As a foodie, every day is a day of discovery for me....! This is simply true.
When I was growing up, certain food ingredients featured more, or were used more in my mum's cooking. Over the years, and certainly today as I am my own person, I have seen an increasing variety of ingredients being used in modern Nigerian cooking. Majority of these ingredients are indigenous, and a considerable amount aren't...! I find this quite exciting and I always look forward to discovering more of these ingredients daily.
I love to explore and love to experiment with food, that's no secret, one other thing I love doing, is eating for health...! I take it upon myself to research ingredients and then find new ways to incorporate them into my menu....the trick is to eat variety, and eat fresh.
Cabbage is not indigenous to Nigeria, but it is grown in abundance there... and only ever used in salads and slaws.
Cabbage is one of the cruciferous vegetables which have huge nutritional benefits to humans. They are packed with a lot of vitamins and minerals and also believed to be beneficial for supporting the growth of good bacteria in the gut.
Variety
Cabbage comes in different varieties, with distinct tastes and colours, but largely are comparable in their nutritional benefits. In Nigeria the white variety is more prevalent. I have preference 0 for the red variety because of the rich dark colour, which I find really appealing when used to colour food.
Benefits of Cabbage
Cabbage is packed with nutrients, such as vitamin C (a powerful natural antioxidant), B1, B5, B6 and K, and is believed to possess compounds that could help to keep inflammation in check, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure and keep the heart healthy. It is also excellent for improving digestion and treating constipation due to very high content of dietary fibre...! It also contains minerals such as potassium, manganese, iron, and magnesium.
Red cabbage in particular, has high levels of phyto-nutrients like carotenoids because of its intense deep red/purple colour, making it even more nutritious when compared to its green coloured counterparts.
Cabbage Diet
Cabbage is thought to be really good for weight loos, because it is considered to provide negative calories. What this means is, it takes more calories to burn and digest cabbage than it actually provides, hence eating a lot of cabbage will help expend energy and consequently calories..!!
It is believed that going on a diet of cabbage for 2 weeks, can help to achieve weight loss! This is one of the reasons, why personally, I am exploring the use of cabbage more and how I can include in my daily diet, so technically I can lose weight on an on going basis...!
