If you think arugula, wasabi, cabbage, and daikon radishes don't have anything in common, think again. They’re all cruciferous vegetables — as are broccoli, Brussels sprouts, collards, kale, rutabaga, turnips, and bok choy.

If you eat a variety of these foods every day, you get a good dose of vitamins C, B9 (folate), and K (not for people on warfarin or coumadin blood thinners — but alright for others), plus magnesium and flavonoids.

This will beef up your immune system, metabolism, gut biome, and heart health, helping prevent cancers of the breast, pancreas, colon, and prostate.

Now the VESSEL study (VEgetableS for vaScular hEaLth) reveals that cruciferous vegetables can also lower your daytime systolic blood pressure (the upper number) over the course of two weeks when eaten at lunch and dinner.

They do it even better than if you were eating root veggies such as sweet potatoes and carrots — and they reduce triglyceride levels as well.

One great way to get your daily supply of cruciferous vegetables, especially if you aren't a big fan them, is to make a vegetable soup, either with or without added protein from lean chicken.

Check out "WTEW Vegetable Soup" and "Chickpea, Chestnut & Kale Soup" in Dr. Mike's "The What to Eat When Cookbook," and kale-based  "Daphne Oz's King of Greens Salad" at keyingredient.com.

You can also help control blood pressure by eating bananas, blueberries, beets, and kiwis, as well as salmon and ocean trout, which are packed with omega-3s.