Rhubarb’s Surprisingly Long List of Health Benefits

How Rhubarb is Good For Your Health

Nutrient Content

Vitamins

Excellent Source of (Daily Recommended):

• Vitamin K – 45%

Good Source of (Daily Recommended):

• Vitamin C – 16%

A Source of:

• Thiamin – 2%
• Riboflavin – 2%
• Niacin – 2%
• Folate – 2%
• Vitamin E – 2%
• Vitamin A – 2%

Minerals

Good Source of (Daily Recommended):

• Manganese – 12%
• Potassium – 10%
• Calcium – 10%

A Source of:

• Magnesium – 4%
• Phosphorus – 2%
• Selenium – 2%

Other

Also a Source of:

• Fiber – 9%
• Omega-6 Fatty Acids
• Antioxidants – Proanthocyanidins, Anthocyanins

*All nutritional information found at ( 1 )

How Rhubarb Prevents Chronic Disease

Rhubarb, like many vegetables, prevents several chronic diseases that plague America today. Most notably, rhubarb helps to prevent cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

How Rhubarb Prevents Cancer

In general, vegetables are recommended to be consumed daily in order to help prevent cancer. Rhubarb is a great resource to incorporate into your diet to prevent various cancers.

• Rhubarb, a lesser-known vegetable, has a rich source of antioxidants that can counteract cancerous cells. Specifically, antioxidants will help attack those free radicals that are causing damage to essential tissues and allowing the cancerous cells to metastasize over time.

• Rhubarb is rich in anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are the antioxidants that provide rhubarb its red color and have been shown to prevent a number of cancers such as breast, lung, and colon cancers. ( 2 )

  • A study even showed that rhubarb has more polyphenol content compared to kale, which is thought of as one of the “richest” vegetables for polyphenol content. ( 3 )

• In addition to being rich in anthocyanins, rhubarb is rich in another class of antioxidants called proanthocyanidins.

  • Proanthocyanidins have anti-carcinogenic effects, and they target different cycles of the cancer pathway. Proanthocyanidins have been shown to prevent a few cancers, such as breast, lung, and gastric cancers. However, further studies must be done on proanthocyanidins to confirm their bioavailability and the exact mechanisms. ( 4 )

• Similar to other vegetables, rhubarb also provides vitamin C content. Vitamin C has been shown to reduce your risk for a number of cancers such as lung, breast, blood, and colorectal cancers. ( 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 )

• By having fewer sugars than fruits and immense antioxidant effects on the immune system, rhubarb is an excellent vegetable to incorporate into some of your meals. It even gives a sour touch to your diet!

How Rhubarb Prevents Diabetes

• Rhubarb is rich in fiber content. Specifically, this helps prevent diabetes by making you fuller and preventing you from overeating. ( 9 )

• As a result, your blood sugar levels don’t fluctuate after you have a meal. More studies need to come out to show rhubarb’s direct impact on type 2 diabetes.

How Rhubarb Prevents Cardiovascular Diseases

• Rhubarb has a number of benefits that can help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Specifically, rhubarb a good source of fiber. ( 10 )

  • One study has shown that the fiber found in rhubarb can help reduce your bad LDL cholesterol by up to 9%. ( 11 )

  • This reduction in LDL cholesterol is incredibly significant to prevent cardiovascular diseases because it prevents LDL cholesterol from clumping together and stopping blood flow to certain areas of your body. Once a blood vessel is wholly halted or clotted, it can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

• Rhubarb also has some potassium content, which has been shown to reduce your blood pressure levels and reduce your risk of cardiovascular diseases. ( 12 )

• In addition to rhubarb’s fiber, rhubarb is also rich in vitamin K1. Vitamin K1 is essential for preventing blood clots. Rhubarb is one of the richest vegetables in vitamin K1, which gives it an advantage over other vegetables and fruit when implementing in your diet for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. ( 13 )

Rhubarb Promotes a Number of Health Benefits

Rhubarb not only helps to prevent diseases but support and promote the function of several important systems in our bodies.

How Rhubarb Promotes Bone Health

• Rhubarb promotes bone health through its calcium content. Rhubarb is rich in calcium, which is essential to building up bone strength and density. In turn, this buildup in calcium can help prevent diseases such as osteoporosis as you become older. ( 14 )

How Rhubarb Promotes Immune Health

• Rhubarb promotes immune health through its vitamin C content. Vitamin C provides a boost to your immune system because it helps increase the number of white blood cells that your body can utilize. White blood cells are essential, as they help fight off infections and foreign particles from invading your organs. ( 15 )