25 Awesome Health Benefits of Eating Kale
Kale. It is being called the new beef, and it is growing quite popular among health conscious people everywhere.
But what exactly is this leafy green food, and what are the benefits of eating it?
If you have not heard of the amazing benefits of kale yet, you are about to because I am going to tell you the 25 health benefits that you can get from eating this delicious, healthy food!
1) Low Calorie: With obesity higher than ever, it is increasingly important to eat nutritious foods that are low in calories, and kale is among one of the lowest. At only 33 calories per serving (1 cup) you could eat as much kale as you ever wanted and wouldn’t gain a single ounce!
2) Kale has vitamin K: Vitamin K is important for a huge variety of health issues. It is a natural blood thickener, helps you build strong bones and is great for your heart health. There are also increasing studies that vitamin K helps to fight several types of cancer.
3) Kale has manganese: Manganese is important for several health reasons. It helps your body build strong bones and it also has benefits for your skin, because it is part of an enzyme known as manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), which is important in the fight against UV damage from the sun.
4) Kale has copper: We don’t hear about copper very much, but it plays a large role in our health, filling your cells with energy and helping to build strong tissue and maintain your blood volume.
5) Kale has vitamin B6: Vitamin B6 plays a very important part of our overall health. This important vitamin is used to treat allergies, asthma, high cholesterol, migraines and a wide range of other illnesses.
6) Kale has fiber: We hear a lot about getting our daily fiber, but why is it so helpful to our body? Fiber controls blood sugar, promotes good heart health, helps prevent stroke, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), skin health, weight loss, hemorrhoids and even has been shown to reduce the risk of kidney stones.
7) Kale has calcium: We all know how important getting enough calcium is to our bone strength and health, but what else does this element do for us? Calcium also helps promote the burning of fat in our body, instead of the storage of it. It is also good for your heart, treating PMS and has been shown to fight cancer.
8) Kale has potassium: Potassium is one of the most important elements in the human body, providing all kinds of benefits and fighting all sorts of disorders. Potassium helps regulate blood pressure, reduces anxiety and stress, regulates fluid levels in the body and even is beneficial to brain functions such as memory and learning.
9) Kale has vitamin E: It is estimated that 90% of Americans are not getting enough vitamin E in our diets. Vitamin E is an anti-oxidant that has been shown to help repair cell damage and is great for skin health.
10) Kale has vitamin B2: Did you know vitamin B2 helps process carbohydrates? This important vitamin also can be used to prevent migraine headaches, treat anemia, make the skin clearer, tissue repair and even regulates your thyroid.
11) Kale has iron: You already know how important iron is for fighting anemia, but what about some other great health benefits of iron? Iron also helps in the formation of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen through your body. It also helps in brain function by delivering more oxygen to the brain, and also plays a vital role in our muscle function. And as a bonus, kale has more iron than beef per calorie!
12) Kale has magnesium: An estimated 80% of Americans are not getting enough magnesium in their diet. Magnesium provides a wide array of health benefits, including formation of teeth and bones, blood sugar regulation, treatment of diabetes, PMS and migraines.
13) Kale has vitamin B1: Thiamine, or vitamin B1 is a very important vitamin for the human body. It helps to convert sugar into energy and helps produce acetyl-choline which helps deliver messages to muscles and nerves, which make sure that your heartbeat is regular and healthy!
14) Kale has Omega-3 fats: Omega-3 fatty acids have a huge range of health benefits. Omega 3 fats have been shown to reduce bipolar disorder symptoms, treat rheumatoid arthritis, increase cardiovascular health and a reduction in sudden death for patients who have experienced a heart attack. The health benefits of omega 3 fats are almost endless, and have even been shown to treat depression.
15) Kale has protein: You already know how important protein is, but may not be aware that many plant foods are rich with this vital building block of our lives. Protein is responsible for our development, blood replenishment, dead cell replacement and of course providing our body with energy to get through the day.
16) Kale has Folate (Folic Acid): Folic Acid (Vitamin B12) is vital for cell health in our body and a wide range of other health benefits as well. Folic Acid helps in the development of red blood cells, fetal development, treatment of depression and even heart disease.
17) Kale has vitamin B3: Vitamin B3 or Niacin is a vitamin that has been shown to reduce the risk for heart disease. It lowers bad cholesterol (LDL) and raises good cholesterol (HDL) too. If that’s not enough, vitamin B3 also helps reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, cataracts, osteoarthritis and diabetes.
18) Kale lowers cholesterol: Due to the wide variety of helpful vitamins in kale, eating a diet that includes the green, leafy vegetable can help you reduce your cholesterol and contributes to better heart health.
19) Kale helps fight cancer: Kale is high in organosulfur compounds, which have been shown to fight some of the deadliest forms of cancer, including colon cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer and breast cancer.
20) Kale is an anti-inflammatory: While diets high in animal proteins cause inflammation which leads to heart disease, arthritis and a number of autoimmune diseases, the natural anti-inflammatory in kale helps to prevent and even reverse these effects.
21) Kale is sustainable: The typical cow takes 18 – 24 months to grow to maturity (with the help of growth hormones) but kale reaches full maturity in around 60 days. Kale can easily be grown on most any farm and has a very low impact on the environment.
22) Kale is delicious: Maybe this should have been the first item on the list, but better late than never. Kale comes in a wide variety of colors and textures to suit every taste bud. The sheer amount of recipes including kale are staggering, so no matter what your personal tastes are, you will have no problem finding a way to eat kale that you enjoy.
23) Kale helps you lose weight: If you eat foods such as kale as a regular part of a healthy, plant-based diet you can see a lot of weight loss benefits. With so many Americans, and others around the world becoming more obese, finding delicious foods like kale that promote a healthy body and a healthy weight are more important than ever!
24) 50 Varieties: There are over 50 varieties of kale that you can buy and eat. Different types of kale have different tastes, so every taste bud is covered for sure. Depending on how you are going to serve and eat your kale, you will want to try as many varieties as you can find to make sure you have the most delicious one.
25) Kale has lutein and zeaxanthin: Don’t worry if you can’t pronounce these. These two carotenoids help protect your eyes from harmful UV rays from the sun and keep your eyesight healthy and clear.
The truth is, this list could be much longer. Kale has so many health benefits and helps our body fight so many ailments that it should be a part of any diet, whether you eat a plant based diet or especially if you are eating a more animal protein based or high fat diet. Whether you steam it, add it to a salad or make home made kale chips to snack on, you can use kale to obtain a healthier body without sacrificing taste!
When I made the switch from a mostly meat diet to a plant-based diet, it really helped me to be educated about the food I was eating, instead of simply being told that something was good for me. I hope you know enough about kale now to give it a try and see why so many people are talking about this healthy food.
