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Kale is a delicious vegetable with abundance of nutrients. The green leafy vegetable, is a nutrient- dense food and covers wide range of health benefits.
It has similar characteristics with cruciferous vegetable such as broccoli, cauliflower, collared green, cabbage and Brussels sprouts, but can be easily identified with it’s curly shape.
Though it is commonly found in the Mediterranean regions, and appears in different colors like green or purple, with a hard, fibrous stems.
Furthermore, it is regarded as the healthiest and most nutritious plant foods across the globe. This is because of the importance of kale in managing blood pressure, cancer prevention, and type 2 diabetes among others.
Kale is said to have contain substantial amount of vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin A(beta- carotene), vitamin B6, omega- 3 fatty acid, calcium, iron , phosphorus, magnesium and copper. Total calories is about 33, 3grams of protein and 6grams of carbohydrates.
Health benefits include, help maintain the eye, help detoxify the body, improve skin care, possess antioxidant, low cholesterol levels, combat anemia, weight reduction, cancer, Bone health, and diabetics management.
10 Science -based Health Benefits Of Kale
1. Maintain The Eye
It is important to note that kale is an excellent source of lutein, antioxidant which protect the eyes against muscular degeneration, cataract, and blindness. Incorporating kale along with other foods rich in caroteneoid helps improve your eye health. The antioxidant in kale aid elimination of toxic substance in the eye that can cause blindness.
2. Help Detoxify The Body
Kale is superb as it foster detoxification of harmful substance, thanks to the isothiocyanate present in it. This enable the body to breakdown toxic substance into a level that will not affect our body. Thus, it could be said that kale improves the functions of liver. In addition, kale is known as one of the healthiest vegetables, and should be in your food ingredients for optimal functions of the liver.
3. Improve Skin Care
Consumption of kale improves your skin functions and inhibit skin disorder. This is associated to the abundance of vitamin C content in kale, making it healthy for usage. Vitamin C is required for collagen synthesis, and this helps to strengthen skin, minimize appearance of premature wrinkles, sagging, and age spot.
4. Possess Antioxidant properties
Antioxidant is known for fighting off free radicals which promote oxidative damage in the body. A cup of kale contains vitamin C, caroteneoid, flavanoid, and polyphenols (1 ) . These antioxidant prevent skin damage, premature aging, cancer, build ups that often result to heart attack.
5. Lower Cholesterol Levels
Cholesterol is used in production of bile acids which contains enzymes that accelerate fat metabolism. In production of bile acids, much bile acids are sometimes released and some are reconverted to cholesterol. Kale contains dietary fiber that slow full absorption of cholesterol into the blood stream. This helps regulates it reconversion and decrease circulation of blood cholesterol levels.
6. Help Manage Diabetes
In management of diabetic patients, foods of low carbohydrate, sugar free, and nutrients dense are needed. It is a vegetable with low carbohydrate, sugar free and source of dietary fiber, a prerequisite for blood sugar control. Fiber is known for slowing the rate at which glucose flows into the blood stream, activating insulin secretion and tolerance.
7. Promote Bone Health
Kale is a plant-based source of calcium, which is known for bone development. Incorporating it into your meal helps increase calcium concentration in the body, thus impedes effect of bone deficiency
8. Weight Loss
Kale is extremely low in calories, and good source of dietary fiber, making it weight reduction food. Eating food made with kale makes you feel full all day. Also there is little amount of protein which is good when it comes to weight reduction.
9. Help Prevent Cancer
Prevention of cancer is associated with the presence of phytochemicals contained in Kale.
10. Combat Anemia
There are two nutrients needed for blood formation such as vitamin C, and iron. Vitamin C aid in iron absorption and functioning as antioxidant that help boost immune system. While iron is involved in production of new red blood cells, which increase blood count drastically.
Conclusion
Kale is a among the healthiest green leafy vegetable. It houses a lot of nutrients and natural compounds including vitamin, minerals, beta- carotene. Kale play a beneficial role in the body such as prevention of eye disorder, help reduce cholesterol levels, help in diabetics management and many others.
