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All ingredients | Ingredient Health Benefits

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Evidence

All Strong evidence2 Moderate evidence18 Early research11 Nutrition data7

38 ingredients

Vegetables — See the category page

Vegetables

Early research

Jerusalem artichoke

In a double-blind trial of 45 people in three groups, bifidobacteria rose 1.2 log10 over 21 days. But the short-chain fatty acids that would carry that effect did not change, and flatulence rose significantly.

Vegetables

Nutrition data

Lotus root

Raw lotus root carries 44 mg of vitamin C, 556 mg of potassium and 4.9 g of fibre per 100 g. But it is almost always eaten cooked, so you do not take that 44 mg across intact.

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Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Okra

A 2025 meta-analysis found significant falls in weight, fasting glucose, HbA1c and LDL. But the 12 trials it pooled used doses from 125 mg to 40,000 mg a day — a 320-fold range.

Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Chicory root

In a double-blind crossover trial of 44 people, 12 g a day of chicory inulin raised stool frequency from 3 to 4 a week. But some of the researchers worked for the institute of the company that makes that inulin, and the change is one stool a week.

Vegetables

Nutrition data

Cucumber

All three clinical trials on cucumber used extracts. The lipid trial used seed extract; the osteoarthritis trials used standardised extract. This site could not find a trial that fed cucumber, measured anything and compared against a control.

Vegetables

Nutrition data

Green peas

In a three-arm trial of 180 people, beans lowered LDL by 0.21 mmol/L while peas managed 0.11 with a confidence interval crossing zero. The composition is good — 5.42 g of protein, 40 mg of vitamin C and 5.7 g of fibre per 100 g.

Vegetables

Early research

Watercress

In a single-blind pilot trial, 26 people took dried watercress capsules for 28 days and LDL fell significantly. But there was no consistent effect on other lipids, and the paper states it is exploratory and needs confirmation in larger trials.

Vegetables

Early research

Oyster mushroom

Two double-blind trials have tested this mushroom. The 2022 one set postprandial glucose as its primary endpoint and it did not move. The 2026 one set LDL cholesterol and it did not move either. What moved in both cases were secondary outcomes.

Vegetables

Early research

Celery

In a 2022 trial, systolic pressure fell from 141 to 130 mmHg, measured by 24-hour ambulatory monitoring — a good method. But what participants took was not celery stalks. It was 1.34 g a day of extract from the seed.

Vegetables

Early research

Lettuce

A 2025 randomised trial in Korean adults found total sleep time up by about 35 minutes. But what was given was two capsules a day of an extract from one specific cultivar, not lettuce leaves. The 15 kcal and 370 µg of vitamin A per 100 g are real.

Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Arugula

A dose-response meta-analysis of 75 randomised trials in 1,823 people. Medium-term systolic pressure fell 0.48 mmHg per millimole of nitrate. That is a small figure, and since the USDA carries no nitrate value for arugula, there is no way to say how many millimoles a plateful holds.

Vegetables

Nutrition data

Bamboo shoots

Bamboo shoots contain taxiphyllin, a cyanogenic glycoside that poses a toxicity risk if they are not prepared properly. Boiling, fermentation and steaming reduce it. The composition itself is 27 kcal and 533 mg of potassium per 100 g.

Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Cauliflower

25 kcal and 4.97 g of carbohydrate per 100 g. Against cooked rice (about 130 kcal and 28 g per 100 g) that is a fifth of the energy and the carbohydrate. As a brassica, it falls within observational data linking cruciferous vegetables to lower cardiovascular disease and mortality.

Vegetables

Nutrition data

Eggplant

Eggplant has long been sold in Brazil as a folk remedy for high cholesterol, so it was put through two randomised trials. Both matched placebo. The 2004 trial stated outright that the placebo group changed the same way. The 25 kcal and 3.0 g of fibre per 100 g are real.

Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Daikon radish

At 18 kcal per 100 g it sits close to cucumber, with 22 mg of vitamin C. Observational data link cruciferous vegetables to lower cardiovascular disease and mortality. The old claim that it aids digestion has no established evidence behind it.

Vegetables

Nutrition data

Soybean sprout

"Aspartic acid cures a hangover" is a widespread belief, but this site found no randomised trial in people where feeding soybean sprouts changed a hangover measure. The 172 µg of folate, 15.3 mg of vitamin C and 13.1 g of protein are real.

Vegetables

Early research

White mushrooms

USDA lists ordinary white mushrooms at 0.2 µg of vitamin D and UV-exposed ones at 26.2 µg. Yet pooling six randomised trials, blood levels did not rise significantly (p = 0.12). They rose only in the three European trials, where people started out low.

Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Artichoke

A meta-analysis of nine randomised trials in 702 people found artichoke extract lowered total cholesterol by 17.6 mg/dL. HDL did not move, and what was tested was a leaf extract, not a boiled artichoke.

Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Brussels sprouts

More vitamin C than an orange, at 85 mg, and 177 µg of vitamin K. Cruciferous vegetables tracked with lower cardiovascular disease and mortality, but that is observational and not about Brussels sprouts specifically.

Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Asparagus

52 µg of folate and 41.6 µg of vitamin K for 20 kcal. And in a study of 6,909 people, close to 60% could not smell asparagus in their urine — it is genetic.

Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Bell pepper

128 mg of vitamin C per 100 g of red pepper. The Cochrane review, though, found no reduction in colds.

Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Kale

390 µg of vitamin K, 93.4 mg of vitamin C and 254 mg of calcium per 100 g. Lutein is 6,260 µg — but the AREDS2 primary analysis was not significant.

Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Potato

Total potato intake showed no association with type 2 diabetes risk. Only fried potato did, at a hazard ratio of 1.12.

Vegetables

Moderate evidence

Pumpkin

2,790 µg of beta-carotene in 37 kcal per 100 g baked. Beta-carotene supplements, though, increased lung cancer in smokers.