What are the benefits of kale

Kale is the vegetable that origins from the family of the cabbages. It resembles the cabbage, but its leaves are greener and curvier. Nevertheless, there are three major types of kale which have the different tastes and looks. Those are the dinosaur kale (which has a sweeter flavour), the curly kale (of a rather sharp taste) and the ornamental kale (which has a gentle taste and softer leaves than the two previously mentioned kinds).

Nowadays, this plan is used mostly in the culinary, but it is important to emphasize its nutritive values, since the people from Asia (from where kale was brought to the rest of the world) have used it as one of the most important groceries in diets through centuries.

Anyway, kale is significantly rich in vitamins and minerals, and because of that, it belongs to the group of so-called functional foods which could prevent or cure some illnesses and conditions.

So, since it couldn’t be eaten in a raw stage, the best way to prepare it, is to cook it. Of course, before that, it should be washed with a flow of cold water, and then it could be prepared for eating, either as a whole or with the leaves separated.

And finally, when it comes to the valuable substances of it and to the health benefits of consuming this vegetable, it is good to point out the function of each nutrient. For example, the nutrient which is present in all the similar plants is Indole-3-carbinol. It is very effective in decreasing the amount of the secreted protein which carries the cholesterol into the liver.

Since this protein also carries the Low Density Lipoprotein into the other tissues and into the cardiovascular system, it can be concluded that the kale prevents the majority of the heart-related diseases.

Also, due to its structure that is rich in fibers, kale decreases the amount of the cholesterol and it often leads to the consequence of stopping the process of atherosclerosis. Similarly, kale is good in reducing the amount of sugar in the blood and it is used to help the healing process of diabetes.

One of the most beneficial kale nutrients is the mineral called manganese, which is highly valuable for restoring and creating the energy for the body in general, because it participates in those kinds of the chemical processes in the organism. Another very beneficial mineral that is present in kale is calcium, which is already well-known to be very valuable ingredient of the bone structures.

As far as the vitamins are concerned, kale also happens to be rich in vitamin A and vitamin C.

In the end, it is important to mention that kale shouldn’t be consumed in excessive amounts because of its harmful ingredient oxalate, which has a tendency to crystallize and accumulate into the blood flow.