Make Cabbage A Staple Food in Your Diet!

Cabbage is the one food I talk to every single one of my clients about incorporating into their diets. I tell them to buy a head of cabbage (Green, Purple, Savoy, Napa, whatever!), chop it up, and cook it down quickly in low sodium chicken or vegetable broth. You can eat it straight out of the fridge plain or with light soy sauce as a snack, add it to omelets, stir fries, chili, pasta and more! Cabbage is fantastic for lowering cholesterol and always comes up as the star veggie for cancer prevention (due to the glucosinolates). Another benefit is that it is one of the cheapest vegetables and almost always available. Anyone who says that it is hard to eat healthy and that produce is expensive has not found the aisle with cabbage!

Cabbage is also your best friend if you are looking to lose weight (ever hear of the Cabbage Soup Diet??)! 1 cup of raw cabbage has a mere 17 calories and is chock full of nutrients (Vitamins K, C, folate, and more), as well as fiber. So, it is a great way to add lots of volume to your meals for not many calories… and it keeps things moving through your system ;-) If you find you get very gassy by eating cabbage, you will need to slowly work up your G.I. tract to tolerate it. So, don’t start off eating 2 cups of cabbage/day, but rather, start with ¼ c/day one week, then ½ c/day, and so on.

My recommendations:  Savoy cabbage seems to be one of the healthiest for its cancer preventative properties (specifically bladder, colon and prostate cancers). However, all the different cabbages offer different patterns of glucosinalates and the different colors all offer different antioxidants- so go ahead and mix it up! In terms of retaining the most nutrition, steaming seems to be best in terms of maximizing the health benefits of the glucosinalates. However, if you’re eating lots of cabbage, eat it however you like- raw in a salad, sautéed, steamed, cooked down, as kimchi, slow-cooked, etc. I am also a big advocate of Chinese Cabbage or Bok Choy, which I personally believe to be the healthiest vegetable on earth. Steam or saute to maximize the cancer-fighting benefits of cabbage!

Reference: World's Healthiest Foods: Cabbage. The George Mateljan Foundation

Garlic: The Miracle Clove (Guest Blog Post by Katrina Evans)

Below is a guest blog post written by Kelly's Pantry fan Katrina Evans:

People have been using chopped up garlic for hundreds of years and it turns out to be our best kept weapon against cancer today. While most people are aware of the value of garlic's flavor, many do not realize the benefits of garlic when it comes to cancer.      

Recent population studies that were conducted in different parts of the world have shown a significant link between an increased intake of garlic and reduction of various cancers. Ongoing studies in Europe have shown that higher intakes of onions and garlic significantly reduce the risk of intestinal cancers. In China, researchers have not only shown an association with garlic intake and reduced risk of esophageal, stomach, and prostate cancers; but have indicated that the more garlic that is eaten, the lower the risk of other aggressive cancers like pancreatic cancer or mesothelioma.

It’s hardly new news to naturopaths, but the real news here is that allicin, the active ingredient in garlic, is able to be attached to antibodies that bind with tumor cells by researchers delivering a cancer-busting payload directly to the source. In reality though, you don’t need to target tumors at all: just eat raw garlic.

Every well-rounded chef should know that garlic is an ingredient that everyone should have in their pantry. If you can handle it, try juicing raw garlic with lemon, water and a bit of sweetener, and chug it down. Yes, it may stink a bit, but it’s one of the most potent anti-cancer concoctions you can consume.

Eating the right kinds of foods is absolutely essential for keeping the body at a healthy weight, strengthening tissues, and fighting infection which leads to a greater sense of well-being. Finding the right kinds of foods, containing high amounts of cancer-fighting ingredients, is key to prevention and treatment.

References:

http://www.kean.edu/~jfasick/docs/Fall%2009%20Senior%20Seminar/Dave_Carlos_Oommen%20et%20al%202003.pdf

http://www.mesotheliomasymptoms.com/what-mesothelioma

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050503104540.htm

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/prevention/garlic-and-cancer-prevention

Edited by: Kelly Strogen, MS, RD, LDN

Katrina Evans is a recent college graduate aspiring to write for health and wellness foodies all over the web. She enjoys making a difference in people’s lives seeing how devastating cancer can be for people and their families. Katrina also is a fruit junkie who reads all the time, works to stay fit, and listens to cool podcasts.


For questions about this post, contact Katrina: nutritiondiva.katrina@gmail.com