Why Cabbage Is Both Good And Bad For Your Stomach

Though commonly eaten as a vegetable, cabbage has many medicinal properties. Here are some of the good and the bad effects of cabbage on your stomach:

The Good:

• Cabbages can be Used to Treat the Lack of Stomach Acid

If your body is lacking in stomach acid, it can lead to heartburn, GERD, or acid reflux. Cabbages can help you reduce your discomfort as they strongly stimulate acid production in the stomach. Drinking cabbage juice or fermented cabbage juice from sauerkraut before eating improves your digestion.

• Cabbage can Help Reduce Stomach Pain and Intestinal Ulcers

Cabbage can aid in stomach pain and in the healing of stomach ulcers. According to a report from the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health website, the average healing time for people with stomach ulcers that drank cabbage juice was decreased compared to those that did not drink cabbage juice.

The Bad:

• Cabbages Can Cause Bloating

Cabbages are cruciferous vegetables along with broccoli, kale and cauliflower. Cruciferous vegetables contain raffinose which is a sugar that only gets digested in the large intestine where a methane-producing bacteria ferments it. This process produces gas which in turn causes bloating.

Then Should You Eat It Or Not?

At the beginning, just try moderate amounts and observe how your body would react. If the bloating problem is really serious, you may choose other foods that have the same benefits but not such bad effects.