The Real Reason You Should Be Drinking Red Cabbage Juice

Purple cabbage, also known as red cabbage, is a health food lover's powerhouse of goodness. Many people would never think to juice this vegetable, but its slightly spicy taste, along with its countless health benefits, makes red cabbage juice the perfect addition to a healthy diet. 

Red cabbage doesn't taste any different than the green variety, but it is believed to have a more bountiful number of health benefits based on its plant compounds (via Eat the 80). Red cabbage is purported to be a heart-healthy vegetable that can help strengthen bones, reduce inflammation, and even assist your body in guarding against certain cancers. It makes sense because this colorful and nutrient-rich food is like a pinata packed with a surprising amount of vitamins and minerals. 

At just 28 calories per cup, red cabbage is an incredible source of vitamins C, K, and B6. It contains a healthy dose of fiber, potassium, thiamine, and riboflavin (via Healthline). Red cabbage gets its purple color from anthocyanins along with the pH levels of the soil where it's grown. Anthocyanins are antioxidants that contribute to the countless health benefits red cabbage offers (via BBC Good Food). 

Eating red cabbage is one thing. Why would you drink red cabbage juice, though?

Red cabbage juice can be an acquired taste. Some suggest adding apples, pears, or even cucumbers to the mix to help it go down a little more readily (via Everyday Health Recipes). But drinking your red cabbage juice is a great way to ensure you get the recommended number of red vegetables per week, which according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture is between 4 to 6 cups (via Livestrong). If you drink red cabbage juice, you will get about 3 cups of your red vegetables because it takes that much of the cut-up cabbage to make a half of a cup of red cabbage juice.

Additionally, drinking red cabbage juice can help keep signs of aging at bay, provide expectant mothers with much-needed nutrients, and help guard against a number of diseases. First, red cabbage juice is a great source of folate. Folate is important during periods of rapid growth, which is why pregnant women often use red cabbage juice as a supplement. In fact, a half of a cup of red cabbage juice will provide 12 percent of the recommended daily intake for an adult and 10 percent for moms-to-be. Additionally, lack of folate can lead to gray hair, so drink up (via Dumb Little Man).

If you still need more reasons to juice your red cabbage, consider this — red cabbage juice is also chock full of vitamin C and antioxidants. A half of a cup of red cabbage juice is packed with 152 milligrams of vitamin C, which is 100 percent of the recommended daily intake. 

Vitamin C is important for our bodies for a number of reasons. It helps fortify our immune systems, aids in the production of collagen, and helps keep our bones and teeth and healthy. Red cabbage juice is also a heart-healthy beverage. Those anthocyanins that give this cabbage its color are rich in antioxidants and are quite abundant in this red vegetable. In fact, there are 36 types of anthocyanins in red cabbage. These can help lower blood pressure, and according a study, women who eat foods rich in anthocyanins can lower the risk of a heart attack.

 Red cabbage juice clearly falls into that coveted category of superfoods you want to add to your daily diet to reap the benefits.