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Evidence-minded articles on the nutrition and health benefits of everyday ingredients — vegetables, fruits, seafood, spices and more.

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All ingredients | Ingredient Health Benefits

All ingredients

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Evidence

All Strong evidence22 Moderate evidence77 Early research41 Nutrition data21

161 ingredients

Fruits

Early research

Dates

Several findings suggest eating dates in late pregnancy shortens labour and reduces the need for induction. But the same paper states that "the overall evidence quality was unacceptable, and risk of bias was high in most studies". And 66.5 g of every 100 g is sugar.

Grains & legumes

Early research

Doenjang

A 12-week double-blind randomised trial found visceral fat fell — only in people carrying the T allele of PPAR-γ2. And in the same trial, insulin and HOMA-IR rose. Meanwhile, the biggest number on doenjang's label is sodium.

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Nuts & seeds

Early research

Hazelnut

A network meta-analysis of 34 randomised trials in 1,677 people ranked pistachio first for triglycerides, LDL and total cholesterol, with hazelnut losing to pistachio on triglycerides and total cholesterol and to walnut on triglycerides. The authors noted the low quality of the evidence. Hazelnut's real strength is not lipids but 15 mg of vitamin E and 6.18 mg of manganese.

Herbs & spices

Moderate evidence

Honey

A Cochrane review (6 randomised trials, 899 children) found honey reduced cough frequency versus no treatment and placebo, at moderate certainty. But the advantage disappeared beyond three days, and the review covers children aged 12 months and over. Below that age, honey risks infant botulism.

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.

Fruits

Nutrition data

Olives

This site has not yet found a clinical trial that fed people olives themselves. The health evidence we have for olives is largely evidence about olive oil and the Mediterranean diet. What the fruit's own numbers say with confidence: 735 mg of sodium, 10.9 g of fat, and 8 mg of potassium.

Grains & legumes

Early research

Soy milk

In a 2026 network meta-analysis, replacing 500 mL of cow milk with soy drink lowered systolic pressure by 8.23 mmHg — about what a single blood-pressure tablet does. But the same paper's overall verdict is that "few differences were observed", and that number is graded low certainty.

Herbs & spices

Early research

Vinegar

A 2025 meta-analysis of seven trials reported fasting glucose down 21.9 mg/dL and HbA1c down 1.53%. That is what metformin achieves. Coming from seven small trials, it is implausibly large. The direction is consistent; the size is not something to accept as printed.

Grains & legumes

Moderate evidence

Adzuki bean

Meta-analyses of trials feeding people around 130 g of pulses a day found LDL falling. But in Korea adzuki mostly arrives with sugar — shaved ice, sweet buns, porridge. The 622 µg of folate and 12.7 g of fibre per 100 g dry are real; sweetened paste is a different food.

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.

Nuts & seeds

Moderate evidence

Cashew

A meta-analysis pooling 392 randomised trial participants found no significant change in total cholesterol, LDL, HDL or triglycerides. Only systolic pressure fell, by 3.39 mmHg (95% CI −6.13 to −0.65). Not all nuts are the same food.

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.

Fruits

Early research

Elderberry

A 2021 systematic review that GRADE-assessed five randomised trials concluded it may not reduce the risk of catching a cold. It may shorten duration and severity, but the evidence is uncertain. And raw, it will make you ill.

Herbs & spices

Moderate evidence

Fenugreek

A meta-analysis of 10 randomised trials in 706 people found significant reductions in fasting glucose, 2-hour post-load glucose and HbA1c. But HOMA-IR did not fall significantly, and among the lipids, LDL and BMI did not move.

Fruits

Early research

Mulberry

A meta-analysis of 13 randomised trials found post-meal glucose down at 30, 60 and 90 minutes. But fasting glucose, HbA1c, HOMA-IR and all four lipid measures showed no difference. And what those trials mostly used was the leaf, not the fruit.

Seafood

Moderate evidence

Octopus

100 g holds 82 kcal, 14.9 g of protein and only 1.04 g of fat, with 20.0 µg of vitamin B12 (833% of the requirement), 44.8 µg of selenium and 5.3 mg of iron. The old warning about cholesterol does not survive contact with the randomised evidence on dietary cholesterol.

Tea & drinks

Early research

Peppermint

Across 10 randomised trials in 1,030 people, peppermint oil beat placebo. But adverse events were more frequent (RR 1.57), the authors stated the quality of evidence was very low, and what was tested was an enteric-coated capsule, not tea.

Fruits

Early research

Persimmon

A trial feeding 9–15 g a day of persimmon tannin fibre for 12 weeks lowered total cholesterol. But that was not eating persimmons — it was a fibre fraction extracted from unripe fruit, baked into bars. And there is a separate caution about astringent persimmon on an empty stomach.

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.

Seafood

Early research

Spirulina

Two meta-analyses published the same year put diastolic blood pressure at −0.42 mmHg and −3.09 mmHg. One found no effect on lipids; the other reported total cholesterol down 11.5 mg/dL. And USDA lists its vitamin B12 as zero.

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.