Cabbage
Indeed, Cabbage and Carrot are two superfoods that have to be taken by everyone in daily life. Cabbage has been the subject of an impressive amount of medical research. Not surprisingly: its healing powers — long attested in traditional medicine — cover a startling range of ailments.
Cabbage contains healing mucilaginous substances similar to those produced by the mucous membrane of the gut and stomach for their own protection: confirming the traditional raw cabbage juice cure for ulcers. Cabbage is also loaded with sulphur compounds that according to Valnet
Make it tonic and disinfectant in respiratory infections.
The anemic should eat plenty of cabbage: it’s rich not only in iron but in the pigment chlorophyll, the green “blood” of plants, which is chemically almost identical to the hemoglobin in human blood.
Leslie Kenton quotes studies in which the red blood cells of anemic rabbits were restored to normal after they had been fed crude chlorophyll for a fortnight.
Centuries of use have also given the cabbage a solid reputation as protective against stress, infection, and cardiac problems. A member of the crucifer family (under Broccoli), it is known to contain a number of anti-cancer compounds, and in population studies, those eating the most cabbage were least likely to develop cancers.
Perhaps even more excitingly, 50 percent of guinea pips fed diced raw cabbage before whole-body irradiation survived, though rats not so protected all died within 15 days. So maybe all those working with VDU screens, or facing radiation treatment or even diagnostic X-rays should cat plenty of raw cabbage.
Most of these therapeutic effects have been observed with raw cabbage, and no doubt would be found also in sauerkraut. Traditional boiling in water not only means major nutrient losses in the water but the disappearance or deactivation of many healing compounds. Cooked cabbage is rough on digestion, too. So, conservative cooking in its own juices or in a sealed pan for as short a time as possible.
Carrots
Carrots are another of the great Superfoods, so rich in beta-carotene that a single carrot will supply your vitamin A need for an entire day. No doubt a host of other compounds — accounts for its efficacy in respiratory infections, and for disorders of the skin and eyes. Carrots are also near the top of the list of vegetables that protect us against cancer — especially of the lungs, a fact borne out in a number of population studies.
In the traditional country wisdom to which many orthodox French physicians are now returning, a purée of cooked carrots is the perfect answer to infant diarrhea, suggesting antibiotic as well as nutritive action. Simply scrape 500g/1lb good red carrots, boil until soft in 11/2pts water, blend, and add enough water to make up to 11/2pt again. When cooled, stir and feed through a bottle, adding a spoonful of the solids.
A two-or three-day fast, taking nothing but water and raw carrot juice, has been recommended for liver problems and carrot juice is equally valuable for jaundice. Eating carrots will increase levels of red blood cells, and studies have also shown that carrots have a protective action against excess ultraviolet or radiation.
So those who want to stay young healthy — and unwrinkled — should eat plenty of carrots.
Their extremely high antioxidant content — vitamins A, C, and E would in any case make carrots essential for people with atherosclerosis narrowed arteries. Russian research identified a compound in carrots called daucarine, with vasodilator properties (widening of arteries). Hence, this action was most marked in the coronary arteries.
Excess of everything is bad, so if you eat carrots in rich amounts, that may cause discoloring of the skin. Because Carrots are full of minerals, fibers, and vitamins but excess qty will increase the beta-carotene molecule due to carrots.
