Red cabbage microgreens are some of the prettiest you’ll find. But they’re not just good-looking. They pack a nutritional punch that beats out nearly every mature vegetable, including mature red cabbage! At just 28 calories per serving, it’s hard to overeat them. But what they lack in calories, they make up for in high-quality nutrition!
With high levels of Vitamin C, sulfur-compounds, and many minerals like magnesium, calcium, and beta-carotene, you can’t go wrong adding this one to your diet.
Read on for more information on how this microgreen helps your body stay healthy.
Cancer Prevention
Red cabbage microgreens are known to contain sulfur-based chemicals like glucosinolates. Gluco what???
I know. It’s a big word. But it’s a great one to know. When red cabbage is chewed or chopped (you know, so you can eat it), those glucosinolates break down into byproducts such as activated nitriles, isothiocyanates, and indoles.
These three seemingly-unpronounceable words have been accumulating research demonstrating that they can prevent or help combat cancer. Isothiocyanates are so effective that they are now being used in the development of treatments for lung cancer.
And let’s not forget that red cabbage (even as a microgreen) is a cruciferous vegetable. Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage) protect against DNA damage and promote the death of unhealthy cells.
It’s DNA damage and unhealthy cell reproduction that are at the root of cancer. By stopping that from happening, cruciferous vegetables are some of the most powerful natural anti-cancer foods known to man.
Vitamin C
In a study of over 25 microgreens (USDA ARS Online Magazine Vol. 62, No. 1), researchers with the USDA found that red cabbage microgreens had the highest Vitamin C levels of all.
And that’s saying something since when you start with 25 microgreens, you’re already starting with some very nutrient-rich greens.
While some people think of Vitamin C as helping them to fight off colds (which it does), it has some other very important health benefits that are often overlooked. Vitamin C, after all, is an antioxidant. It protects your cells against the effects of free radicals.
Free radicals? What are those?
Free radicals are produced all the time inside our own bodies and in our environment. They occur when our bodies break down food, we are exposed to radiation from the sun, when we inhale smoke, and during many other regular, daily processes.
In excess, free radicals cause cell damage that can lead to cancer and other diseases. Antioxidants like Vitamin C act like a mop, moving through our bodies and cleaning up the mess free radicals leave and even the free radicals themselves.
Heart and Liver Health
A study out of the University of Maryland has shown that mice who were fed red cabbage microgreens were able to moderate their weight better than mice who were not fed the microgreens. Both groups of mice were fed high fat diets, but even with the diet, mice who were given the equivalent of one cup per day of cabbage microgreens gained less weight.
The researchers even noted that the red cabbage microgreens were superior to the mature red cabbage when it came to heart health. They found that the red cabbage microgreens reduced the amount of triglycerides in the liver. Triglycerides are a type of fat in the liver that can cause heart disease (Medical News Today – See Sources).
In addition, the mice on the high-fat diets that were given the cabbage microgreens (vs those who were not) had lower levels of cholesterol and liver inflammation. And in a slightly more “apples to apples” comparison, the mice that ate the cabbage as a microgreen (vs as a mature plant) had lower levels of “bad” cholesterol on the same high-fat diet.
Conclusion
This article has to end here for brevity’s sake, but please know that there are even more benefits of red cabbage microgreens, including Alzheimer’s prevention, eye health and digestive health. Basically, this is a green you want to be eating! It helps many of your body’s systems and functions to operate better creating positive gains in health and vitality.
Would you like to try some red cabbage microgreens? We’ve got them available for sale on our shop page at atascocitamicrogreens.com/shop.
Buy some today and see how this delicious, fresh, and local food can positively impact your diet and your health.