Cabbage juice has many health benefits. Surely an offer of cabbage juice isn’t something you hear every day but, with proper advice from your physician, adding cabbage juice to your diet could improve your overall health. That’s mainly because it contains several nutrients like calcium, potassium, iodine, phosphorus, and sulfur, and, a multitude of vitamins like A, B1, B2, B6, C, K E, and folic acid.
Another added plus is that cabbage is a low calorie food so it won’t make you fat. But don’t bust out the blender and pack it with cabbage as it has a bit of a bitter taste. It is best taken mixed with some other sweeter juices such as carrot or apple to disguise the taste.
Cabbage and Digestive Health
To start, cabbage juice is good for your gut. In fact, it is a traditional tonic to treat peptic ulcers. It is also rich in the amino acid called glutamine which cleanses the entire digestive system. Even conditions like colitis and irritable bowel syndrome can be helped by cabbage juice. Since cabbage has a mild laxative effect, it regulates bowel movements which results to regular cleansing. To control gut size, cabbage is a very low calorie food. A cup of chopped, raw cabbage has only 21 calories and none of it comes from fat.
Cabbage Juice Against Cancer
Another important benefit from cabbage juice is its high content of polyphenols and antioxidants. These combat oxidative stress which happens when the metabolism of oxygen in ones cells is compromised.
Oxidative stress is one of the risk factors linked with several forms of cancer. Cabbage is also a source of a compound sulforaphane which protects your cells from invading carcinogens. But that’s not all. Cabbage is also rich in other anti-carcinogenic phytochemicals like glucosinolates, including indole 3-carbinol, di-indolmethane, and isothiocyanates.
Aside from their cancer-fighting characteristics these phytonutrients have powerful antioxidant properties flushing potentially damaging chemicals and hormones including estrogen.
Cabbage Juice Yeah! But Wait..
However, even with all the benefits cabbage juice may have, it must be noted that drinking just cabbage juice and water does not provide the body with adequate levels of carbohydrates or protein. Fasting on juice can result to dizziness, anemia, fatigue and irregular heartbeat, and even malnutrition. So, to get the most out of this, it must be emphasized, that consultation with your physician before going on any kind of diet should be a rule of thumb.
There are several other ways to improve one’s health like the obvious exercise and several different types of diets. But with all these health schemes, one must heed the adage “everything in moderation”.
Too much of a good thing could actually turn out to be a bad thing.
The body needs a little of everything, including chemicals and nutrients that are traditionally seen as unhealthy – like fat for example.
Only through the advice of a physician can one find the most healthy and effective mix of all.