Day 191 -- Hail, Hail, Let's Eat Kale

Hippocrates said "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food."  

On my recent trip to my Dad's garden, I picked some really good medicine -- curly leaf kale.  Kale is one of those foods that I first tasted about four months ago and since then, I've used in in many different recipes.  I knew it was a very healthy thing to eat, but I didn't know how healthy until I came across this article,  This Is Your Brain On Kale, written by Dr. Drew Ramsey, M.D.  He recently co-authored a book, 50 Shades Of Kale, all about -- you guessed it! -- kale.  And how good kale is for our brain.

 Ramsey explains that kale contains the phytonutrient sulfurophane which amplifies your body's powers of detoxification. Another phytonutrient in kale called kaempferol turns on the genes that promote longer life.  And then there are carotenoids, which are linked to a person's overall sense of optimism, and glucosinolates, a known cancer fighter.  Brain health also depends on eating omega-3 fatss, which happen to be the main kind of fat in kale.  The brain also depends on essential vitamins and minerals to function. A cup of raw kale has just 33 calories, yet you get a huge dose of vitamin C (134 percent RDA), pro-vitamin A (206 percent RDA), and a vitamin K (684 percent RDA). Vitamin K is a powerful anti-oxidant that protects fat. It is a key co-factor need to make the specialized fats called sphingolipids that create the structure of our brain cells, and it promotes brain cells being more resilient by influencing gene expression. Vitamin K is also needed for bone health, and kale happens to be a great source of another bone-builder. Studies of calcium absorption from kale have shown its absorption to be superior to milk! That's because unlike many other greens such as spinach, kale has almost no oxalates that impair absorption. Kale also has a lot of protein for a leafy green. Add to this iron, folate, and vitamin B6, all needed to make brain molecules like serotonin and dopamine, and it is clear that kale is brain food.

And you can grow kale easily at home.  It's one of the first things to harvest in the garden and lasts well past the first frost.  Tomorrow, I'll cook up a pot of my Superfoods Soup and toss in the kale that I got from Dad.  Thanks, Dad!