If we talk about the health benefits of kale, it will not go away, because kale is a super vegetable that can beat many other vegetables in terms of nutrition. Even healthline.com mentions that kale is the king of super vegetables.
Well, you can already imagine how great this green vegetable is. These are plant foods that you need to include in your daily diet to meet the various needs of your body.
Below we have collected the various health benefits of kale. For reference enrichment you can also refer to the amazing benefits of kale!
10 Health Benefits of Kale (research backed)
1. Kale, healthiest vegetable on the planet
Kale is a vegetable with the best nutritional content among other vegetables on the planet we live in.
This is a cruciferous vegetable and is part of the broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and collard green families.
This plant has several variations, there are curly kale, straight and some are purple and green. The most common types of kale are curly-leaved and green.
This kale is called Scottish kale, the stems are tough and fibrous. The nutritional content for every 2.4 ounces of kale is as follows:
- Vitamin A: 206% of the DV (from beta-carotene)
- Vitamin C: 134% of the DV
- The Vitamin K: 684% of the DV
- Vitamin B6: 9% of the DV
- Calcium: 9% of the DV
- Manganese: 26% of the DV
- Copper: 10% of the DV
- Magnesium: 6% of the DV
- Potassium: 9% of the DV
Kale also contains about 3% or more of B1 called thiamin, vitamin B2 called riboflavin and vitamin B3 called niacin. In addition, kale is also a source of nutrients such as iron and phosphorus.
The nutritional value of kale is also inseparable from its calories, it contains about 33 calories, 6 grams of carbohydrates of which about 2 grams comes from fiber, and also contains 3 grams of protein. The nutritional value of this kale is based on a 2.4-ounce measure of kale.
Not high in healthy fats, kale also contains very little fat and most of that fat is a healthy fat called alpha linolenic acid. From
In terms of being very low in calories and supported by many other nutrients, kale is the most nutrient-dense vegetable ever in this palette. Consuming kale is the best way to maintain health and increase the supply of nutrients for the body. For children who are malnourished, giving kale every day is the best way to improve their health.
More: How to Freeze Kale
2. Source of vitamin C
Kale is a vegetable rich in vitamin C, the benefits of vitamin C are as an important antioxidant to fight disease, it is also water soluble and has many vital roles in maintaining a healthy body.
One of the roles or functions of vitamin C is to form collagen. It is a structural protein present in the body. These benefits are related to skin health.
Kale vegetables contain quite a lot of vitamin C compared to other vegetables. Even when compared to spinach, kale contains 4.5 times more vitamin C.
3. Kale is a great source of antioxidants like Quercetin and Kaempferol
Why is kale said to be the highest nutritional vegetable in this palette? Besides being low in calories, kale is also very rich in antioxidants, including vitamin C, beta-carotene, polyphenols, flavonoids, etc. The benefits of antioxidants are to ward off toxins or free radicals that cause oxidation damage.
Oxidation damage is the cause of aging and various diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and others.
Kale is a vegetable full of nutrients and antioxidants, where the benefits of consuming kale regularly is to prevent dangerous diseases such as heart disease, cancer, inflammation, liver problems and so on.
This is as has been studied in test tubes, where these antioxidants have enormous benefits to protect health.
Kale also contains an antioxidant called kaempferol, which is known to support disease fighting.
It can be said that these substances provide a protective effect against heart-protective, anti-inflammatory, blood pressure-lowering, anti-viral, anti-cancer effects and even as an anti-depressant.
More: Black Tea Benefits for Health and Side Effects
4. Health Benefits of kale to lower cholesterol
One of the benefits of kale is lowering cholesterol. Cholesterol is diverse and has many functions.
The liver sometimes takes cholesterol for later making as bile acids. Bile acid is important in digesting fat and breaking down fat. So, bile acids that are released into the intestines are the result of converted cholesterol.
Every time you eat fatty foods, bile acids are in charge of digesting them.
After the bile acids digest fat, then these bile acids will return to cholesterol and enter the bloodstream again. However, there are substances called bile acid sequestrants, which bind cholesterol so that cholesterol cannot return to the bloodstream. This is what causes a reduction in the amount of cholesterol.
When cholesterol in the blood is reduced, it is good for health. Bottom line: cholesterol is sometimes important, but too much can be harmful to the body and can lead to heart disease and stroke.
There is a study that shows that drinking kale juice every day for 12 weeks can increase good cholesterol (HDL) by 27%, by itself can reduce the amount of bad cholesterol (LDL) by up to 10%, another benefit is increasing antioxidant status.
Also see: Which Foods Have More Vitamin C Than An Orange
Kale when steamed (not boiled) can produce up to 43% more cholesterol-binding substances. This is very good because when cholesterol is converted into bile, and when it returns to the bloodstream, cholesterol is prevented by these substances and can no longer enter the bloodstream.
5. Kale contains many cancer-fighting substances
The health benefits of kale for health are enormous because it contains many substances that can fight cancer.
Cancer is a dangerous disease characterized by the appearance of abnormal cells in the body or damaged cells that grow uncontrollably.
Kale is believed to be a vegetable with the highest nutrition and a very high antioxidant content, which can fight cancer cells. At least, consuming kale every day can prevent cancer or slow its growth.
One of these important antioxidants is sulforaphane, a substance that has been scientifically proven to inhibit cancer cells or inhibit their formation at the molecular phase.
Kale also contains indole-3-carbinol, another substance whose benefits are also known to prevent cancer.
In the study mentioned that cruciferous vegetables are an important type of vegetable that is good for lowering the risk of various types of cancer. Kale is one of the cruciferous plants that have this great benefit.
6. Kale is the best source of vitamin K on the planet
Vitamin K has important functions for health, one of which is for blood clotting. This blood clotting occurs when vitamin K activates certain proteins and gives it the ability to bind calcium.
There is a well-known anti-coagulant drug, it works by blocking the function of vitamin K so that the blood melts.
For those who have had an accident or been cut by a knife and need blood clotting quickly, they need the right intake of vitamin K. Kale is the vegetable with the best vitamin K content in the world. One cup of kale provides up to 7 times more vitamin K than the daily recommendation.
Vitamin K has many variants, and the one found in kale is K1. Vitamin K1 is certainly different from vitamin K2 which is found in fermented soybeans. This type of vitamin K2 functions in maintaining heart disease and bone loss.
7. Kale is quite high in beta carotene
Many say that kale is high in vitamin A, actually this is not correct because a lot of kale is beta carotene and this beta-carotene can be converted into vitamin A, so consuming kale can meet the body’s need for vitamin A.
So, if you want to increase your intake of vitamin A, you can consume kale, and the best is the steamed one.
8. Kale is rich in antioxidants: Lutein and Zeaxanthin, beneficial for eye protection
Aging is a change in body cells without new cell regeneration and one form of aging is decreased vision.
Fortunately, in some vegetables such as kale contains antioxidants that can prevent aging. Substances like lutein and zeaxanthin are two types of antioxidants that fight aging by removing dead cells.
These two types of antioxidants are important substances for eye health. Apart from being found in kale, zeaxanthin and lutein are also found in other green vegetables.
Based on the results of the study, those who consumed foods containing lutein and zeaxanthin had a lower risk of cataracts, blurred eyes, and macular degeneration.
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9. Kale is a source of essential minerals
Some people experience mineral deficiencies, kale is a source of minerals that meet your daily needs.
Kale is a green vegetable that contains a lot of calcium, and it is an essential nutrient for maintaining healthy bones and has other benefits in all cellular functions of the human body.
Apart from calcium, kale also contains magnesium, a mineral essential for preventing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It is also rich in potassium which is beneficial for maintaining the body’s electrical gradient. If potassium is sufficient, blood pressure will be normal and heart disease will be avoided.
Unlike the case with other green vegetables, kale has another very remarkable advantage, it is a vegetable low in oxalic acid. Consuming high oxalic acid can cause problems with the kidneys, bones, and blood vessels and others. For example, a vegetable high in oxalic acid is rhubarb, which is why people who consume rhubarb, they only eat the stalks and get rid of the leaves (rhubarb leaves are rich in oxalic acid). See how does rhubarb taste like.
10. Kale can help you lose weight
One of the important health benefits of kale is that it is rich in fiber which is great for weight loss. Not only is it rich in fiber, kale is also low in calories so it supports weight loss even more.
It is a low energy density vegetable because it is low in calories and high in water. It is said that consuming low-energy foods is good for weight loss.
Kale vegetables also contain protein which plays a role in helping weight loss as well. It’s not research that leads to this, but this is no longer a strange problem, everyone already knows that fiber and low-calorie foods are good and support weight loss.
