Contents
What it is
Cabbage is the tight ball formed when the leaves of a brassica wrap over one another. It is the same species as broccoli, cauliflower, kale and Brussels sprouts — varieties in which people selected for a different part of the plant. It is native to the Mediterranean and the coasts of Europe. Raw it is crisp and faintly sweet; cooked it softens and sweetens further. Long heating releases sulphur compounds and the characteristic smell. A cut face dries out first, so a whole head keeps far longer than a halved one.
Scientific name Brassica oleracea var. capitata
Cabbage is the cheapest and most common cruciferous vegetable. Being in the same family as broccoli, it shares glucosinolates, the precursors that become sulforaphane.
In Korea it is known as the "stomach vegetable". That reputation traces back to 1950s studies feeding cabbage juice to people with peptic ulcers — trials whose design would not pass muster today. Still, the idea is not baseless.
Key benefits
- Early research
Vitamin U and the mucosal protection hypothesis
Cabbage's S-methylmethionine, nicknamed vitamin U, has long been proposed to aid gastric mucosal repair. Modern randomised trials are scarce, so it is best described as a plausible traditional use rather than an established effect.[1]
- Nutrition data
Very high vitamin C for the calories
37 mg per 100 g at just 25 kcal. Raw, nearly all of it survives; boiled, much of it leaches into the water.
- Nutrition data
Glucosinolates and sulforaphane
It activates detoxification enzymes through the same pathway as broccoli. Concentrations are lower, but people eat far more cabbage far more often, so real intake is not trivial.
- Nutrition data
Fermentation adds live cultures
Kimchi and sauerkraut layer live lactic acid bacteria and fermentation metabolites on top of cabbage's own nutrition. Vitamin C largely survives fermentation.
How to eat it well
- Eating it raw in slaws or salads costs no vitamin C.
- Steaming or stir-frying beats boiling, which sends water-soluble nutrients into the pot.
- Red cabbage adds anthocyanins and earns its colour nutritionally.
- Do not discard the core. It is sweeter and higher in vitamin C than the leaves.
- Long boiling generates sulphurous odour compounds. Cook it briefly.
How to read the grades
Each benefit carries a label showing how far research on people supports it. Grades differ between items even within the same ingredient.
- Nutrition data
- A fact verifiable from food composition databases or health authorities. This is a different kind of statement from a clinical effect.
- Strong evidence
- Consistently confirmed across randomised controlled trials or meta-analyses.
- Moderate evidence
- Human studies exist, but effect sizes are small or results are mixed.
- Early research
- Cell or animal work, or small preliminary studies.
- Not established
- Commonly claimed, but not confirmed in studies on people.
What to watch out for
- Large raw amounts can interfere with iodine uptake in hypothyroidism. Cooking largely resolves this.
- On warfarin, keep vitamin K intake steady.
- Raffinose and relatives make gas and bloating common; moderate portions with irritable bowel syndrome.
- Sauerkraut and kimchi are high in sodium.
Nutrition
Approximate values per 100 g edible portion.
- Calories
- 25 kcal1%
- Carbohydrates
- 5.8 g2%
- Fiber
- 2.5 g9%
- Protein
- 1.3 g3%
- Vitamin C
- 37 mg41%
- Vitamin K
- 76 µg63%
- Folate
- 43 µg11%
- Potassium
- 170 mg4%
Percentages are of the US FDA Daily Value for adults and children 4 and over. National reference intakes differ by sex and age.
Calculate this alongside other ingredients →
Key nutrients
Dishes with this ingredient
Sources
The databases and health authorities this article's nutrition figures and health statements draw on.
