By Dr. Mercola
Cabbage doesn’t receive all the fan-fare that other members
of the cruciferous vegetable family do, but it should.
What is
cabbage good for?
A better question might be, what isn’t it good for?
As one of the most potent medicinal foods available, including
cabbage as a regular part of your diet (two or three times a
week, or, even better, four or five) may offer many significant
health benefits.
Cabbage Has Cancer-Preventing Properties
The George Mateljan Foundation recently highlighted some of
the latest news about cabbage and topping the list was its
potential for cancer prevention.1
Nearly 500 studies have looked into this connection and revealed
that cabbage’s anti-cancer powers are likely related to:
- Antioxidants
Cabbage contains powerful antioxidants like vitamins A
and C and phytonutrients such as thiocyanates, lutein,
zeaxanthin, isothiocyanates and sulforaphane, which
stimulate detoxifying enzymes and may protect against
breast, colon and prostate cancers.
Sulforaphane, also selectively targets cancer stem
cells, and by doing so it effectively prevents the cancer
from spreading and/or recurring. Antioxidants also help
protect your body from oxidative stress.
The George Mateljan Foundation noted:2
“Without sufficient intake of antioxidants, our
oxygen metabolism can become compromised, and we can
experience a metabolic problem called oxidative stress.
Chronic oxidative stress in and of itself can be a risk
factor for development of cancer.”
- Anti-inflammatory Properties
You need some level of inflammation in your body to stay
healthy, however it's also possible, and increasingly
common, for the inflammatory response to get out of hand.
If your immune system mistakenly triggers an inflammatory
response when no threat is present, it can lead to
significant inflammation-related damage to the body, a
condition linked to cancer and other diseases, depending on
which organs the inflammation is impacting.
Cabbage contains a wealth of anti-inflammatory nutrients
to help keep inflammation in check. Among them are
anthocyanins, a type of polyphenol that’s particularly
plentiful in red cabbage, although all types of cabbage
contain anti-inflammatory polyphenols.
- Glucosinolates
Glucosinolates are phytochemicals that break down into
indoles, sulforaphane and other cancer-preventive
substances. Indole-3-carbinol, for example, halts the cell
cycle in breast cancer cells without actually killing the
cells.3
The cell cycle is a rigidly controlled series of steps a
cell must go through before it can divide in two, involving
the duplication of the cell's contents and a final split.
If you can alter specific components of the cell cycle,
you can stop the growth of cancer cells without killing
normal cells. Indole-3-carbinol interferes with the cell
cycle in a way that turns off a gene for an enzyme important
in the cell's growth cycle.
Interestingly, different types of cabbage (red, green and
Savoy) contain different patterns of glucosinolates, which
suggests you should try to eat a variety of cabbage for the
best health effects. The George Mateljan Foundation
expanded:4
“ … glucosinolates are cabbage's trump card with
regard to "anti-cancer" benefits. The glucosinolates
found in cabbage can be converted into isothiocyanate
compounds that are cancer preventive for a variety of
different cancers, including bladder cancer, breast
cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer.”
Cabbage Is Rich in Vitamin K1 and B Vitamins
One serving of cabbage can provide you with 85 percent of
your body’s daily requirement of vitamin K1, which deserves a
special mention because many people are deficient in this
vitamin. Vitamin K1 is a fat-soluble vitamin most well known for
the important role it plays in blood clotting and bone
metabolism, but it’s also a known Alzheimer’s disease preventive
by helping to limit neuron damage in your brain.
Cabbage also contains healthy amounts of B vitamins,
including folate (which is better than the synthetic form known
as folic acid found in many supplements), vitamin B6, vitamin
B1, and vitamin B5. B vitamins are not only important for
energy, they may also
slow brain shrinkage by as much as seven-fold in brain
regions specifically known to be most impacted by Alzheimer’s
disease.
Digestive Benefits and Ulcer-Healing Properties
Cabbage juice is one of the most healing nutrients for ulcer
repair as it is a huge source of vitamin U (which is actually
not a vitamin but an enzyme known as S methylmethionine).
Research shows that vitamin U, administered as raw cabbage
juice, is effective in promoting the rapid healing of peptic
ulcers.5
Cabbage juice is also one of the strongest
stimulants for your body to produce acid. This is a good thing,
as many people have low stomach acid, which is the cause of
their digestive problems, and will significantly increase the
risk of infection. Having a few teaspoons of cabbage juice
before eating, or better yet, fermented cabbage juice from
sauerkraut, will do wonders to improve your digestion. Other
compounds in cabbage that also have the potential to benefit
your stomach and intestinal linings include glucosinolates,
anti-inflammatory isothiocyanates, antioxidant polyphenols, and
the amino acid-like substance called glutamine.
The Way You Prepare Your Cabbage Matters
Cabbage is best prepared as close to raw as possible,
sometimes called tender-crisp, to preserve its many nutrients.
Short-cooked and raw cabbage, for instance, were the only kind
that had measurable cancer-preventive benefits in one study
(long-cooked cabbage did not have measurable benefits!).6
Microwaving is another no-no for cabbage, as just two minutes in
the microwave destroys many of the enzymes needed to convert the
glucosinolates into cancer-preventive compounds.7
Steaming or sautéing your cabbage quickly, or eating it raw
in coleslaw and salads is a better option. Cabbage can also be
juiced, as mentioned, and fermented, which will provide your
body with healthful amounts of beneficial bacteria and, if
certain starter cultures are used, vitamin K2.
Cabbage can also be used as one of the primary vegetables for
fermented vegetables. It should comprise at least 80 percent of
your vegetable blend when making fermented veggies, so this is
an incredibly efficient way to get more cabbage into your diet.
Here’s a quick guide for how to make your own fermented cabbage
(you can find more
in-depth instructions here).
- Shred and cut your chosen veggies.
- Juice some celery. This is used as the brine, as it
contains natural sodium and not only eliminates the need for
sea salt but also keeps the vegetables free of the growth of
pathogenic bacteria.
- Pack the veggies and celery juice along with the
inoculants (starter culture, such as kefir grains, whey, or
commercial starter powder, all of which can be used for
vegetables) into a 32-ounce wide-mouthed canning jar. A
kraut pounder tool can be helpful to pack the jar and
eliminate any air pockets. We hope to have our new starter
culture which is optimized with strains of bacteria that
will make high doses of vitamin K2 sometime in early 2013
assuming our testing goes well.
- Top with a cabbage leaf, tucking it down the sides. Make
sure the veggies are completely covered with celery juice
and that the juice is all the way to the top of the jar to
eliminate trapped air.
- Seal the jar store in a warm, slightly moist place for
24 to 96 hours, depending on the food being cultured. Ideal
temperature range is 68-75 degrees Fahrenheit; 85 degrees
max. Remember, heat kills both the good and the not
so good microbes!
- When done, store in the refrigerator to slow down the
fermentation process.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.