10 Health Benefits of Kale

It’s no secret I love kale. I have it in my house all the time, my friends joke with me about and tell me I need this. { which I totally am getting! } but, guess what.. this giant green vegetable has some pretty awesome benefits and I just can’t get enough of it! heck out these 10 health benefits of kale. It’s kinda like the holy grail of greens!

Some of my favorite ways to eat this super food is quite simple. Sauteed, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. LOTS of garlic! Or kale chips. Try both of those out!

10 Health Benefits of Kale

  1. A happy liver, your liver is the most important organ for keeping yourself clean on the inside. That’s because an overloaded or toxic liver will have trickle down effects to all of the other organs in your body, including your heart and brain. Making sure that you keep your liver clean is vitally important, and kale is used in many detox programs that are designed to rid your liver of impurities. Have your own detox and eat kale once a day!
  2. Kale is listed as an anti-inflammatory food, which means that it should help curb rampant inflammation in the body which can lead to certain diseases and conditions. Proponents of anti-inflammatory diets say that it can help you prevent things like heart disease as well as cancer.
  3. What if I told you it had MORE IRON than beef.. YEP! Power of the plant.
  4. Extra calcium benefits. Milk is often touted for its calcium, but gram for gram kale has more calcium than cow’s milk, no matter what fat content the milk contains. Kale does end up losing a substantial amount of calcium once it’s cooked. So if you’re eating it for its calcium content it’s best to eat it raw for the most benefit.  If your not a big mill fan, or can’t process it, turn to kale!
  5. Anti-Cancer Benefits – The minerals & vitamins in kale help to battle free radical damage which has been shown to be a contributing factor for cancer risk. Such as; prostate and ovarian.
  6. Plenty of Vitamin A, more like kale is off the charts for this.  In a 100 gram serving kale provides twice as much Vitamin A than you need for the day. Your good to go! 😉
  7. Great source of fiber and sulfur, which both aid in digestion and helps keep your liver healthy!
  8. The Vitamin C in kale helps build up your immune system, along with hydrating the body & increasing your metabolism
  9. High amounts of Vitiman K- one serving of kale provides way more than what is needed! Maintaining optimal Vitamin K levels has been shown to help with bone health, regulated blood sugar levels, prevention of calcification of the arteries, and may give antioxidant benefits.
  10. High in Potassium: Kale has a very respectable amount of potassium, putting it on par with some of the biggest potassium wielding fruits and vegetables out there! Just like bananas and avocados which are also high in potassium. The key takeaway here is that kale boats a rather high level of potassium for being a vegetable! and is only outdone by spinach and swiss chard in the leafy greens department.

See .. holy grail! I can’t get over how many benefits this green has! And check out the nutritional value!

Nutritional Information for Kale

  • Serving Size = 1 cup chopped
  • Calories = 34
  • Calories from Fat = 4 g
  • Total Fat = 0.47 g
  • Cholesterol = 0 mg
  • Sodium = 29 mg
  • Potassium = 299 mg
  • Total Carbohydrate = 6.71 g
  • Dietary Fiber = 1.3 g
  • Sugars = 0 g
  • Protein = 2.21 g
  • Vitamin A = 206% RDI
  • Vitamin C = 134% RDI
  • Calcium = 9% RDI
  • Iron = 6% RDI

The calories for one cup WOW.. potassium, vitamins REALLY stick out to me!

Question: 

How do you like to eat kale?
If you haven’t tried it yet.. will you now?

8 thoughts on “10 Health Benefits of Kale”

  1. Great post on Kale!!! When I buy it at the store, the fresh kind, not prepackaged, I wash it , cut out the main rib/and then cut it into smaller pieces and spin it dry im my salad spinner…keeps fresh for days , if it lasts that long!!

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