Is Cabbage Juice Good For Gut Health?
Video Transcript:
Hi everyone. Welcome back.
As we've discussed in many of our previous blogs, gut health is becoming a very popular topic, and people are always looking for new ways to improve their gut health.
Juicing has also become very popular over the years, promising many different health benefits, including gut health. More recently, there has been some hype around cabbage juice.
So in today's topic, we're going to talk about cabbage juice and what research is available to support its consumption, cabbage juice as it pertains specifically to gut health, ways to incorporate it, and some precautions to be aware of.
I'm Katie Bailey. I'm a gut health dietitian at Oswald Digestive Clinic, where we help individuals improve and resolve their bothersome gut issues like gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, and more.
If you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms and would like to work with our clinic, you can schedule an appointment with us.
You can download our free guide on five ways to improve your Gut health if you'd like to get started right away.
Okay, so let's jump into today's topic.
The Nutritional Power of Cabbage Juice for Gut Health
Cabbage is part of the brassica species, which also includes kale, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. You've probably heard of these also called cruciferous vegetables.
Cabbage contains vitamin K1, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, calcium, and several B vitamins. It is usually consumed in raw cooked or fermented form, but it can also be juiced.
Cabbage has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. In particular, green cabbage is more anti-inflammatory. While red cabbage has more antioxidant properties.
Juicing cabbage has become more popular because it's a convenient way to get a bunch of beneficial nutrients in an easily absorbed form.
Exploring the Research on Cabbage Juice on Gut Health
Okay, so let's talk about some of the research that's available. Although there's quite a bit of research about the benefits of consuming cabbage, there is very limited research specifically on cabbage juice and how it pertains to gut health.
There have been studies that have found that there are certain antioxidants in cabbage juice that may have anti-cancer properties.
Other studies have shown that cabbage juice may decrease inflammation because of the anti-inflammatory compounds found in it like Sulforaphane.
Most studies that are found on cabbage juice are in relation to the treatment of peptic ulcer disease. Now, peptic ulcer disease is the ulceration of the mucosal lining of the stomach or the duodenum.
These studies found that certain patients with peptic ulcer disease when they were given cabbage juice experienced faster healing of their ulcers than those that were given just the conventional therapies.
So overall, there really is not a lot of research to say that cabbage juice is good for promoting gut health, but we do know that it's anti-inflammatory, it has antioxidants, and if you juice fermented cabbage, then that's going to add some good bacteria.
So those things are good for gut health, but there's just not a lot of research on other benefits for gut health.
Precautions to Consider Before Taking Cabbage Juice
Now, I did want to mention a few precautions to be aware of.
The first is that for people who have hypothyroidism, drinking a lot of cabbage juice could make that worse, and it's thought to do that by inhibiting the uptake of iodine, which then increases your TSH levels.
The second one is an interaction with blood-thin medication because cabbage is high in vitamin K and that can decrease the effects of the anti-coagulant medication like warfarin.
The third thing is digestive discomfort. For some individuals, we know that whole cabbage is gas-forming and is hard for some people to digest, so we don't really know if the cabbage juice does the same thing per se.
But those who already struggle with gas, bloating, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, may have still a hard time digesting the cabbage juice. It's not certain, but just be aware that you may have some digestive discomfort.
And lastly, juicing leaves a lot of the fiber behind, and we know that fiber is great for stabilizing your blood sugar, reducing cholesterol, and can positively alter our gut bacteria.
Incorporating Cabbage Into Your Diet
So if cabbage sounds like something you want to start incorporating into your diet, but juicing isn't really something you want to do, you could always incorporate raw cabbage into salads or coleslaw.
You could add cooked cabbage to soups, stews, and stir-fries, and you could also add fermented cabbage like sauerkraut and kimchi to your meals for the benefit of the good bacteria.
To wrap up our topic for today, adding cabbage to your diet, whether it's juiced or whole, can provide you with many nutrients, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Although there is limited research on cabbage juice and whether it can promote gut health, there's very little risk in incorporating it into your diet, and seeing how you feel in juicing can be a great way to get a large amount of nutrients in an easily consumed form.
If you have hypothyroidism, you are on a blood thinner, or you have IBS or other digestive issues, you may need to avoid or limit your consumption of cabbage juice or speak to your healthcare provider before incorporating it.
Okay, so that's it for today's topic. If you're interested in working with our clinic, you can click the link below to schedule an appointment with us.
If you'd like to explore any of this information further or obtain an individualized nutrition plan, you can schedule an initial appointment at our clinic. We also take insurance and some of our clients get full coverage, which is great.
Or you can just start by downloading our FREE GUIDE: 5 WAYS TO IMPROVE GUT HEALTH
