Cough is the biggest nuisance in the winter months and also a sign that something is not right with our body. The flu doesn't have to put us in bed; much more dangerous are the one-day colds we get over while still active and without proper treatment. Just one cough and a slight tickle in the throat should be an alarm signal to do something for yourself and your health.

What to choose?

Folk healers often recommend sage for coughs. Those sage leaves from Dalmatia, toughened by the bora wind and polished by sea salt, are especially hardy and therefore particularly useful.

But this time we’re adding a cabbage tip to the collection of home remedies. Cabbage, after all, is rich in pantothenic and nicotinic acids, a lot of carotene, tocopherol, inositol, calcium, sodium, iron, magnesium, sulfur, zinc, copper, vitamins K, P, B1, and B2... Cabbage is a versatile food, which is quite common on our plates in winter, but usually cooked, at which point it loses more than half its nutritional value.

If you want to truly take advantage of the miraculous power of cabbage, use fresh, as green as possible leaves. Finely chop the cabbage (you can use a juicer), and mix it in a 1:1 ratio with honey, maple, or agave syrup. If you’re preparing this remedy for a child, you can also use sugar. Eat one teaspoon of this mixture every 6 hours, and you’ll soon notice the difference. Fresh cabbage opens up the airways, and its vitamins strengthen the immune system.

And now the key question: which is healthier – sage or cabbage?

The answer lies in dry nutritional data.

If we compare 2 grams of sage (as much as you need for a cup) and 100 grams of cabbage, both provide 2% of the daily required dose of vitamin A. They’re also tied at 3% for iron. Cabbage provides 4%, sage 3% calcium. Cabbage has 8%, sage just 1% vitamin C. Cabbage contains 2% protein, sage none. Cabbage also has more magnesium, manganese, and a lot of selenium...

Sage wins in only two areas. It has no calories (cabbage has 218), and no carbs (cabbage has 49 grams).

If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll choose sage; if a strong immune system is important to you (as is common when recovering from illness), then opt for cabbage.