22 Health Benefits of Red Cabbage
Hippocrates said, “Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine your food.” Little did he know those words would rush back thousands of years later as part of a greater food revolution.
Taking prescribed medication is something that is still a must in modern society, as food can’t take care of everything. However, there are foods that truly do add a boost to body to the body’s inner systems, and it’s time to highlight food over medicine for a change.
Instead of just dealing with the fact that you’re not healthy the way you would like to be, you might be surprised to know that there are really so many benefits right in the foods that you probably eat every day. For example, the health benefits of red cabbage are pretty plentiful.
Not sure what benefits we’re talking about? That’s what this guide is for? First and foremost, you should realize that all health really starts in the gut. If you have a compromised digestive system, you’re not going to be able to get the nutrition that you need at the end of the day.
Good gut health also will help you regulate your hormonal systems through food. When you have a healthy gut, you can process the nutrients out of food a lot better than if you were just to deal with the same compromised system.
Let’s talk about one food that really does benefit the body in a big way, to the point where you really need to eat it more: red cabbage.
Health Benefits of Red Cabbage
Red cabbage has so many benefits that you just can’t avoid adding it to your diet. Let’s start with the nutritional profile. Red cabbage is incredibly low in fat as well as calories. So if you’re trying to follow a reduced calorie diet for weight loss, you just can’t get better than red cabbage. It’s also a very versatile veggie that tastes really good. You can add it to salads for a bit of extra crunch and know that you’re giving your body something that it will enjoy for a while.
Vitamins
There are plenty of vitamins and minerals in red cabbage as well. You don’t have to turn to just green cabbages – the red one will serve you nicely!
- There are some powerful anti-aging effects involved when it comes to red cabbage. Anti-aging covers the area of science involved with looking younger even as you get older. There is no reason at all to not add anything in that can make you look and feel younger.
- Vitamins C and E are the two main vitamins involved with red cabbage. Both help in anti-oxidation areas. Antioxidants help cleanse the body of free radicals, which can age cells and lead to cancer and even just everyday breakdown of the body and skin cells.
- The outer leaves of the cabbage are especially rich in Vitamin E, which can help you maintain that wonderful complexion you’ve always wanted to have.
- If you’re worried about your vision, you probably already know that Vitamin A helps with vision. Yet if you get tired of carrots all of the time, why not add in red cabbage? It’s a great source of Vitamin A which helps to protect your eyes. The other part of Vitamin A that’s important is that the vitamin helps you keep your skin smooth through a natural moisturizing effect.
Immune Defense
- If immunity defense is what you’re looking at, red cabbage is still a great choice. This is because it boosts immunity and helps you repair the DNA in cells. More antibodies get produced when Vitamin E is high, so don’t skip the red stuff!
- Interested in any type of detox work for your body? Look no further than – yep, you guessed it – red cabbage! This is truly an amazing detox vegetable. It cleanses the body through sulfur, which is a substance that your body actually needs trace amounts of.
- Once you have plenty of sulfur circulating in your body, you can move waste products out of your gut and out of your body. This cleans your bowls naturally and keeps constipation at bay.
A Little More on the Power of Vitamins
Let’s cover the vitamins in greater detail for a moment. If you think that you don’t have a use for Vitamin A, you might want to think again. Vitamin A goes far beyond just better vision.
- It’s a powerful antioxidant that protects against cancer by removing free radicals from the body. Free radicals cause your cells to age, die off, or even begin to replicate rapidly and uncontrollably.
- If you suffer from night blindness, getting natural Vitamin A through red cabbage is a very good thing. It prevents night blindness by getting more carotenoids to your eyes where they need them most. Your body can indeed go on little Vitamin A, but you won’t be in optimum health at all.
- Strong bones are something that we all want, but you might not think about Vitamin A. You might think only of Calcium. You need more than just Calcium – Vitamin A can help protect strong bones as well. That’s not the only benefit that Vitamin A brings to t he table here. It can help you guard against bacterial, viral, and even parasitic infections.
- Worried about your skin? Reach for more red cabbage! It allows you to use the Vitamin A contained within to reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and even age spots. Want to have the same type of smooth skin you had in your 20s and 30s? You just need to reach for the best quality red cabbage you can buy.
- What about acne sufferers? Red cabbage to the rescue again! You can use it for improving acne by giving your skin the carotenoids it needs to stay healthy and look vibrant. Taking fat with Vitamin A is a good thing, as it helps the body actually absorb it.
- Let’s move on to Vitamin E, which is considered the “skin vitamin”. Yet it goes far beyond just giving you healthy and glowing skin. You want to turn to Vitamin E when you want to protect your immune system. You want to check out Vitamin E for these benefits and more.
- Like Vitamin A, Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant as well. It supports heart health and Vitamin E is one of the best nutrients for women as well. It can help support a regular menstrual cycle, as well as make PMS symptoms much milder. Adequate sources of Vitamin E also allow you to protect the brain, which can help you fight dementia as well.
- The body can’t live without Vitamin E, so the more you can get the better health you can enjoy! What about Vitamin C? If you’re trying to avoid a lot of sugar — even the natural stuff! — you’ll find that Vitamin C is a very strong part of red cabbage.
- You can go with Vitamin C for a lot of different benefits. Its’ good for the skin, as it supports the rebuilding of collagen. Tired of saggy, lifeless skin? Vitamin C is what you need to check out.
- If you’re fighting lower blood pressure right now, Vitamin C can be beneficial to you. It can lower blood pressure naturally, which makes it a powerful defense against not only low blood pressure, but poor cardiovascular health in general. Vitamin C is water soluble, so you need to make sure that you look at getting your Vitamin C intake every day, not just when you think you’re running low.
- Let’s move on to Vitamin K, which is also present in red cabbage. Vitamin K is something that most people really don’t get enough of, and it’s so very beneficial to the body. It protects the brain against poor health problems like dementia and even Alzheimer’s.
- This vitamin also maintains blood clotting. Most people get enough Vitamin K to somewhat manage their blood clotting properly, but that’s about the only benefit they get. Increasing your intake of red cabbage can make it much easier for you to protect your brain, eyes, and heart – all vital systems, of course!
- There’s much more than just the classic water and fat soluble vitamins. There’s also lycopene, which supports adrenal and thyroid health. The health of your thyroid makes all of the difference when it comes time to take care of weight loss but also your overall health on the whole.
- There’s also lutein and zeaxanthin, which work together to protect the cells of the body from stress and free radicals, as well as directly protecting the eyes. This means that it works synergistically with Vitamin A – always a good thing!
Anti-Cancer Chemicals
- Did you know that there are nearly 36 anti-cancer chemicals in red cabbage? If cancer is something that runs in your family you really owe it to yourself to start looking at something other than just worry and stress – red cabbage could protect you far better! You can cook it, use it raw, pair it with other cancer fighting foods – the options are endless!
Overall, red cabbage has so many different benefits that you really can’t overlook it as a superfood. The best benefit? It’s really not that expensive to add to your diet. This means that the time really is right to start looking at this super food and plenty more of them around your own supermarket!