in the form of dietary fiber and sugar (67% and 33%). 1 cup of watercress has 1% of daily values or 0.2 grams of dietary fiber.

  • Dietary fiber: 0.2 g
  • Sugar: 0.1 g
There is no significant amounts of starch in watercress.

Calories from Fat

Watercress does not contain a significant amount of calories from fat (less than 1%). Watercress is very low in total fat, with <0.1 grams per cup. Most of the fat in watercress are healthier unsaturated fats.

Watercress is cholesterol free and trans-fat free.

  • Total fat: < 0.1 g
There is no significant amounts of cholesterol, trans fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat or polyunsaturated fat in watercress.

Calories Similar to Watercress

Some other vegetables with similar calories to watercress by weight:


Protein in Watercress

One cup of Watercress has 0.8 grams of protein or about 2% of daily recommended intake. Although watercress is relatively low in protein, it does contain all 9 essential amino acids at small amounts.

  • Protein: 0.78 g
  • Tryptophan: 0.01 g
  • Threonine: 0.05 g
  • Isoleucine: 0.03 g
  • Leucine: 0.06 g
  • Lysine: 0.05 g
  • Phenylalanine: 0.04 g
  • Valine: 0.05 g
  • Histidine: 0.01 g
There is no significant amounts of methionine in watercress.

Protein Similar to Watercress

Some other vegetables with similar amounts of protein to watercress by weight:

Vitamins and Minerals in Watercress

An good source of many nutrients, watercress contains abundant amounts of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, potassium and Vitamin K. In fact, a single cup of watercress contains 94% of recommended daily values or 85 ug of Vitamin K. Also an excellent source of Vitamin C, a single cup of watercress contains 19% of recommended daily values or 14.6 milligrams of Vitamin C.

Vitamins in watercress (1 cup):
  • Vitamin a: 54.4 ug
  • Thiamin: < 0.1 mg
  • Riboflavin: < 0.1 mg
  • Niacin: 0.1 mg
  • Vitamin b6: < 0.1 mg
  • Vitamin c: 14.6 mg
  • Vitamin e: 0.3 mg
  • Folate: 3.1 ug
  • Vitamin k: 85 ug
Minerals in watercress (1 cup):
  • Calcium: 40.8 mg
  • Potassium: 112.2 mg
  • Iron: 0.1 mg
  • Magnesium: 7.1 mg
  • Zinc: < 0.1 mg
  • Selenium: 0.3 ug
  • Phosphorus: 20.4 mg
  • Copper: < 0.1 mg
  • Manganese: 0.1 mg
  • Choline: 3.1 mg
There is no significant amounts of pantothenic acid or vitamin b12 in watercress.

Similar to Watercress for Vitamin K

Here are some other vegetables with similarly abundant amounts of Vitamin K to watercress:

Flavonoids and Carotenoids in Watercress [3]

Watercress contains a number of healthy phytonutrients and antioxidants, specifically carotenoids beta-carotene and lutein + zeaxanthin and flavonoids kaempferol, myricetin and quercetin. In one cup of watercress:

  • beta-carotene: 651 ug
  • lutein + zeaxanthin: 1961 ug
  • kaempferol: 7.83 mg
  • myricetin: 0.07 mg
  • Quercetin: 10.2 mg

Watercress Nutrition Chart

Watercress:

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Nutrition calculations are from Harvard Medical's nutrient guidelines [1] and USDA's food central database (2019) [2].
We calculated values from 2000 kCal daily recommended diet.

Watercress in Cooking

Watercress is in the top 10% of most popular ingredients for recipes. Watercress can be consumed raw and is often chopped, trimmed or washed before cooking or serving. Most recipes call for one or two cups of watercress.

Friends and Relatives of Watercress

Foods commonly cooked with watercress: Other similar relatives:


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