Kale — The King Kong Of Greens
Author: mark brohl
Kale is just about the healthiest leafy green vegetable you will ever eat and is readily available most of the year although it is actually sweeter when grown in temperatures cold enough to produce a light frost. Seasonally it is best from mid-winter through the beginning of spring. It has an earthy flavor along with a high nutritional value which is nearly unsurpassed by just about any food. It does all of this with a very minimal amount of calories.
Besides lowering cholesterol with every bite, kale is one of the best cancer fighters around and actually has extremely potent detox properties at a genetic level. There have been over 45 different flavanoids identified in this super food which provide a one-two punch of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. In short, kale is head and shoulders above just about any other known food in the areas of anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer nutrients.
Kale belongs to the Brassica family, which consists of a group of vegetables such as cabbage, collard greens, Brussels sprouts and broccoli. This is a list of heavy hitters and kale is arguably the heavy weight champ of them all. It is one of the best single sources of vitamin K, and A. It is also a great source of Vitamin C, manganese, dietary fiber, copper, vitamin B6, potassium, iron, Vitamin E, Omega 3 fatty acids, phosphorous, and also one of the best sources of absorbable calcium anywhere.
It provides around 15 grams of fiber for under 200 calories. This is a whole bunch more fiber than the average American adult consumes in a 2000 calorie day. Fiber is as essential to our bodies as it is conspicuously absent in our predominantly animal based diet which is absolutely void of fiber. You simply cannot experience even reasonably good health if you do not up the ante on your fiber consumption and this tasty green is about the most healthy way to get your necessary daily requirement. Likewise, in terms of cholesterol fighting ability, kale is second only to collards in providing this lifesaving benefit.
With all the fuss about Omega-3 fats (and rightly so) don’t forget about kale. As if all the other benefits weren’t enough (and we have only scratched the surface) kale is also an excellent source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) which is the basic building block for all omega-3 fats. A mere 200 calories worth of this wonderful green vegetable can provide more than sixty percent of your necessary ALA requirements.
Another wonderful benefit of this wonderful vegetable is it’s production of sulforaphane which is a very powerful cancer fighter that actually signals the liver to produce these cancer fighting enzymes. You will greatly lower your risk of colon cancer, lung cancer, prostate, and breast cancer, (just to name a few) if you will make this green an important part of your diet.
This King Kong of vegetables protects against and even reverses signs of aging caused by the sun, as well as protecting the eyes from damage caused by ultraviolet light. It even helps prevent cataracts and macular degeneration, when incorporated into the diet. I have seen for myself it’s ability to reverse signs of aging as both my beautiful wife and I have watched wrinkles disappear, and this miraculous age reversal has occurred quite rapidly. We both try and drink about a quart of a blended “Green Smoothie” each day. These smoothies usually consist of kale (or some other green) and whatever fruit we have lying around. Fruit makes the smoothie more than palatable and even quite tasty so consuming this anti-aging superfood is really a very pleasant experience.
I truly believe that if you had a million dollars to spend in a pharmacy and/or a beauty salon you would not be able to match the health and beauty benefits of one bunch of organic kale which you should be able to purchase for around one dollar. This wonderful food provided by nature (God) is a one in a million vegetable and it will certainly be a major contributor to a long healthy life. Kale is unquestionably the KING KONG OF GREENS.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/kale-the-king-kong-of-greens-4019378.html
About the Author
I am passionate about health issues, and the state of the health of our wonderful America. I believe the American diet is literally killing us and that a steady flow of money and perks from the meat, egg, and dairy industries to the U.S. government is the reason we have had a long sustained brainwashing campaign that has precipitated the shift from a predominantly plant-based diet to an animal-based diet. The result has been an unprecedented increase in heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancers of all varieties. I believe Americans are suffering from a lack of truthful information concerning our diets. I enjoy writing motivational articles that will help to correct the problem regarding this lack of information and also examine the prevailing misinformation in the light of truth.
Healthy Vegetarian Choices For Life
Dedicated to the advancement of informed choices that will benefit our health, our environment, and our animal friends.
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