Parsley: Antioxidant Enhancer – Healing Power

Parsley is much more than a throw-away garnish on the plat du jour or an after-dinner breath freshener. It can hold its own against any green as a worthy supplier of cell-protecting antioxidants—especially the antioxidants known as flavonoids, which research shows play a role in fighting heart disease and cancer.

And parsley is uniquely rich in apigenin—an antioxidant that helps other antioxidants work better.

In a study by Danish researchers, 14 people ate a diet with almost no antioxidants or flavones for two weeks. The activity of two of the body’s most powerful self-generated antioxidants—superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione—was dramatically decreased, and there was a corresponding increase in cell-damaging oxidation. Until, that is, the volunteers ate apigenin-rich parsley. “The intervention with parsley seemed to overcome this decrease,” said the researchers in the British Journal of Nutrition, “and resulted in increased levels of SOD and glutathione.”

Apigenin isn’t all that parsley has going for it. It also delivers plenty of vitamins A and C, as well as lutein, an antioxidant that helps prevent age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness. It’s also a good source of B vitamins and the minerals calcium and iron.

Parsley’s Healing Power

Traditional healers have used parsley as a diuretic, to cleanse the kidneys and bladder, and to reduce high blood pressure. But parsley may have many other healing powers, as scientists are discovering.

Cancer. Researchers at Harvard Medical School analyzed the flavonoid content of the diets of 1,140 women with ovarian cancer and 1,180 women without the disease, and found that only apigenin intake was linked to a lower incidence of ovarian cancer—21 percent lower. There have been dozens of test tube and animal studies on apigenin and cancer. In a recent review of the research, scientists at Case Western University in Cleveland concluded that apigenin has “considerable potential to be developed as a cancer chemopreventive agent” (a natural substance that fights cancer). And they say that because apigenin is such a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, it may also have the potential to fight heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Heart disease. Noting that parsley is used in Morocco as a traditional medicine for heart disease, a team of Moroccan researchers tested its effectiveness in reducing platelet aggregation, the bloodthickening that triggers the artery-blood clots that cause most heart attacks and strokes. Parsley reduced platelet aggregation by up to 65 percent. “The dietary intake of parsley may benefit . . . the nutritional prevention of cardiovascular diseases,” concluded the researchers in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology.

Diabetes. Parsley is used in Turkey as a natural medicine to treat type 2 diabetes. When a team of Turkish researchers tested the spice on animals with chemically induced diabetes, they found it significantly lowered blood sugar. Another team of Turkish researchers found parsley protected diabetic animals from a type of liver damage caused by the disease.

Constipation. “Parsley has been claimed in folk medicine to possess laxative properties,” wrote a team of Lebanese researchers in the journal Phytomedicine. When they analyzed parsley, they found it contained properties similar to laxative drugs.

Ulcers. Researchers in Saudi Arabia reviewed the history of parsley’s use as a folk medicine for many problems—for flushing the urinary tract and preventing kidney stones; for treating diarrhea, indigestion, gallstones, and flatulence; and for menstrual difficulties. When they tested the spice’s healing action in animals, they found it had the power to prevent experimentally induced stomach ulcers. The findings were in The American Journal of Chinese Medicine.

Parsley may help prevent and/or treat:

Bad breath

Cancer

Constipation

Diabetes, type 2

Heart disease

Ulcer

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Parsley pairs well with virtually all spices, but particularly well with:

Basil

Bay leaf

Fennel seed

Garlic

Marjoram

Mint

Onion

Oregano

Rosemary

Sage

Thyme

and complements all recipes, especially those featuring:

Beans

Cheese

Eggs

Fish

Legumes

Lentils

Vegetables

Caution: Pregnant women should not eat parsley in large amounts as it can cause uterine contractions.

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Other recipes containing parsley:

Bavarian Apple and Horseradish Sauce

Boeuf Bourguignon

Bouquet Garni

By-the-Bay Fisherman’s Chowder

Ginger Carrot and Squash Soup

Roast Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Roasted Tomato Soup with Fennel and Mint

Sage Sausage and Apricot Stuffing

Shellfish in Saffron Broth

Spice de Provence

There are two common varieties of parsley: curly parsley and flat leaf parsley.

Getting to Know Parsley

Americans use a lot of parsley—it’s third only to salt and pepper as the most heavily consumed spice. But Americans don’t use anywhere near as much as people in the Middle East, who consume it by the cupful.

Virtually every nation in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean has its own version of tabbouleh, a salad containing equal parts parsley and cracked wheat (bulgur), mixed with olive oil, scallions, and mint. In Lebanon, where tabbouleh originated, cooks prefer to use much more parsley than cracked wheat, and spike the salad with cinnamon and allspice. Baba ghanoush is another Middle Eastern dish heavily enriched with parsley. (Like tabbouleh, it’s also popular in the US.)

In fact, parsley forms the core of many popular dishes in many parts of the world.

Gremolata, a condiment made from parsley, garlic, and lemon zest, is the classic accompaniment to Italy’s osso buco, a specialty from Milan.

In France, parsley and garlic form the cook’s mise en place (meaning “everything in its place”)—the base for many dishes. It is the foundation of persillade (which also includes garlic, oil, and vinegar), a sauce and seasoning mixture used in French and Greek cooking (and in Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole cuisines). Germans prefer a variety called Hamburg parsley or turnip root parsley, which is strong and thick like celery. (It tastes a lot like celery heavily spiced with parsley.) Hamburg parsley enjoyed a brief period of popularity in the US, but is now almost unheard of. In Britain, parsley has been a favorite since the reign of Henry VIII, who enjoyed the taste it gave to white sauces.

Argentine cuisine is famous for chimichurri, an intense green sauce that tops grilled meat. It is also used as a marinade. Parsley is put in Cuba’s version of sofrito, a popular Latin hot sauce, to mellow the flavor.

You’ll rarely find parsley used in Asian cuisines, where the much stronger-tasting cilantro is preferred.

How to Buy Parsley

There are two common varieties of parsley: curly parsley, which is preferred in the US and Great Britain, and flat leaf parsley (also called Italian parsley), which is preferred everywhere else.

Flat leaf parsley is more richly flavored than curly parsley and is used exclusively in making tabbouleh and other Middle Eastern parsley dishes. It resembles cilantro, but a close whiff confirms that it’s not. The curly variety is more popular in the US because it makes a prettier garnish. You can find both in just about any supermarket.

Parsley is sold fresh and dried. When buying fresh, choose bunches that aren’t wilted and have springy, erect stems. Rinse parsley thoroughly in cold water to remove grit, especially curly varieties. It is best kept in the refrigerator in a glass of cold water. To freeze, wrap sprigs in foil. It will also freeze well finely chopped.

Choose dried parsley that is deep green and free of pieces of stalk or yellow leaves. Check it in the store: it can lose its color and flavor sitting on the supermarket shelf.

It’s easy (and less expensive) to dry your own. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Lay parsley sprigs out flat on a baking sheet. Put the sheet in the oven and turn off the heat. “Bake” for 15 or 20 minutes until they get crisp. Turn them at least once while they are drying.

Chimichurri Sauce

This parsley sauce from Argentina is popular throughout South America, where it’s used as a marinade and a sauce for grilled meats and poultry. This recipe makes enough to use as a marinade for steaks, and a sauce for eight people.

2 cups fresh flat leaf parsley, stems removed and tightly packed

5 large garlic cloves

2 dried red chiles, seeds removed

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine the parsley, garlic, and chiles in a food processor and process until very fine. With the processor running add the vinegar, then olive oil. Transfer to a glass bowl. Stir in the oregano and black pepper. Refrigerate for a few hours before using.

Makes about 2 cups.

In the Kitchen with Parsley

Parsley can go in virtually any dish. When used as a spice, it is distinctive yet mild, and it will never dominate a recipe. It is also quite hardy. If you drop it in a deep fryer, it emerges with its shape and color intact.

The stalks have a stronger flavor than the leaves, so make sure to use them. The stalks (not the leaves) are best for adding to stocks and soups.

You can use fresh parsley whole, flaked, chopped, minced, or pureed, and it’s best used toward the end of cooking, to enhance the flavor of other ingredients. Cook chopped parsley within an hour of cutting, as its pungency dissipates.

In long cooking, it’s best to use dried parsley. You’ll get a richer aroma from dried parsley if you steep it in a little hot water before using.

Here are other ways to add more parsley to your diet:

• Parsley takes well to “wet” foods. Add it to omelets, mashed potatoes, pastas, and soup.

• Parsley can counteract the assertiveness of cilantro or other strong flavors, should you go too heavy on them in a dish.

• Mince fresh parsley and garlic and add to fried potatoes a few minutes before they are done, for potatoes persillade.

• Make gremolata by combining ½ cup of minced parsley and 3 minced garlic cloves with the juice of 1 lemon.