Cabbage belongs to the cruciferous Brassica oleracea family, which includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower.
Green and Red cabbage are common varieties, as is the looser, crinkly-leaved Savoy cabbage – and a wide variety of Asian greens suck as pak choy and choy sum.
As member of the Brassica family, cabbage contains glucosinolates which are broken down into anti-cancer chemicals, with darker green cabbage higher amounts.
Red cabbage contains more folate and vitamin C than green.
Cabbage is thought to reduce hormone related cancers as well as cancers of the colon and rectum.