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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 5.8 g
- Fiber
- 2.5 g
- Protein
- 1.3 g
- Vitamin C
- 37 mg
- Vitamin K
- 76 µg
- Folate
- 43 µg
- Potassium
- 170 mg
Key nutrients
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin K
- Fiber
- Folate
- Sulforaphane