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With salad season in full swing, you may wonder whether some leaves are healthier than others.

‘All leafy greens are good for you,’ says dietician Helen Tracey, at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.

‘Some are higher in nutrients than others but overall they’re a good source of vitamins C, E, calcium and antioxidants, including phytonutrients such as lutein, which is thought to form a chemical that some studies suggest can lower the risk of developing cataracts in later life.’ In 2006, a study by the University of California, Los Angeles and Louisiana State University found that those who consumed salad and raw vegetables had a higher concentration of vitamins in their bloodstream.

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But according to Tracey, we need to eat them in much greater quantities – half your plate should be filled with greens.

‘In France, it’s normal to have a salad course as part of the meal,’ she says. ‘Here, we eat a lot less.’

She advises patients to eat a variety of darker lettuce leaves and greens such as spinach and watercress. The darker the leaves, the more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants they contain.

As for claims that bagged lettuce is sprayed with chemicals and lacking in nutrients, nutritionist author Fiona Hunter is not concerned.

‘In an ideal world we would all eat greens from our garden but it’s not realistic,’ she says. ‘Stories that bagged salads have no vitamins and minerals and are drenched in chlorine have been disputed.

‘Nutrient levels in all vegetables will fall the older they are, whether they are in a bag or not. And salads can be harvested, bagged and put on supermarket shelves within 24 hours, making them incredibly fresh.’

Watercress

Nutrition score: 4 out of 5

‘Watercress is a powerhouse of nutrition,’ says Hunter. ‘Along with spinach, it has the highest amounts of vitamins C and A of all leaves and contains-high levels of folate, which is needed for a healthy nervous system and cell growth. A cereal bowl of watercress will give you half your Vitamin C for the day.’

It is also high in a group of phytochemicals called glucosimolates, which, when eaten, break down into compounds with strong anti-cancer properties. In 2007, University of Ulster scientists found that eating 3oz of watercress a day could inhibit the growth of cancer cells and even kill them, with smokers benefitting most.

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July 23, 2009