Arugula: Benefits, Nutrition, Uses & Recipes

Dr. Josh Axe · Free quiz

Metabolic Health Quiz

Loading question one…

Arugula, also called rocket (Eruca sativa), is a peppery salad green in the cabbage family, and it's very good for you: two cups have about 10 calories, yet they give you over a third of your daily vitamin K along with folate, calcium and one of the highest nitrate levels of any vegetable.12 Leafy greens like spinach, arugula and Swiss chard sit at No. 1 on my list of foods for healthy blood pressure, and arugula's bitter bite is good news for your liver and digestion, too.54

Your body was designed to make nitric oxide, the molecule that tells your blood vessels to relax, and one of the ways it does that is by converting the nitrates in the vegetables you eat, with help from the bacteria that live on your tongue.67 When your meals run short on greens, your vessels lose one of the raw materials they were built to run on, and a daily handful of arugula puts it back. The same leaf carries the sulfur compounds that give it its pepper, which your chewing turns into substances your cells use to switch on their own cleanup defenses.8

People have prized this leaf since Roman times, traditional healers have long used it to settle the stomach, and the rabbis of the Talmud read the "herbs" of 2 Kings as arugula.910 Modern research is now measuring what those cooks and healers noticed, starting with the nitrate in the leaf and the bitterness on your tongue.

Advertisement

What is arugula?

Bite into a leaf and the flavor starts fresh and green before a mustardy heat builds at the back of your tongue. Depending on the plant, rocket can taste hot, peppery, bitter and even a little sweet,8 and that heat tells you which family it belongs to. Although you eat it like lettuce, arugula is a cruciferous vegetable, a cousin of kale, broccoli, mustard greens and watercress, and its pepper comes from the same family of compounds that makes those vegetables worth eating.8

Around the Mediterranean, people have long eaten the tender leaves raw and cooked the older ones, while in India the plant is grown mainly for its seed, called taramira, which is pressed for oil.911

Baby arugula vs. wild arugula

Baby arugula is simply arugula picked young, with small, tender leaves that suit a salad. What's sold as wild arugula, or wild rocket, is a close cousin, Diplotaxis tenuifolia, with the same peppery character, and researchers study the two side by side because both reach the market as rocket.12 The strength of that pepper changes with how the leaves are grown: when UK researchers tasted rocket delivered to market over a full year, leaves grown in warmer weather or cut a second and third time from the same plants carried more glucosinolates and tasted more peppery, bitter and hot.12 If you like a stronger bite, those leaves are also the ones carrying more of the compounds you'll read about below.

A short history of arugula

Arugula has been valued since Roman times as a reputed aphrodisiac, and in traditional medicine its leaves have long been used to ease abdominal discomfort and improve digestion.9

It has a place in Jewish tradition, too. In 2 Kings, during a famine, Elisha had a great pot of pottage set on for the sons of the prophets, and one "went out into the field to gather herbs" (2 Kings 4:39).13 The Hebrew word for those herbs is orot, and the rabbis of the Talmud taught that the plant was arugula. Rabbi Yochanan explained the name: they're called orot because they enlighten the eyes.10 Arugula also belongs to the bitter greens I list among the foods eaten around Passover, along with lettuce, endive, chicory, horseradish, dandelion and watercress.4

Arugula nutrition facts

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central FDC ID 169387 (arugula, raw) at USDA's cup weight of 20 grams; sugar from the matching FNDDS record; % Daily Value uses FDA adult label values.11514

Vitamin K leads that list, and your body needs it to make the proteins that clot your blood and the proteins your bones rely on.16 Arugula also brings lutein and zeaxanthin, the yellow pigments your eyes collect, and gram for gram it carries more of them than romaine does (3,560 micrograms per 100 grams against 2,310).117 Its folate is the B vitamin your body uses to make every new cell, from blood cells to skin.18

Because a cup weighs only 20 grams, the per-cup amounts look small, but per calorie arugula is remarkably rich: 100 calories' worth would give you about 3.6 times your daily vitamin K, 97% of your folate and 49% of your calcium.114

Vitamin K and lutein are both fat-soluble, so the dressing matters. In a study where each of 7 people ate the same mixed salad three times, the carotenoids were barely absorbed with a fat-free dressing and absorbed far better with an oil-based one, so give your arugula a good drizzle of olive oil.19

What is arugula good for?

How arugula works in your body

Arugula does three main things for you once you eat it: its nitrate becomes nitric oxide for your blood vessels, its peppery compounds wake up your cells' own defenses, and its bitter taste gets your bile and digestive juices flowing.

Nitrate and nitric oxide

Most of the nitrate in your diet, about 80%, comes from vegetables, and the researchers who mapped those food sources concluded that the evidence supports treating vegetable nitrate as a nutrient.7 Arugula is one of the richest of them. In a Nordic gene bank's comparison, 20 varieties of arugula and 41 of spinach, sown and harvested together in pots, averaged 5,672 and 2,229 milligrams of nitrate per kilogram of fresh leaves, and none of the arugula varieties came in low; 15 varieties of orache, a spinach relative grown the same way from a spring sowing, averaged 2,334.2 Your body carries that nitrate from your plate to your saliva to your blood vessels:

When 19 healthy volunteers used an antiseptic mouthwash twice a day for a week, their blood pressure rose by 2 to 3.5 mmHg compared with the week before, without it, tracking the drop in nitrite in their blood.6 That's why, in the step of my High Blood Pressure Protocol that restores nitric oxide, arugula is on the eat-freely list and I ask people to chew slowly and skip antibacterial mouthwash so their saliva can do its nitrate work.5

The peppery bite and your cells' defenses

Arugula keeps the makings of its pepper in two separate places: the leaf stores glucosinolates, mainly glucosativin, glucoraphanin and glucoerucin, apart from an enzyme called myrosinase, and when you chew, the two meet and form isothiocyanates such as erucin and sulforaphane.8 Those are the compounds researchers link to the protective effects of cruciferous vegetables, and the more glucosinolates a leaf carries, the hotter it tastes.812

When you eat arugula raw, in the spring salads I recommend when your digestion is strong, its myrosinase is still working when it reaches your mouth.825 Fresh food matters for these compounds: in a study where each of 12 people tried both, they absorbed far less sulforaphane and erucin from a broccoli supplement without active myrosinase than from fresh broccoli sprouts.26 Arugula carries its own myrosinase, so chewing the raw leaves well lets that enzyme do the same job.8

The bitter taste and your bile

The third job starts on your tongue, where arugula's bitter taste gets your bile and digestive juices flowing.

Bile matters for more than digestion, because it's how you absorb vitamins A, D, E and K, and as I've explained on my show, how much of those fat-soluble vitamins you take in often comes down to bile flow.4 When I'm working with a patient who has been supplementing with vitamin D and still runs low, I immediately look to their gallbladder and liver, because their body often doesn't have enough bile or bile flow. I might have them add bitter foods like artichokes and more of the bitter greens.4 Arugula is an easy way to do that, and its own vitamin K and lutein are fat-soluble, so a bitter salad with olive oil helps you absorb what's in it.

Arugula benefits, ranked by evidence

Ranked by the strength of the research, arugula's best-supported benefits are for blood pressure, bones, fullness and the aging brain, followed by cell protection, liver and digestive support, eye support and blood sugar support. Each card names the kind of study behind it.

Arugula in traditional medicine

For desire. Arugula is one of the traditional aphrodisiac foods, and in Arabian countries people eat its seeds and tender leaves to strengthen desire.9 The rabbis knew that reputation, too: the Talmud names arugula, with garlic, cress, purslane and eggs, among five foods the sages believed could arouse a man.10 In animal studies, arugula extracts have protected sperm and the testes against toxins.9

For the skin. Arugula is one of the medicinal plants people in Saudi Arabia have traditionally used for skin conditions.42 In the lab, an arugula extract and two of its flavonols, quercetin and isorhamnetin, raised filaggrin, a protein that keeps the skin barrier strong, and lowered inflammatory signals in skin cells.43

For the liver, in spring. In Chinese medicine, spring is the liver's season. As I teach it, spring is the time to eat more green foods and to focus on healing and cleansing the liver, with foods that are green and sour and a little bitter.25 Arugula with a squeeze of lemon fits that description. In my Hormone Balance for Women protocol, the way to move liver qi, the TCM term for keeping the liver's energy flowing, is bitter greens, warm cooked food, movement and rest before 11 p.m., and bitter foods there support both bile and the clearing of estrogen.44

Arugula vs. spinach vs. kale vs. romaine

Per 100 grams, raw, from USDA FoodData Central.1454617

Arugula's strengths are its nitrate, its calcium and its pepper. Gram for gram, it has about 2.5 times the nitrate of spinach grown the same way,2 more calcium than spinach or romaine, and more magnesium and potassium than kale or romaine.1454617 Kale carries the most calcium, vitamin C and fiber of the four, spinach the most vitamin K, folate, magnesium and lutein, and romaine a crisp, mild base for a big salad.454617 So eat them in rotation, and use arugula wherever you want a green with a bite.

Raw or cooked: how to eat arugula

Most of the year I lean toward warm, cooked vegetables, but spring and early summer are when your body can most tolerate salads, and arugula is one of the salad greens I name for that season.25

If you have inflammatory bowel disease or run a low body temperature, keep to steamed and cooked vegetables instead of salads.25 The same goes while your gut is healing, because a healing gut prefers warm, cooked, soft foods over raw, cold or fibrous ones, and salads can wait until the lining is sealed.35 Gentle cooking methods like steaming or sautéing can also increase the bioavailability of certain nutrients.30

Arugula sits on my list of the best cruciferous vegetables, with kale, cabbage, radishes, watercress and bok choy, and I highly recommend that you steam them.31 Arugula is so tender that it needs only a minute of heat. Wilt it in a warm pan with a little coconut oil, the way I do in my warm salad recipe below, stir it into soup or pasta right before serving, or fold it into eggs. Cooking mellows the pepper, so if raw arugula is too sharp for you, wilting it is a gentle way in.

How to use arugula

Buying. Look for bright green leaves that are crisp, with no yellowing, wilting or dark, slimy spots, and buy organic when you can, since you eat the whole leaf. Baby arugula is milder, while larger, older leaves have more bite and are often cooked.

Storing. Arugula is delicate, so plan to eat it within a few days. Keep the leaves dry, wrapped loosely in a damp paper towel inside a bag or container in the refrigerator.

Washing. Swish loose or unwashed leaves in a bowl of cold water, lift them out so the grit stays behind, and spin or pat them dry; greens sold as prewashed and ready to eat can go straight into the bowl.

Arugula recipes

These four recipes put arugula at the center: my own warm pear salad and beet salad, a quick pesto and the salmon salad from my blood-pressure meal plan, followed by 13 more ways to enjoy it.

Arugula salad with baked pear and goat cheese

This is my own recipe from Ancient Remedies, and it wilts the arugula in a little coconut oil, so it's a warm salad you can enjoy even when your gut prefers cooked food. The pears bake in a lemon-honey marinade until they're soft and caramelized.47

Arugula salad with beets and goat cheese

My second arugula salad pairs it with beets and is ready in 15 minutes. A shredded red beet and an onion cook briefly in coconut oil with a splash of balsamic vinegar, and the warm mixture goes over a plate of raw arugula, so the leaves soften just a little at the edges.47

Arugula pesto

Arugula makes a pesto with more bite than basil alone, and walnuts and olive oil give it body. Spoon it over fish, eggs or roasted vegetables, or toss it with pasta. For a dairy-free version, see our vegan basil pesto and swap in arugula for half the basil.

Salmon over arugula and beet salad

Grilled salmon over an arugula and beet salad with an olive oil and lemon dressing is Monday's lunch in my High Blood Pressure Protocol's 7-day meal plan, and it pairs beets and leafy greens, the two nitrate foods that protocol puts above all others, with the omega-3 fats of wild salmon.5 Roast the beets ahead, as in our roasted beet salad, and the rest comes together in 15 minutes.

More ways to eat arugula

• Hearty arugula salad with pecorino. Our arugula salad with pecorino pairs the greens with sheep's milk cheese.
• Chicken paillard. Thin, quick-cooked chicken served over arugula and cherry tomatoes, in our chicken paillard recipe.
• Strawberry, almond and goat cheese salad. Toss arugula with sliced strawberries, slivered almonds and crumbled goat cheese, and dress it with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
• Apple or pear with walnuts. For a raw version of the baked pear salad, toss arugula with sliced apple or pear, walnuts or pecans, and goat cheese in place of blue cheese.
• Butternut squash and pecan salad. Roast cubes of squash, toss pecans in a little raw honey and bake them until crisp, and serve both over arugula; our butternut squash guide has more ideas for the squash.
• Watermelon and feta salad. Cubes of watermelon, sheep's or goat's milk feta, mint and arugula make a cooling summer salad.
• Arugula and watermelon salad in a jar. Layer the dressing, watermelon, feta and arugula in a mason jar for a portable lunch, one of our vegan recipes in a jar (skip the feta to keep it vegan).
• Pomegranate and walnut salad. Arugula with pomegranate arils, walnuts and an olive oil dressing.
• Pizza. Top a cauliflower pizza crust or your favorite pizza with raw arugula as soon as it comes out of the oven.
• Wilted arugula pasta. In Italy, cooks make cavatiéddi, a small pasta, with wilted arugula, tomato sauce and pecorino.
• Arugula and garlic oil. Warm arugula and garlic in olive oil to make a peppery oil to spoon over fish.
• Arugula with potatoes. In Slovenia, arugula is boiled with potatoes, added to soup or served with cheese.
• Chickpea and roasted vegetable bowl. Thursday's lunch in my blood-pressure meal plan: chickpeas and roasted vegetables with tahini over arugula.5

How much arugula should you eat?

I recommend filling half your plate with potassium- and nitrate-rich color: greens, beets and other vegetables.5 Two cups of arugula fit easily in that half. They carry an estimated 141 to 227 milligrams of nitrate, depending on whether you use a published average for rocket or the gene-bank measurements above, and in the Danish study the lower risk of cardiovascular disease was already in place at a moderate intake, a median of 59 milligrams of vegetable nitrate a day.23227 Rotate arugula with spinach, kale, romaine and the other greens through your week, and you'll get a wider mix of nutrients and plant compounds.

Arugula side effects and who should be careful

Arugula is one of the gentlest greens you can eat, and a few practical points help you enjoy it well.

If you take warfarin. Interaction check: Moderate. Arugula's vitamin K works against warfarin, though a cup carries only 21.8 micrograms, and gram for gram it has less than a quarter of the vitamin K in raw spinach.14548 You don't need to avoid it.49 Keep your intake of arugula and other greens steady from week to week, and tell the doctor who manages your INR before a big change in how many greens you eat.48

Oxalates. Oxalates aren't a problem in small amounts, and large amounts of high-oxalate foods can add to kidney stone risk in people prone to them, especially with poor gut health.30 Arugula is a low-oxalate green: in a study of bagged salad greens, rocket was in the group with very low oxalate, about 24.1 milligrams per 100 grams, against 694.2 milligrams for the high-oxalate group, which included spinach and red chard.50 If you're prone to kidney stones, arugula is a good green to lean on.

Thyroid. Arugula carries little or none of progoitrin, the precursor of goitrin, the compound behind concerns about crucifers and the thyroid.851

Allergy. Allergic reactions to arugula are rare, but they've been reported, including a case of anaphylaxis.5253 If you ever get hives, swelling of your lips or throat, or trouble breathing after eating it, stop and get emergency care right away.

Washing and storage. Like any raw green, arugula can carry bacteria from the field. A 2024 to 2025 Salmonella outbreak across several European countries was linked to rocket salad and baby spinach and traced to buffalo farms in Italy.54 Wash loose leaves well, keep them cold and eat them within a few days.

The bottom line

Arugula: frequently asked questions

References

1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Arugula, raw. FDC ID 169387. SR Legacy. fdc.nal.usda.gov
2. Solberg SO, Yndgaard F, Axelsson J. Nitrate and oxalate in germplasm collections of spinach and other leafy vegetables. Emir J Food Agric. 2015;27(9):698-705. doi:10.9755/ejfa.2015-04-050
3. Jonvik KL, Nyakayiru J, Pinckaers PJ, Senden JM, van Loon LJ, Verdijk LB. Nitrate-Rich Vegetables Increase Plasma Nitrate and Nitrite Concentrations and Lower Blood Pressure in Healthy Adults. J Nutr. 2016;146(5):986-93. doi:10.3945/jn.116.229807. PMID:27075914
4. Axe J. 10 Biblical Superfoods That Can Add Years to Your Life. The Dr. Josh Axe Show, Ep. 393. 2026 (Dr. Axe at 25:04, 25:28, 26:00 and 26:11).
5. Axe J. The High Blood Pressure Protocol. DrAxe.com protocol. 2026. p. 12, Step 3, "Open" (eat freely: arugula, spinach and leafy greens; avoid antibacterial mouthwash; chew slowly and skip antibacterial mouthwash so saliva can do its nitrate work); p. 15, "Blood-pressure foods, ranked" (No. 1, leafy greens) and "The pressure-lowering plate"; the 7-day meal plan (Monday lunch, grilled salmon over arugula and beet salad; Thursday lunch, chickpea and roasted-vegetable bowl with tahini and arugula).
6. Kapil V, Haydar SM, Pearl V, Lundberg JO, Weitzberg E, Ahluwalia A. Physiological role for nitrate-reducing oral bacteria in blood pressure control. Free Radic Biol Med. 2013;55:93-100. doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2012.11.013. PMID:23183324
7. Hord NG, Tang Y, Bryan NS. Food sources of nitrates and nitrites: the physiologic context for potential health benefits. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;90(1):1-10. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.27131. PMID:19439460
8. Bell L, Wagstaff C. Rocket science: A review of phytochemical & health-related research in Eruca & Diplotaxis species. Food Chem X. 2019;1:100002. doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2018.100002. PMID:31423483
9. Grami D, Selmi S, Rtibi K, Sebai H, De Toni L. Emerging Role of Eruca sativa Mill. in Male Reproductive Health. Nutrients. 2024;16(2):253. doi:10.3390/nu16020253. PMID:38257145
10. Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 18a-18b (William Davidson Edition, English). Sefaria.
11. Kaushal GP, Sital JS, Bhatia IS. Studies on Taramira seed (Eruca sativa Lam.) proteins. J Agric Food Chem. 1982;30(3):431-5. doi:10.1021/jf00111a005. PMID:7096795
12. Bell L, Lignou S, Wagstaff C. High Glucosinolate Content in Rocket Leaves (Diplotaxis tenuifolia and Eruca sativa) after Multiple Harvests Is Associated with Increased Bitterness, Pungency, and Reduced Consumer Liking. Foods. 2020;9(12):1799. doi:10.3390/foods9121799. PMID:33287337
13. The Holy Bible, King James Version. 2 Kings 4:39.
14. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels. fda.gov
15. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Lettuce, arugula, raw. FDC ID 2345311. Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (portion weights: 1 cup = 20 g; "guideline amount in salad" = 40 g). fdc.nal.usda.gov
16. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin K: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. ods.od.nih.gov
17. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Lettuce, cos or romaine, raw. FDC ID 169247. SR Legacy. fdc.nal.usda.gov
18. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Folic Acid. cdc.gov
19. Brown MJ, Ferruzzi MG, Nguyen ML, Cooper DA, Eldridge AL, Schwartz SJ, et al. Carotenoid bioavailability is higher from salads ingested with full-fat than with fat-reduced salad dressings as measured with electrochemical detection. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;80(2):396-403. doi:10.1093/ajcn/80.2.396. PMID:15277161
20. Feskanich D, Weber P, Willett WC, Rockett H, Booth SL, Colditz GA. Vitamin K intake and hip fractures in women: a prospective study. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;69(1):74-9. doi:10.1093/ajcn/69.1.74. PMID:9925126
21. Morris MC, Wang Y, Barnes LL, Bennett DA, Dawson-Hughes B, Booth SL. Nutrients and bioactives in green leafy vegetables and cognitive decline: Prospective study. Neurology. 2018;90(3):e214-e222. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000004815. PMID:29263222
22. Rolls BJ, Roe LS, Meengs JS. Salad and satiety: energy density and portion size of a first-course salad affect energy intake at lunch. J Am Diet Assoc. 2004;104(10):1570-6. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2004.07.001. PMID:15389416
23. Ashworth A, Mitchell K, Blackwell JR, Vanhatalo A, Jones AM. High-nitrate vegetable diet increases plasma nitrate and nitrite concentrations and reduces blood pressure in healthy women. Public Health Nutr. 2015;18(14):2669-78. doi:10.1017/S1368980015000038. PMID:25683748
24. Zhang X, Shu XO, Xiang YB, Yang G, Li H, Gao J, et al. Cruciferous vegetable consumption is associated with a reduced risk of total and cardiovascular disease mortality. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011;94(1):240-6. doi:10.3945/ajcn.110.009340. PMID:21593509
25. Axe J. If You Do One Detox a Year — Do It Now, And Here's How. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2025 (Dr. Axe at 5:43, 26:10 and 26:38).
26. Clarke JD, Hsu A, Riedl K, Bella D, Schwartz SJ, Stevens JF, et al. Bioavailability and inter-conversion of sulforaphane and erucin in human subjects consuming broccoli sprouts or broccoli supplement in a cross-over study design. Pharmacol Res. 2011;64(5):456-63. doi:10.1016/j.phrs.2011.07.005. PMID:21816223
27. Bondonno CP, Dalgaard F, Blekkenhorst LC, Murray K, Lewis JR, Croft KD, et al. Vegetable nitrate intake, blood pressure and incident cardiovascular disease: Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study. Eur J Epidemiol. 2021;36(8):813-825. doi:10.1007/s10654-021-00747-3. PMID:33884541
28. Sim M, Strydom A, Blekkenhorst LC, Bondonno NP, McCormick R, Lim WH, et al. Dietary Vitamin K1 intake is associated with lower long-term fracture-related hospitalization risk: the Perth longitudinal study of ageing women. Food Funct. 2022;13(20):10642-10650. doi:10.1039/d2fo02494b. PMID:36169025
29. Roe LS, Meengs JS, Rolls BJ. Salad and satiety. The effect of timing of salad consumption on meal energy intake. Appetite. 2012;58(1):242-8. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.10.003. PMID:22008705
30. Axe J, Cole W. Heal Your Cells. 2026. "Deficient by Design," pp. 81-83; "Personalized Nutrition for Cellular Healing," p. 135 (book).
31. Axe J. How to Prevent CANCER: 15 Proven Ways to Lower Your Risk. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026 (Dr. Axe at 18:07, 18:35 and 19:32).
32. Azarenko O, Jordan MA, Wilson L. Erucin, the major isothiocyanate in arugula (Eruca sativa), inhibits proliferation of MCF7 tumor cells by suppressing microtubule dynamics. PLoS One. 2014;9(6):e100599. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0100599. PMID:24950293
33. Guo C, Liu Y, Fu H, Zhang X, Li M. Effect of cruciferous vegetable intake on cancer: An umbrella review of meta-analysis. J Food Sci. 2024;89(9):5230-5244. doi:10.1111/1750-3841.17300. PMID:39138635
34. Axe J. Hidden Signs Your Liver Is Sluggish (And What To Do Before It Becomes Serious). The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026 (Dr. Axe at 35:41).
35. Axe J. Healing Leaky Gut Protocol: The 30-Day System. DrAxe.com protocol. 2026 (Phase 2, Replace, days 8-14: add bitter foods such as arugula and dandelion greens 15 minutes before meals; the TCM principle that a healing gut prefers warm, cooked, soft foods).
36. Alqasoumi S, Al-Sohaibani M, Al-Howiriny T, Al-Yahya M, Rafatullah S. Rocket "Eruca sativa": a salad herb with potential gastric anti-ulcer activity. World J Gastroenterol. 2009;15(16):1958-65. doi:10.3748/wjg.15.1958. PMID:19399927
37. Eisenhauer B, Natoli S, Liew G, Flood VM. Lutein and Zeaxanthin-Food Sources, Bioavailability and Dietary Variety in Age-Related Macular Degeneration Protection. Nutrients. 2017;9(2):120. doi:10.3390/nu9020120. PMID:28208784
38. Cho M, Lee J, Kim Y, Kim YJ, Doguer C, Kim M, Ha JH. Hot-Air-Dried Eruca sativa Mill. Extracts Prevent Retinal Inflammation and Unfolded Protein Responses in ARPE-19 Cells. J Med Food. 2026;29(2):91-101. doi:10.1177/1096620X251412888. PMID:41837474
39. El-Missiry MA, El Gindy AM. Amelioration of alloxan induced diabetes mellitus and oxidative stress in rats by oil of Eruca sativa seeds. Ann Nutr Metab. 2000;44(3):97-100. doi:10.1159/000012829. PMID:11053894
40. Hetta MH, Owis AI, Haddad PS, Eid HM. The fatty acid-rich fraction of Eruca sativa (rocket salad) leaf extract exerts antidiabetic effects in cultured skeletal muscle, adipocytes and liver cells. Pharm Biol. 2017;55(1):810-818. doi:10.1080/13880209.2017.1280687. PMID:28112007
41. Piragine E, Flori L, Di Cesare Mannelli L, Ghelardini C, Pagnotta E, Matteo R, et al. Eruca sativa Mill. seed extract promotes anti-obesity and hypoglycemic effects in mice fed with a high-fat diet. Phytother Res. 2021;35(4):1983-1990. doi:10.1002/ptr.6941. PMID:33141966
42. Almoshari Y. Medicinal plants used for dermatological disorders among the people of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A narrative review. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2022;29(6):103303. doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2022.103303. PMID:35592741
43. Kim B, Choi YE, Kim HS. Eruca sativa and its flavonoid components, quercetin and isorhamnetin, improve skin barrier function by activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-α and suppression of inflammatory cytokines. Phytother Res. 2014;28(9):1359-66. doi:10.1002/ptr.5138. PMID:24610745
44. Axe J. Hormone Balance for Women: The 90-Day Healing Protocol. DrAxe.com protocol. 2026. p. 10, "Functional medicine & TCM" (move liver qi: bitter greens, warm cooked food, movement, rest before 11 p.m.; bitter foods stimulate bile and estrogen excretion).
45. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Spinach, raw. FDC ID 168462. SR Legacy. fdc.nal.usda.gov
46. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Kale, raw. FDC ID 168421. SR Legacy. fdc.nal.usda.gov
47. Axe J. Ancient Remedies: Secrets to Healing with Herbs, Essential Oils, CBD, and the Most Powerful Natural Medicine in History. New York: Little, Brown Spark; 2021. ISBN 9780316496414. Recipes, "Arugula Salad with Beets and Goat Cheese," pp. 314-315, and "Arugula Salad with Baked Pear and Goat Cheese," pp. 317-318.
48. National Library of Medicine. Warfarin. MedlinePlus Drug Information. medlineplus.gov
49. Violi F, Lip GY, Pignatelli P, Pastori D. Interaction Between Dietary Vitamin K Intake and Anticoagulation by Vitamin K Antagonists: Is It Really True?: A Systematic Review. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(10):e2895. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000002895. PMID:26962786
50. Jehanno E, Savage GP. Oxalate content of commercially packed salad greens. J Food Agric Environ. 2009;7(3):207-208. (abstract, AGRIS record)
51. Felker P, Bunch R, Leung AM. Concentrations of thiocyanate and goitrin in human plasma, their precursor concentrations in brassica vegetables, and associated potential risk for hypothyroidism. Nutr Rev. 2016;74(4):248-58. doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuv110. PMID:26946249
52. Ruiz Garcia M, Carnes J, Cedena JR, Nieto MF. Anaphylaxis due to Eruca sativa. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 2014;24(6):453-4. PMID:25668902
53. Damiani E, Aloia AM, Priore MG, Pastore A, Lovecchio A, Errico M, et al. IgE-mediated reaction induced by arugula (Eruca sativa) ingestion compared with a spectrum of Brassicaceae proteins. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 2014;42(5):501-3. doi:10.1016/j.aller.2013.05.003. PMID:23830923
54. Ferraro R, Petrin S, Gallo A, Cenere G, Salaris S, Alfano D, et al. European multinational outbreak of Salmonella Umbilo linked to rocket salad and baby spinach traced to buffalo farms in Italy, 2024 to 2025. Vet Res. 2025;56(1):233. doi:10.1186/s13567-025-01663-0. PMID:41413617
55. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. AGROVOC: Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa (c_15797), multilingual labels.
56. Zeb A, Rahman L. Eruca sativa seed oil: Characterization for potential beneficial Properties. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2018;31(4):1251-1258. PMID:30033408
57. Uğur A, Süntar I, Aslan S, Orhan IE, Kartal M, Sekeroğlu N, et al. Variations in fatty acid compositions of the seed oil of Eruca sativa Mill. caused by different sowing periods and nitrogen forms. Pharmacogn Mag. 2010;6(24):305-8. doi:10.4103/0973-1296.71801. PMID:21120033
58. EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM). Erucic acid in feed and food. EFSA J. 2016;14(11):e04593. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4593

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

Read the full bio →

This article is for educational purposes. See our medical disclaimer.