If you’ve seen purple cabbage at the grocery store, maybe it’s time to grab a head or two of them because I’m here to share a healthy anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory & antioxidant purple cabbage juice recipe. Also find the health benefits of purple cabbage below!
Purple cabbage is also known as red cabbage. It belongs to the Brassica genus of plants, which includes other nutrient dense cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussel sprouts and kale.
The difference between purple and green cabbage is that the purple variety is richer in beneficial plant compounds and antioxidants such as anthocyanins, which is responsible for its beautiful purple color.
Anthocyanins are also found in blueberries, which also are unsurprisingly the same purple color when crushed.
There are many health benefits of purple cabbage. It fights inflammation and protects against many types of cancers.
It is also a very versatile veggie that can be consumed raw, cooked, fermented, in smoothies or juiced, as we shall be doing here!
Check out the nutrition facts of purple cabbage below:
Nutrients in Purple Cabbage
Purple cabbage is low in calories but rich in nutrients, water and dietary fiber. It is a good source of fiber and vitamins A, C, K, and B6.
One cup (89 grams) of chopped raw purple cabbage contains the following nutrients (source):
- Calcium: 4% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Carbs: 7 grams
- Dietary Fiber: 2 grams
- Fat: 0.1 gram
- Folate: 38.3 micrograms or 10% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Iron: 6% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Potassium: 5% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Protein: 1 gram
- Riboflavin: 5% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Sugar: 2.8 grams
- Thiamine: 5% of the Daily Value
- Vitamin A: 20% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Vitamin B6: 11% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Vitamin C: 32.6 milligrams or 54% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Vitamin C: 85% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Vitamin K: 67.6 micrograms or 85% of the Daily Value (DV)
Purple cabbage also contains other vitamins & minerals such as Vitamin E, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, copper and zinc.
7 Powerful Health Benefits of Purple Cabbage
1. Rich in Antioxidants
Purple cabbage offers one of the highest amounts of health-promoting antioxidants per unit cost (source).
Some of the antioxidants include vitamin C, carotenoids and flavonoid antioxidants such as anthocyanins and kaempferol (source).
Research shows that it contains a lot more of these antioxidant compounds (about 4.5 times higher) than green cabbage varieties (source).
Another powerful compound in purple cabbage is sulforaphane, a sulfur-rich compound that is secreted when raw cabbage is cut. It what gives cabbage its distinct smell. Sulforaphane is linked to many health benefits including promoting heart health and fighting cancer (source 1, source 2).
2. Anti-Cancer
If there’s one reason to eat purple cabbage, it’s for its powerful anti-cancer benefits.
Purple cabbage is rich in anthocyanins and sulforaphane, two compounds that have been researched for their cancer-fighting properties.
Research shows that high intakes of crucifers including cabbage are linked to an 18% lower risk of colon cancer (source).
Eating cruciferous vegetables has also been found to decrease the risk of breast cancer (source).
Sulforaphane found in purple cabbage and other crucifers may help kill cancer cells or prevent them from growing and spreading, according to a 2018 research article published in the Drug Design, Development and Therapy scientific journal (source).
Anthocyanins, which are found in red, blue and purple fruits and vegetables including purple cabbage also have anti-cancer effects, according to cell and animal studies (source).
3. Aids in Weight Loss
Purple cabbage is high in water and dietary fiber and low in calories. This can help you feel full without eating extra calories in order to get satisfied.
This makes it a perfect weight loss food!
Eat it in dishes such as salads, sauerkraut, coleslaw and smoothies. You can also juice it!
4. Bone Health
Eating purple cabbage can help lower your risk of osteoporosis and other bone disorders and diseases.
One cup of raw purple cabbage has about 85% of the Daily Value of Vitamin C (source) and a little over a quarter of the Daily Value of Vitamin K1, both of which play a role in building and maintaining strong healthy bones.
It also contains small amounts of other essential nutrients for bone health including calcium, manganese and zinc (source).
5. Heart Health
Anthocyanins, which are flavonoid antioxidants, found in purple cabbage may promote a healthy heart. Purple cabbage is chockfull of these antioxidants, in fact, it contains more than 36 types of anthocyanins, making it one of the best anthocyanin-rich foods (source).
Other vegetables containing anthocyanin include: purple corn, black carrots, eggplant and purple cauliflowers. Fruits include berries such as blueberries, raspberries & strawberries, currants, plums, black and red grapes, pomegranates, blood oranges and more.
Research found that women who regularly eat large amounts of anthocyanin-rich foods may have a 11-32% lower risk of heart attacks, compared to those who eat fewer of such foods (source 1, source 2).
Diets high in anthocyanins, are also linked to lower blood pressure and lower risk of heart disease (source 1, source 2).
6. Gut Health
Loaded with fiber, purple cabbage is good for the healthy functioning of the digestive system.
Cabbage contains about 70% insoluble fiber which adds bulk to stool, helps food move through the gut smoothly, helps facilitate proper digestion, and allows easy elimination of wastes which prevents constipation.
Soluble fiber consists of the remaining 30% of the dietary fiber in cabbage. This type of fiber acts as a prebiotic which feeds the ‘good’ bacteria that is naturally found in the gut. These beneficial bacteria modify the gut microbial balance in such a way as to bring improved gut health and other health benefits (source).
Research shows that gut-friendly bacteria may reduce inflammation and other symptoms of gut disorders such as Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis (source 1, source 2).
Cabbage may also lower inflammation in the gut (source) and reduce intestinal mucositis, a condition where lesions develop in the gut, most often as a side effect of cancer treatment (source).
Past research also showed that drinking around 1 quart of fresh cabbage juice per day may help heal peptic ulcers in 7-10 days (source).
7. Fights Inflammation
Inflammation is the root cause of disease. Purple cabbage is an anti-inflammatory food that can help prevent and ease inflammation in the body.
Studies show that sulforaphane which is a sulfur compound in many crucifers including green cabbage is responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects of purple cabbage (source).
One 2016 test tube study demonstrated using an artificial model of the human gut that certain purple cabbage varieties reduced inflammatory markers in the gut by 22-40% (source).
Cabbage, both the purple and green varieties also reduce inflammation associated with arthritis and early postpartum breast pain, swelling and inflammation. Cabbage leaves are applied/wrapped on the affected area to act as a natural remedy for pain & inflammation (source 1, source 2).
Anti-Cancer Purple Cabbage Juice Recipe
You will only need three ingredients for this purple cabbage juice recipe:
Purple Cabbage – It contains sulforaphane and anthocyanins which may help kill cancer cells and prevent them from growing and spreading (source).
Ginger – Ginger and its active compounds suppress the growth and induce apoptosis of various cancers including skin, ovarian, colon, breast, cervical, oral, renal, prostate, gastric, pancreatic, liver and brain cancer (source).
Citrus Fruit – Citrus fruit such as grapefruit and oranges may play a role in preventing certain cancers. According to a large study conducted in Japan, people who had citrus fruits or juices 3-4 days a week had a decreased risk of cancer than those who had them 2 or fewer days a week (source).
The citrus fruit I will be using is half-ripe citron (scientific name: Citrus medica).
One study shows that citrus medica fruit juice prevented reverted mutations and the hindrance percent of half-ripe Citrus Medica was 71.7% and ripe Citrus Medica was 34.4% in the antimutagenicity test. Antimutagenicity refers to the capability of reducing the frequency of mutation.
The value in the anticancer test was 83.3% and 50% in half-ripe Citrus Medica and ripe Citrus Medica respectively (source).
You can also use mandarin orange, tangerine, lime, grapefruit and lemon.
Onto the purple cabbage juice recipe!
What you need
- One head of purple cabbage
- 1 whole citrus fruit for example, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit or citron
- 1 inch of fresh ginger
- High quality slow juicer (where to get it)
- Glass cup & glass straw (where to get it)
Directions
- Wash your fresh ingredients properly to loosen and remove dirt and germs.
- Chop the cabbage into smaller pieces that fit into your juicer chute.
- Peel the citrus fruit you will be using.
- Scrape the skin off the ginger piece.
- Add ingredients into a running juicer.
- Collect your beautiful purple reddish juice.
- Enjoy!
Are you going to try this purple cabbage juice recipe? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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