Cabbage and feeding your Family 

Besides food value, there is medical value, too.

Make up your own mind.

As for myself, I am even including shredded lettuce in a concoction I am eating today. I figure lettuce is close to cabbage, maybe.

And my Russian employee used to make some kind of borsch with cabbage and sausage of some kind, and it stank, but he and his friend he brought over loved it. Both are now dead from cancer, probably caused by their work in the Soviet nuclear industry. Both died in their 50’s, by the way.

What follows are words from WebMD.

Cabbage is a plant that is commonly eaten as a vegetable. People also use the leaves for medicine.
Cabbage is used for stomach pain, excess stomach acid, stomach and intestinal ulcers, and a stomach condition called Roemheld syndrome. Cabbage is also used to treat asthma and morning sickness. It is also used to prevent weak bones (osteoporosis), as well as cancer of the lung, stomach, colon, breast and other types of cancer.
Breast-feeding women sometimes apply cabbage leaves and cabbage leaf extracts to their breasts to relieve swelling and pain.

How does it work?

Cabbage contains chemicals that are thought to help prevent cancer. Cabbage might change the way estrogen is used in the body, which might reduce the risk of breast cancer. Overall, it isn't well understood how the chemicals in cabbage might work as medicine.

·        Relieving breast engorgement (hard, painful breasts) in breast-feeding women, when applied to the skin of the breasts. Whole cabbage leaves seem to be about as effective as chilled gel-packs in relieving swelling and pain. A cabbage leaf extract applied as a cream has also been tried. Some women say it helps, but not significantly better than a cream without the extract.

·        Preventing bladder, colorectal, stomach, and lung cancer. There is some evidence that people who eat large amounts of cabbage and related vegetables such as kale, broccoli, and cauliflower have a lower risk of developing these cancers.

·        Stomach pain.

·        Stomach and intestinal ulcers.

·        Excess stomach acid.

·        Asthma.

·        Morning sickness.

·        Preventing osteoporosis.

 

·        Other conditions.

More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of cabbage for these uses.

Cabbage in medicinal doses appears to be safe for most people when taken by mouth or used on the skin. There isn't much evidence about possible side effects.

Special Precautions & Warnings:

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: There isn’t enough information about the safety of eating cabbage in medicinal amounts during pregnancy. Stay on the safe side and stick to usual food amounts.
However, if you are breast-feeding, don’t eat cabbage even in usual food amounts. There is some evidence that nursing infants can develop colic if their mothers eat cabbage, even as infrequently as once a week. Applying cabbage leaves to the breasts to relieve swelling and pain due to breast-feeding seems to be safe when done several times a day for a day or two.
Under-active thyroid gland (hypothyroidism). There is some concern that cabbage might make this condition worse. It’s best to avoid cabbage if you have an under-active thyroid gland.

·        Acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) interacts with CABBAGE

The body breaks down acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) to a get rid of it. Cabbage might increase the breakdown of acetaminophen (Tylenol, others). Taking cabbage along with acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) might decrease the effectiveness of acetaminophen (Tylenol, others).

·        Medications changed by the liver (Cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) substrates) interacts with CABBAGE

Some medications are changed and broken down by the liver.
Cabbage might increase how quickly the liver breaks down some medications. Taking cabbage along with some medications that are changed by the liver can decrease the effectiveness of some medications. Before taking cabbage talk to your healthcare provider if you take any medications that are changed by the liver.
Some of these medications that are changed by the liver include clozapine (Clozaril), cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril), fluvoxamine (Luvox), haloperidol (Haldol), imipramine (Tofranil), mexiletine (Mexitil), olanzapine (Zyprexa), pentazocine (Talwin), propranolol (Inderal), tacrine (Cognex), theophylline, zileuton (Zyflo), zolmitriptan (Zomig), and others.

·        Medications changed by the liver (Glucuronidated Drugs) interacts with CABBAGE

The liver helps the body break down and change some medications. The body breaks down some medications to get rid of them. Cabbage might increase how quickly the body breaks down some medications changed by the liver. Taking cabbage along with these medications changed by the liver might decrease the effectiveness of some medications change by the liver.
Some of these medications changed by the liver include acetaminophen, atorvastatin (Lipitor), diazepam (Valium), digoxin, entacapone (Comtan), estrogen, irinotecan (Camptosar), lamotrigine (Lamictal), lorazepam (Ativan), lovastatin (Mevacor), meprobamate, morphine, oxazepam (Serax), and others.

·        Oxazepam (Serax) interacts with CABBAGE

The body breaks down oxazepam (Serax) to get rid of it. Cabbage can increase how quickly the body gets rid of oxazepam (Serax). Taking cabbage along with oxazepam (Serax) might decrease the effectiveness of oxazepam (Serax).

·        Warfarin (Coumadin) interacts with CABBAGE

Cabbage contains large amounts of vitamin K. Vitamin K is used by the body to help blood clot. Warfarin (Coumadin) is used to slow blood clotting. By helping the blood clot, cabbage might decrease the effectiveness of warfarin (Coumadin). Be sure to have your blood checked regularly. The dose of your warfarin (Coumadin) might need to be changed.

The following doses have been studied in scientific research:

APPLIED TO THE SKIN:

·        For enlarged and painful breasts during breast-feeding: cabbage leaves are prepared by stripping out the large vein of the cabbage leaf, cutting a hole for the nipple, and then rinsing and chilling the leaf. The chilled cabbage leaf is worn inside the bra or as a compress under a cool towel until the cabbage leaf reaches body temperature (approximately 20 minutes). This procedure is repeated 1-4 times daily for 1-2 days.