Vitamin In a Pot
All hail Kale! If all you could do was plant one vegetable – Kale is it!
Kale is a member of the Brassica or Cruciferous or Cabbage family – along with collards, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, mustard, turnips, rutabagas and radishes.
Not only is it fairly easy to grow from seed, it can be grown year round (especially in the San Francisco Bay Area – Zone 9) – it’s one of the most nutritious plants there is.
Kale is rich in many vitamins and minerals
So many vitamins – let me count the vi’s…there’s Vitamin K, A, C, B6, E, B2, B1, Folate and B3.
Feeling a little low in seratonin? Trytophan (the precursor to seratonin) is not just for turkeys – yup, it’s in kale too.
Kale is a gold mine…rich with calcium, manganese, copper, potassium, iron, magnesium and phosporus. Minerals important to healthy bones, energy production and the proper function of just about every body system.
For those who don’t tolerate dairy and worry about their bones – don’t. Research has shown that the calcium in kale is better absorbed than the calcium in milk!
Did you say, “anti-oxidant?”
Kale is tops when it comes to cancer and eye health.
The eyes have it when it comes to Lutein and Zeaxanthin and so does kale. Sure you can take a pill but those are generally isolated nutrients in super high doses…I always want my nutrition from real whole foods – the way nature intended.
Kale contains sulfur rich phytonutrients that research suggests enhances detoxification of cancer causing compounds. It’s thought that compounds in kale actually turn on the genes directing our body to make more cancer neutralizing enzymes. Other research indicates some of these phytonutrients directly inactivate chemicals that promote cancer.
For those skeptical of all the science and lab experiments,
this is where proof meets fork – many studies show that people who regularly ate vegetables in the Brassica family have lower incidence of cancers.
Wow! Put some on my plate.
The icing? How about high fiber, a little omega 3’s and low calories!
Tomorrow…growing that kale.
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