What is Baechu?

Baechu is the Korean name for napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis).

It is the pale, barrel-shaped cabbage used as the base of most Korean kimchi. You eat it as a vegetable, not as a strong medicine.

Most use is as food. It goes into soups, stews and wraps. It is also salted and fermented to make kimchi.

Korean home tradition sees it as a cooling, moist vegetable. It is thought to be easy on the stomach. It is also said to help keep the bowels moving.

Here is the honest verdict on the evidence. Baechu is a well-known food with good nutrition. But we found no human trials that tested the vegetable on its own as a treatment for any condition.

A long record of old use is not proof that something treats a disease. That point holds for everything on this page.

How does Baechu work?

Most of what baechu does comes from plain nutrition. There is no special drug in it.

It is about 95 percent water and low in calories. So it adds bulk and fluid to a meal.

The leaves and ribs hold insoluble fibre, the kind that does not dissolve. This fibre adds weight to stool. That is the usual reason fibre-rich vegetables help with regularity.

Kimchi is baechu that has been fermented. Lactic acid bacteria grow on it and make acids and live microbes. Researchers say this may affect gut bacteria.

That idea is about kimchi as a whole food. It is not a proven effect of baechu itself.

What forms does Baechu come in?

Baechu is a vegetable, so the forms are kitchen forms, not supplement forms.

Fresh raw leaves, in salads and wraps.

Cooked, in soups, stews and stir-fries. Cooking softens the leaves. It also cuts the goitrogen compounds, which can affect the thyroid.

Salted and lightly pickled (geotjeori), eaten fresh.

Fully fermented as baechu-kimchi, which is high in salt.

Shops sometimes sell dried or freeze-dried leaves. These are not a standard traditional preparation. There is no standard extract, capsule or tincture in normal use.

Where it comes from:

Napa cabbage came to Korea from China. Farmers there grew the plant for many hundreds of years.

It became widely grown in Korea from about the late 1800s. Better varieties spread in the 1900s.

It then became the heart of kimjang. Kimjang is the yearly autumn making of winter kimchi. UNESCO named it as intangible cultural heritage.

In Korea it stands as a staple food and a cultural fixture. It is not a formal herbal drug in the way ginseng or angelica are.

What does Baechu help with?

• Constipation and general bowel regularity: This is the most sensible use. Baechu is bulky, watery and rich in insoluble fibre. Fibre-rich vegetables are a standard first step for slow bowels. No trial has tested baechu on its own for constipation. So treat it as sensible eating, not as a treatment.
• Everyday nutrition and low-calorie eating: A large serving gives you vitamin C, folate, potassium and fibre. It does this for very few calories. This is a nutrition fact, not a medical claim. It is also the best-backed thing baechu offers.
• Mild indigestion and heavy, greasy meals: Korean home tradition sees baechu as cooling and easy to digest. Cooks serve it next to rich or fatty dishes. This is old practice and cook's habit. We found no human study that tested it for indigestion.
• Fluid and potassium intake in hot weather: The leaves are almost all water, and they carry potassium. So baechu soups are a traditional summer food in Korea. This makes sense on nutrition grounds. But it has not been tested as a treatment for dehydration.

Which foods are rich in Baechu?

1. Baechu-kimchi: fermented napa cabbage, the main way Koreans eat it
2. Baechu-guk: a mild cabbage soup, usually with soybean paste
3. Ssam wraps: raw or blanched leaves used to wrap rice and meat
4. Kimchi-jjigae: a stew made from aged, sour kimchi

Practical Tips:

Cooked dishes give you the vegetable without the salt load of kimchi.

What are the side effects of Baechu?

• Gas, bloating and stomach rumbling, mostly from raw or large servings
• Loose stools if you suddenly eat much more fibre than usual
• Heartburn or stomach upset from spicy, salty kimchi
• Too much salt from regular large kimchi portions, which can raise blood pressure
• Thyroid trouble if you eat very large amounts of raw cabbage-family vegetables daily for months
• Rare allergic reaction, with itching, rash or swelling

Good to know:

For nearly everyone, baechu is as safe as any common vegetable. Side effects stop at gas or bloating.

Two things deserve real care. One is the salt in kimchi. The other is the vitamin K, if you take warfarin (a blood thinner).

Serious problems are rare. They are linked to unusual amounts, not to normal meals.

How much Baechu should you take?

• Recommended daily: There is no established medicinal dose, because baechu is a food rather than a remedy. A normal food portion is roughly 70 to 150 grams of raw leaves, or one to two cups cooked. Kimchi is usually eaten in much smaller amounts, around 30 to 60 grams as a side dish, because of its salt content. If you are watching your salt for blood pressure or heart reasons, count kimchi as a salty food and keep the portion small.
• Best time of day: Any time. In Korea it appears at every meal, including breakfast.
• With or without food: It is food, so it is eaten with meals. Cooking it, rather than eating it raw, is gentler if you get bloating or gas from cabbage.
• Time to effect: Any effect on bowel regularity from the added fibre and water usually shows within one to three days. Nutritional benefits build over weeks of regular eating.
• How long to take it: There is no time limit on eating it as a vegetable. If you are eating very large amounts of raw baechu every day specifically hoping to treat a symptom, stop after two to three weeks and rethink, and speak to a doctor if the symptom is still there.