A scientific team with mostly researchers from Michigan State University (United States) has found that eating sauerkraut and cabbage regularly from adolescence reduces the risk of developing breast cancer.

IS SAUERKRAUT THE REASON THERE IS LESS BREAST CANCER IN POLAND?

131 women with breast cancer aged 20 to 79 volunteered to participate in the study. 284 women without breast cancer served as a control group, but otherwise met the same criteria as sick women in terms of origin, age and place of residence. All the women were originally from Poland but now lived in the United States.

In Poland, breast cancer rates are lower than in the United States, but when Polish women immigrate to the United States, their risk of breast cancer increases and eventually equals that of American women. What could be the reason?

In Poland sauerkraut is eaten in abundance: 13.6 kg per person per year. In the United States, consumption is 4.5 kg. Therefore, if Polish women in the United States adopt local dietary habits and eat less fermented cabbage and less cabbage, this could contribute to the increased risk.

SAUERKRAUT AND CABBAGE REDUCE THE RISK OF BREAST CANCER

So, you looked at how much cabbage and sauerkraut the study participants had eaten, both raw and cooked quickly and cooked for a long time, and found the following:

• The more cabbage and sauerkraut women consumed during their youth, and also in adulthood, the lower their risk of breast cancer.
• However, if cabbage or sauerkraut were cooked for a long time, vegetables stopped positively influencing the risk of breast cancer.
• If women ate a lot of cabbage when they were young (4 times a week or more), their subsequent risk of breast cancer decreased by 64% compared to women who ate little cabbage and sauerkraut when they were young.
• The risk of breast cancer was reduced by 50% if the women had eaten a lot of cabbage and sauerkraut, at least in adulthood.
• If women had eaten cabbage and sauerkraut more than 3 times a week in both their youth and adulthood, either raw or cooked briefly, their risk of breast cancer was reduced by 77% compared to women who only ate 1.5 times a week or even less frequently.

A serving of raw sauerkraut is corersponde with about 95 g. That of a short cooker cabbage dish is 60 g, and that of a long-cooked cabbage or sauerkraut dish ranges from 150 to 330 g.

WHY CABBAGE AND OTHER CRUCIFERS PROTECT AGAINST BREAST CANCER

Of course, sauerkraut isn’t the only vegetable you should eat. A high total consumption of vegetables in general can also reduce the risk of breast cancer, especially hormone-dependent cancer.

But cabbage and other vegetables of the cruciferous family (radish, arugula, mustard, watercress) contain very special active substances that make them more effective in reducing the risk of cancer.

These substances are indole-3-carbinol and a result of its digestion, 3,3-diindolylmethane (DIM). However, these vegetables are usually cooked, which leads to high losses of their anti-cancer active ingredients. It is more advisable to eat cabbages and sauerkraut raw or by heating them briefly.

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