Cabbage might not be your favorite vegetable. And there are different reasons behind it, for example, it is very boring if not cooked well, unappealing in looks, and is smelly.
But if you have metabolic syndrome or diabetes, it’s time to leave behind all such excuses to skip this veggie.
Is Cabbage Good for Diabetes?
Cabbage is your best friend to help you treat diabetes naturally and may also help you get rid of medications. Hence, it is a vegetable you should add in your grocery list without delay.
It is a great food choice for everyone. It provides a great deal of benefits to the people suffering from diabetes, for example, it helps reduce weight, which is very important to deal with diabetes. People, who are pre diabetics, have Type 2 Diabetes, and anyone who wants to lose weight, should add it to their weight loss routine. It is rich in fiber and has only a few calories. These features make it a best food option when it comes to lose some weight.
The light veggie cabbage is a close relative to various other leafy greens like broccoli and cauliflower, and has long-back history as both medicine and a healthy food. Cabbage juice had often been used by the Ancient Greeks to cure constipation or mushroom poisoning. It has been consumed by the Ancient Egyptians before meals to avoid being too high while drinking wine. Even the British provided cabbages to the people injured during World War I to use its leaves to treat and heal the trench foot as bandages.
This humble veggie has been used as a medicine throughout history because it is very high in nutrition values. It has almost the same nutritional values as broccoli. It is scientifically proven to cure many health conditions like diabetes and cancer.
Along with it, cabbage contains low glycemic index. After consuming it, carbs absorb slowly in the bloodstream. It is good for people whose blood sugar peeks, which is something they should avoid. According to some researchers, cabbage is also helpful to cut down the risk of gestational diabetes because of its low glycemic index.
One of the major benefits of cabbage is that it is enriched with antioxidants like sulphoraphane and indole-3-barbino which are known to help avoid cancer. Both purple and green cabbages are rich in vitamins A, B, C, and K. Along with it, cabbage has all the vital nutrients like iron, calcium, and zinc, phosphorous, high amount of magnesium, and potassium.
People suffering from diabetes may also have skin problems but cabbage could be helpful in this way. In a research, cabbage juice is given to some people and leaves are applied as compress to relieve skin problems like eczema, acne, and psoriasis. Cabbage may also be helpful to control cholesterol, as found in some research.
You need to add cabbage to your diets to prevent a lot of diseases, such as diabetes and it may also help relieve some inflammation and skin conditions. A cup of green raw cabbage contains 0.11g fat, 21 calories, 2gm fiber, 3.2g of sugar, and 1.3g protein.
Other Health Benefits
Skin Friendly
Even though all the veggies are healthy for your skin, but cabbage is probably the best. It is helpful to dry up oily skin and acne. It is rich in sulfur which promotes production of keratin which is necessary to have beautiful skin, hair and nails.
Superb Detoxifier
Cabbage is known to be rich in vitamin C and sulfur level which removes toxins like uric acid and free radicals, the main causes of rheumatism, gout, arthritis and skin diseases.
Combats Tumors
Cabbage promotes the activity of enzyme which prevents the growth of cancer cells and tumors. According to a study, women had huge control on breast cancer when cabbage, broccoli and other cruciferous veggies were added to their diets. It is possibly because of the common anti-cancer properties like lupeol, sinigrin, and sulforaphane.
Soothes Headache
Cabbage leaves are used for making warm compress to control the pain of headache. Drink two ounces of raw cabbage juice every day if you have chronic headaches.
Fights Various Diseases
You just need to take half a cup of green cabbage which has around 47% of daily dose of vitamin C which is recommended, 102% of vitamin K and several others. Antioxidants are important to promote immune system and it can fight pathogens and deal with the signs of aging. Vitamin C is also full of antioxidants. It also helps improve bone density and clotting of blood.
All leafy greens have two vital vitamins and some have even more than others. Broccoli and Brussels sprouts are very rich in vitamin C. Spinach and Kale are loaded with vitamin K. And cabbage is rich in both of these types of vitamins.