New Year's Resolution: Drink your Kale!

Making health a priority in the new year is a great way to bring energy to all other parts of your life: your family, your career and going after your dreams. You need to have energy to do it all and if you add one change it should be to drink your kale!

The most powerful GREEN veggie to use for juicing or for making smoothies is Kale.  Kale has so many powerful effects on the body that doctors and researchers are advising patients to include it in their diets. I advise on clinical nutrition and detoxification and recommend Kale as one of the top food for detoxification.

Diet and Digestion 

A cup of kale has 36 calories and zero grams of fat, furthermore it contains nearly 20% of the RDA of dietary fiber, which aids the digestive process, prevents constipation, and lowers blood sugar levels. Kale contains the glucosinolate isothiocyanate (ITC) that fights H. pylori (Helicobacter pylori), bacteria known to cause ulcers and eventually lead to gastric cancer.

Antioxidants

Kale is rich in carotenoids and flavonoids- powerful antioxidants that protect cells from free radicals that cause cancer via oxidative stress. Kaempferol and quercitin are the two main flavonoids out of the 45 present in kale (all are important).  Kaempferol and quercitin have also been shown to specifically fight against the formation of cancerous cells. With the addition of high doses of well-known antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin A, and manganese, kale is certainly a smart choice in the battle against cellular oxidation.

Anti-Inflammatory 

One cup of kale provides 10% of the RDA of omega-3 fatty acids that help reduce LDL (“bad cholesterol”) and  helps to reduce inflammation throughout the body.

Super-Rich in Vitamin K

Kale provides a great deal of vitamin K which also aids in the fight against arthritis, autoimmune disorders, asthma, and other inflammatory pathologies.  Consuming a diet rich in vitamin K can reduce the overall risk of developing or dying from cancer, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (Vitamin K is abundant in kale but also found in parsley, spinach, collard greens, and animal products such as cheese.)  Kale provides a large dose of vitamin K (1327% of the RDA in one cup), which is necessary for the synthesis of osteocalcin, a protein that strengthens our bones. Vitamin K  inhibits calcium build-up in our tissue that can lead to atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease and stroke. Last but not least, vitamin K is essential for synthesizing sphingolipid, the lipid necessary to maintain the myelin sheath (a fatty layer) around our nerves, and therefore our nervous system as a whole.

Cancer 

 A diet rich in  kale also provides glucosinolates, which have been shown to prevent colon, breast, bladder, prostate, ovarian cancers, as well as gastric cancer.

Cardiovascular Support

Kale’s high fiber content helps to lower cholesterol by binding with bile acids produced by the liver from cholesterol for the purpose of digesting fat.

Detox 

Isothiocyanates (ITC) from glucosinolates found in kale aid in  Phase I and  Phase II of the body’s detoxification process. The high sulfur content of kale has further been shown essential for phase II of detoxification. Sulfur helps to detoxify the body and the blood of toxins.

Vitamin A 

One cup of kale provides  192% of the RDA of vitamin A; it’s an  effective antioxidant, boosts immunity, maintains healthy bones and teeth, prevents urinary stones, and is essential to our reproductive organs.

Vitamin C 

Kale provides over 88% of our RDA of  vitamin C, whish  is a powerful antioxidant, lowers blood pressure,  strengthens immunity, and  combats age-related eye problems, such as cataracts and macular degeneration.

In short, whether you like to have a juice or a smoothie…it doesn’t matter…just make sure it has kale in it! I advise patients to juice or make smoothies as opposed to eating kale due to the higher level of absorption by the body when consumed in liquid form.

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Dr. Gary Eshanov is the Chiropractor on Church Street. He offers patients chiropractic care, clinical nutrition and physical therapy. He is a holistic practitioner and advises patients to focus on improving their health by natural means. Learn more by visiting www.montclairchiropracticcenter.com/