Beijing or Chinese cabbage, as the name implies, comes from China, but in our times it is successfully grown in Russia. This vegetable is well stored, and is used mainly in fresh form. The juicy stem base is used in cooking more often than the foxes themselves. It contains all the wealth of vitamins.
The history of the culture of Chinese cabbage
This vegetable is a plant from the Cabbage family, from a subspecies of turnip. The first mention of this culture in China came from the fifth century AD, but then it was used as an oil plant. Beijing cabbage is today one of the most important vegetable crops in Indochina. By the uniqueness of the biochemical composition, it has no equal among other vegetables. In Korea, this vegetable is called kimchi cabbage and is very fond of it; they have no meal without it. In Japan and Korea, residents associate the long life spans of their old people with Chinese cabbage. This culture is capricious, it is not easy to grow it. Chinese cabbage became cheaper in our markets after Japanese hybrids of Beijing cabbage adapted to a more severe climate were introduced into Russian vegetable production.
Composition and its effect on the benefits or harms of Chinese cabbage
This cabbage, or rather in its stem, contains a well-compatible set of vitamins and minerals. Only ascorbic acid in this vegetable is 2 times more than in Russian white cabbage. Moreover, unlike our cabbage, the amount of vitamins in it is preserved throughout the entire shelf life. Peking cabbage has fat-soluble vitamins A and E, which is unique to the plant. Vitamin K., which we can get only in the spring from the green of our latitudes, in this cabbage we have all year round. Vitamins P and PP, which are important for strengthening the walls of blood vessels, are also found in this plant miracle.
In addition to this vitamin richness, Chinese cabbage contains 16 amino acids, which is important for maintaining the energy balance in the human body. Organic cabbage and polysaccharides are also found in Chinese cabbage. All this gives a feeling of satiety to the person who ate a serving of Chinese cabbage.
Dietetics about the benefits and harms of Chinese cabbage
Chinese cabbage can be boiled, baked, pickled, the usefulness of the vegetable from this will not decrease. Nutritionists recommend that people with increased weight increase the amount of Beijing cabbage in the diet due to its low calorie content. Some nutritionists call this cabbage "a negative calorie product." The fact is that more calories are spent on digesting Chinese cabbage than it contains.
Even ordinary people who are not striving for weight loss, nutritionists are advised to consume 300 g of Beijing cabbage per week. Chinese cabbage has the ability to increase the rate of metabolic processes in the human body, which positively affects human health in any case.
The benefits and harms of Chinese cabbage for pregnant and nursing women
The set of microelements contained in this type of cabbage is very important for this category of women. Pregnant women often have edema in the last stages of pregnancy. A successful combination of trace elements helps to eliminate unwanted water, so Chinese cabbage is recommended as a natural, harmless diuretic to remove small swelling.
Folic acid, which is contained in Chinese cabbage in large quantities, reduces the risk of pathology in the development of the fetus, and vitamin E, which enters the body of a pregnant woman from Chinese cabbage in the right amount, reduces the risk of miscarriage. Trace elements, in particular iron, contained in this vegetable are enough to prevent the development of anemia, which occurs in almost every pregnant woman.
But for a nursing mother, it is better to exclude Beijing cabbage from their diet, because in many cases it causes increased gas separation in the child. It is possible to introduce Chinese cabbage back into the woman’s diet after the child reaches the age of three months.
The benefits and harms of Chinese cabbage for children
Chinese cabbage is a hypoallergenic product, so it is ranked as a baby food. It is especially useful for children with weakened immunity. But at the same time, it is necessary to avoid the combination of Beijing cabbage with dairy products, in children this combination causes diarrhea.
The benefits and harms of Beijing cabbage for the elderly
For the elderly, it is important that regular consumption of Beijing cabbage helps to stabilize blood pressure and relieve the lethargy characteristic of this age, and also reduces increased fatigue.
However, due to the large amount of vitamin K contained in Beijing cabbage, it should not be consumed by people taking blood thinners. This is a limiting factor for the spread of Chinese cabbage among the elderly. Gerontologists believe that in old people, Chinese cabbage helps to cope with:
constant bad mood;
increased irritability;
headaches.
Vitamin A contained in such a cabbage slows down the aging of the body, normalizes hormones.
Medical specialists about the benefits and dangers of Chinese cabbage
Therapists recommend using Chinese cabbage in our latitudes in the winter to increase immunity, especially during epidemics of infectious diseases of the upper respiratory tract. These same doctors do not recommend eating Beijing cabbage to people with high acidity of the gastric contents. With caution, you need to use this vegetable with a patient with gastritis, or colitis. Patients with pancreatitis should be especially careful with this vegetable. You can’t eat Chinese cabbage of any kind to ulcers, especially during an exacerbation of the disease. This cabbage in people with a "weak" stomach can cause diarrhea. A mixture of Beijing cabbage with cottage cheese or cheese in any case causes diarrhea.
Dermatologists advise middle-aged women to increase the amount of Chinese cabbage in the diet to preserve the skin's natural elasticity and shine.
Oncologists have paid attention to this vegetable recently. Chinese cabbage contains so many antioxidants that it can play a serious role in the prevention of many types of cancer.
Dentists have adopted a prescription of traditional medicine and advise patients with stomatitis and gum disease to rinse their mouth several times a day with the juice of stalks of Chinese cabbage.
The benefits and harms of Chinese cabbage in cosmetology
Beauticians, in the wake of Asian colleagues, have adopted harmless methods of skin rejuvenation with the help of Chinese cabbage. Masks made from Peking cabbage juice quickly relieve skin inflammation in adolescents. Masks made from a mixture of lemon juice and Chinese cabbage juice help to make the skin healthier, narrow pores, restore skin elasticity, give the face a more youthful look. Masks made from Chinese cabbage juice help stop hair loss, improve the appearance of the hairline.
