Our diet affects our health. As the old saw goes: "You are what you eat." Fruits and vegetables are among the healthiest foods we can eat. Research has revealed that cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, etc.) are important in lowering cholesterol. They also help to detoxify the body.

A healthy, balanced diet should include fruit, dairy products, lean meat and vegetables. For the optimum in health, make sure some of those vegetables come from the cabbage family.

Now the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University has discovered that these cruciferous vegetables are even more important in your diet if you're pregnant. The nutrients enter the baby's bloodstream and aid in preventing cancer.

An article from Business Wire states:

The research, published in the journal Carcinogenesis, was conducted with pregnant mice and revealed that a chemical found in Sauerkraut - Indole-3-carbinol - gave their offspring noticeable protection against leukemia and lymphoma at a young age, and against lung cancer later in life.

Cabbage in any form is beneficial. Sauerkraut is an excellent way to absorb the nutrients. Any and all cruciferous vegetables supply these important nutrients - cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli.

The article continues:

"Among all childhood deaths in the U.S., cancer is second only to accidents as the leading cause, and the fetus and neonate are sensitive targets for toxic carcinogens," he said. "It would be important if we could affect this through maternal diet."

Chopping and cooking cruciferous vegetables, including cabbage that is processed to make Sauerkraut, creates Indole-3-carbinol. The institute's research found that the offspring of pregnant mice given the chemical had a 50 percent greater chance of surviving fetal exposure to carcinogens than those not receiving Indole-3-carbinol.