When you mention kale, the majority responds with raised eyebrows and mumble “Huh”? “What’s that”? Kale is an old, hardly noticed and powerful green food. Kale is a leafy green vegetable with a mild earthy flavor. The ideal season for kale is between mid winter and early spring where it can be found in abundance in most produce sections of local grocery stores. However, kale usually is available year round. Righteously so, kale is starting to garner well deserved attention amongst dieticians and other health care professionals. This is due to its natural and nutrient rich phytochemical content which brandish unparalleled health promoting benefits. Kale is a nutritional powerhouse.
Kale is overflowing with essential nutrients such as calcium, lutein, iron, and Vitamins A, C, and K. Kale has seven times the beta-carotene of broccoli and ten times more lutein. Kale is rich in chlorophyll and provides much needed fiber so lacking in the daily diet of processed food eating Americans.
The “Icing on the Kale” are the naturally occurring photochemicals sulforaphanes and indoles which research suggests may protect against cancer.