Kale – A Worthy Addition to Your Diet?

Hi guys, hope you’re all having a nice and relaxed Sunday with your friends or family.

The world is now obsessed with super foods, and I took a look at one of them earlier last week. You can click here to read my previous post about the super food that is chickpeas. Today, we will take a look at another super food that has been increasing in popularity recently – kale.

Kale is a leafy vegetable without a head, and its leaves can be green or purple in colour. It is rich in vitamins and minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium while very low in fat and does not add to your cholesterol level. It is one of the most nutritious food items in the world as it is a source of many of the nutrients needed for healthy living.

One of the most nutrient dense foods in the world (pic from projectfreshcraftjuice.com)

According to the USDA, a single cup of kale (67g) contains more than enough Vitamin A and C needed on a daily basis (133% and 134% respectively). Vitamin A is extremely beneficial for your vision and also helps to keep your skin healthy and radiant while Vitamin C helps to boost your immune system and keeps your metabolism working at a high rate. All of this ensures that your general well-being will be maintained and you will definitely feel reap the benefits of consuming kale regularly.

Kale is known for its ability to reduce cholesterol in the body as it contains bile acid sequestrants – these are binding agents which hold bile acids together and prevent it from being reabsorbed into the body. As bile acids are a byproduct of cholesterol, this inevitably helps to reduce the risk of heart disease in the future.

Although it may not be the most appetising, kale juice has plenty of health benefits (pic from andatech.com.au)

You can consume kale juice to help reduce cholesterol, with one study done over 12 weeks showing a marked improvement in anti-oxidant levels, while increasing healthy cholesterol by 27% and reducing unhealthy cholesterol by 10%. However, drinking kale juice for 12 weeks might take its toll on you. Remarkably, another study showed that steaming kale increases the binding of bile acids drastically, so you can vary up your preparations of kale in order to maximise its cholesterol lowering capacities.

Steamed kale is incredibly effective for binding bile acids (pic from healthytippingpoint.com)

It also has many anti-oxidants that are crucial for helping to maintain the general health of your body. It counters the effects of free radicals which may induce quicker aging or even diseases such as cancer. And of course, kale will naturally help you to lose weight due to its low calorie count and the presence of protein and fibre. There is no study that correlates weight loss with hale but its properties certainly lend weight to this belief, and it certainly isn’t an unhealthy ingredient to add to your diet. Try it and see!

Kale is not widely available in Malaysia and may also be quite pricey, but there is no price you can put on health. This vegetable will definitely boost the nutrients in your body and will improve your health; it is just a matter of whether you can commit to sourcing and purchasing this fine food item. Of course there are also plenty of other healthy and cheap food alternatives that are easily available in Malaysian markets. The choice is yours and yours alone.

Till next time, stay healthy!