23/02/2026
I had terrible mastitis after the birth of my first child & nurses at the hospital gave me savoy cabbage leaves to put over my breasts. Worked a treat.
THE POOR MAN'S POULTICE. 🥬🦵
If you tell a modern doctor you are wrapping your knee in a vegetable, they might laugh. But if you tell a nurse in Switzerland or Germany, they will nod. The Cabbage Leaf Wrap is a centuries-old European folk remedy for inflammation, mastitis, and osteoarthritis.
And surprisingly, modern randomized controlled trials back it up.
The Science: Not Just Placebo Why cabbage? It’s not magic; it’s biochemistry.
Glutamine: Cabbage is one of the richest sources of Glutamine, an amino acid with potent anti-inflammatory properties.
Sulfur & Glucosinolates: Like onions, cabbage contains sulfur compounds that absorb through the skin to reduce pain signaling.
The Cooling Effect: Cabbage leaves have a unique structure that retains cold and absorbs heat from the body (thermodynamics). When placed on a "hot" swollen joint, it acts as an active heat sink, pulling the heat out of the tissue better than a plastic ice pack.
The Study A study published in The Clinical Journal of Pain compared Cabbage Leaf Wraps against a standard Diclofenac (Voltarén) gel for Osteoarthritis of the knee. The Result: The patients using cabbage wraps reported significantly reduced pain and improved functional mobility. While the drug was slightly more effective for acute pain, the cabbage had zero side effects and was preferred by many for chronic management.
⚡ VitalShot: How to Make the Wrap: You can't just put a leaf on. You have to "activate" it.
Buy: Savoy cabbage (crinkly) or Red Cabbage (high in anthocyanins) work best.
Prep: Wash a leaf and remove the hard center stem.
Crush: This is the secret. Place the leaf on a counter and roll over it with a rolling pin or wine bottle. You want to bruise the leaf so the cell walls break and the juices (medicine) start to come to the surface.
Wrap: Place the bruised leaf directly on the painful joint.
Secure: Wrap with cling film or a bandage to hold it in place.
Time: Leave it for 1 hour or overnight. When you take it off, the leaf will often be warm, wilted, and "cooked," while your knee feels cool and mobile.
📚 Source: Efficacy of Cabbage Leaf Wraps in the Treatment of Symptomatic Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Randomized Controlled Trial 🏥 Journal: The Clinical Journal of Pain, 2016. 🆔 Verification: [PMID 26889617]
