Red cabbage has become popular around the world for all the right reasons. The light flavour and crunchy texture make it a favourite addition to salads. It can be used raw, cooked or sautéed alone or combined with other veggies.
Also called as purple cabbage, it adds a wealth of nutrition to our diet. It is abundant in antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals. The list of essential properties is long which includes riboflavin, thiamine, calcium, folate, manganese, iron, vitamin A, E, K, B, fiber and potassium. Packed with such powerful nutrients, the red cabbage benefits are numerous.
Let us see what are the benefits of eating red cabbage.
Red Cabbage Health Benefits
1. Strengthens The Immune System
The vitamin C content in red cabbage stimulates the white blood cells and hence stimulates the defence mechanism of our body. This helps in keeping out unwanted intruders and keeps the body cells strong and connected.
2. Reduce Inflammation And Arthritis
The health benefits of red cabbage include sulforaphane. This is a phytonutrient that helps in reducing chronic inflammation. For anyone suffering from arthritis, having red cabbage as part of their daily diet regime is very important.
3. Aids In Weight Loss
Being high in dietary fiber and low in calories, it makes you feel full without overeating. The minerals and other red cabbage nutrition take care of the energy levels. Hence red cabbage benefits those who are looking for losing weight in a healthy way.
4. Slows Aging Process
The antioxidants in red cabbage not only improves your immune system but also keeps you looking young. The free radicals keep your skin spotless, soft and supple. It protects against wrinkles and age spots. It is also effective in repairing damaged cells and regrowth of healthy new skin cells. I am sure most of you have decided to include red cabbage in your shopping list after reading this!
5. Cancer Prevention
This could be the most important health benefit of red cabbage. The anthocyanins and indoles component in red cabbage make it a strong contender to fight cancer cells. These components give the red cabbage the purple colour. The indoles in red cabbage is known to reduce breast cancer and the vitamin A in reducing lung cancer. Hence it really is a superfood!
6. Improves Eyesight
Red cabbage has high Vitamin A contents. Apart from your skin, this is also good for your eyes. They play a major role in the prevention of macular degeneration. It keeps the eyesight healthy and slows the growth of cataract.
7. Treatment Of Ulcer
Red cabbage has Glutamine which is an amino acid. This amino acid in red cabbage benefits those suffering from ulcers and gastrointestinal pain and inflammation. This can be considered a good home remedy for the treatment of ulcer.
8. Prevents Alzheimer’s
The main reason for occurrence of memory loss is due to a certain plaque like condition in the brain. The anthocyanins in red cabbage is very potent in protecting the brain from this plaque.
9. Reduce Risk Of Osteoporosis
Since red cabbage is rich in Vitamin K, it helps in maintaining the bone density and calcium levels. The health benefits of red cabbage are more important for women since they start experiencing a decline in the density of bones during menopause. If the bones density is low, you are more likely to get your bones fractured easily. Hence Red cabbage nutrition is a must for women.
The list goes on. Is red cabbage good for you? The answer is clear. Now let us move on to the best ways to extract the red cabbage health benefits.
How to Use Red Cabbage?
The best way to extract the full red cabbage benefits is to have it raw. Studies show that once heated, the red cabbage nutrition begins to diminish. Be it steaming, microwaving, boiling, or stir-frying, any cooking method loses the overall nutrition of the red cabbage.
If at all cooking is required, steaming helps retain the antioxidants, anthocyanin and vitamin C. Another recommendation is to rinse the cabbage lightly and not scrubbing the important gut cleaning bacteria off the plant.
Red Cabbage Salad
Things needed-
- Iceberg Lettuce 1 cup torn into pieces
- Red cabbage-½ cup Shredded
- Pineapple cubes -½ cup
- Cucumber Cubes-½ cup
- Capsicum Strips-¼ cup
- Res capsicum strips-¼ cup
- Grated carrot-¼ cup
- Apple cubes-½ cup
Things Needed For Dressing-
- Olive oil – 2 tablespoon
- Lemon juice -2 tablespoon
- Honey-2 teaspoon
- Lemon rind-¼ teaspoon
- Dried basil-½ teaspoon
- Salt to taste
How To Prepare?
- Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl.
- Slightly toss and serve fresh.
Red Cabbage Stir Fry
Things Needed-
- Red cabbage shredded
- Dry red chillies- 3
- Mustard seeds- ½ teaspoon
- Urad dal – 2 teaspoon
- Oil – 1 table spoon
- Curry leaves – 5-6
- Sale to taste
How To Prepare?
- Heat a pan and add oil.
- Temper mustard seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves.
- Add urad dal and fry till golden brown.
- Add the red cabbage and salt.
- Mix well and cook with lid for about 5 minutes.
- Remove lid and mix well once again.
- Serve with hot rice or chappatti.
Who Must Avoid Red Cabbage?
- People suffering from hypothyroidism. Cabbage has high Iodine content and excess Iodine may be harmful to the proper functioning of the thyroid gland.
- Pregnant and lactating mothers since babies may develop colic.
- If you are already having low blood pressure since cabbage can lead to low blood pressure.
- If you are having bloating and gas problem. Excessive intake of cabbage may lead to flatulence.
More Red Cabbage Benefits
- Taking a cabbage leaf and wrapping with a bandage it around the part of the body where it is paining gives relief from the pain within 2 hours.
- Applying cabbage juice on the hair for 30 mins twice a week gives you strong, soft and smooth hair.
- Face mask with cabbage paste, rice flour and almond oil helps in maintaining fresh and young-looking skin.
So please go grab the red cabbage from your nearest market and take advantage of nature’s bounty.
Read Next – Cabbage – The Super Food and its Health Benefits!
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