Super Energy Kale Soup to Reduce Inflammation and Fight Disease
Eating kale and other cruciferous vegetables two to three times a week
or, even better, four to five times a week, is an easy way to
significantly boost your health. Just one cup of
kale will flood your body with disease-fighting
vitamins K, A, and C, along with respectable amounts of manganese, copper, B vitamins, fiber, calcium, and potassium.
With each serving of kale, you’ll also find more than 45 unique
flavonoids, which have both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.
1
In terms of green leafy vegetables, you really can’t go wrong… but kale
is definitely worthy of its reputation as “king of veggies.”
And here’s a secret: kale’s flavor gets sweeter after it’s been
exposed to a frost, making winter the ideal time to eat it (and it is in
season starting mid-winter). When the temperatures drop you might not
feel like eating a raw kale salad, but what about a bowl of warm kale
soup?
The recipe that follows, from the George Mateljan Foundation,
2 will not only warm you up and boost your nutrition, it’ll give you a nice energy boost, too.
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 5 cups chicken or bone broth
- 1 medium carrot, diced into 1/4-inch cubes (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup diced celery
- 2 red potatoes, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
- 3 cups kale, rinsed, stems removed and chopped very fine
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp dried sage
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Chop garlic and onions and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out their health benefits.
- Heat 1 TBS broth in a medium soup pot.
- Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring frequently.
- Add garlic and continue to sauté for another minute.
- Add broth, carrots, and celery and bring to a boil on high heat.
- Once it comes to a boil reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook
for another 5 minutes. Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 15
more minutes.
- Add kale and rest of ingredients and cook another 5 minutes. If you
want to simmer for a longer time for extra flavor and richness, you may
need to add a little more broth.
Serves 4
Kale May Fight at Least Five Types of Cancer
Like other cruciferous vegetables, kale is a good source of
cancer-fighting sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol. To date, kale has
been found to lower the risk of at least five types of cancer, including
bladder, breast, colon, ovary and prostate.
3
The glucosinolates in kale and other cruciferous vegetables break down into products that help protect DNA from damage.
4 As noted by the George Mateljan Foundation:
5
“Kale’s special mix of cancer-preventing glucosinolates has been the hottest area of research on this cruciferous vegetable.
Kale is an especially rich source of glucosinolates,
and once kale is eaten and digested, these glucosinolates can be
converted by the body into cancer preventive compounds. Some of this
conversion process can also take place in the food itself, prior to
consumption.”
While some research suggests raw kale is best for cancer prevention,
other studies suggest lightly cooked is best, in part because it
improves kale’s ability to bind with bile acids in your digestive tract.
This makes the bile acids easier for your body to excrete, which not
only has a beneficial impact on your cholesterol levels, but also on
your risk of cancer (bile acids have been associated with an increased
risk of cancer). According to one study in
Nutrition Research:
6
“Steam cooking significantly improved the in
vitro bile acid binding of collard greens, kale, mustard greens,
broccoli, green bell pepper, and cabbage compared with previously
observed bile acid binding values for these vegetables raw (uncooked).
Inclusion of steam-cooked collard greens, kale, mustard greens,
broccoli, green bell pepper, and cabbage in our daily diet as
health-promoting vegetables should be emphasized.
These green/leafy vegetables, when consumed regularly after steam
cooking, would lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer,
advance human nutrition research, and improve public health.”
Eat Kale to Support Natural Detoxification
Foods that support both
Phase 1 and Phase 2 detoxification
are key to supporting your body’s daily removal of harmful substances
from your body. Phase 1 detoxification is when toxins are broken down
into smaller particles, while during your body’s Phase 2 detoxification
process, the broken down toxins are shuttled out of your system.
If you eat foods that support Phase 1, but not Phase 2, the
broken-down toxins may begin to accumulate in your body. But the
isothiocyanates (ITCs) in kale help to promote
both Phase 1 and Phase 2 detoxification. The George Mateljan Foundation explained:
7
“In addition, the unusually large numbers of sulfur
compounds in kale have been shown to help support aspects of Phase II
detoxification that require the presence of sulfur.
By supporting both aspects of our cellular detox process (Phase I
and Phase II), nutrients in kale can give our body an “edge up” in
dealing with toxic exposure, whether from our environment or from our
food.”
Kale Earns Its Reputation as a Superfood
Kale is one
vegetable that lives up to its nutritional hype. It’s loaded with both
lutein and zeaxanthin at over 26 mg combined, per serving, for starters.
Of all the carotenoids, only zeaxanthin and lutein are found in your
retina, which has the highest concentration of fatty acids of any tissue
in your body.
This is because your retina is a highly light- and oxygen-rich
environment, and it needs a large supply of free radical scavengers to
prevent oxidative damage there.
It is theorized that your body concentrates zeaxanthin and lutein in
your retina to perform this duty, and consuming these antioxidants may
help to ward off eye problems like age-related macular degeneration.
And as far as calcium is concerned, one cup of kale will give you 90
milligrams in a highly bioavailable form. One calcium bioavailability
study found that calcium from kale was 25% better absorbed than calcium
from milk.
8 What else do you gain when you eat kale?
- Anti-inflammatory properties that may help prevent arthritis, heart disease and autoimmune diseases
- Plant-based omega-3 fats for building cell membranes, protecting against heart disease and stroke, and regulating blood clotting
- An impressive number of beneficial flavonoids, including 32 phenolic
compounds and three hydroxycinnamic acids to help support healthy
cholesterol levels and scavenge free radicals
Choose Organic Kale When You Can
When choosing kale, look for firm, fresh deeply colored leaves with
hardy stems. Avoid leaves that are brown or yellow or that contain
holes. Kale with smaller leaves tends to be more tender and milder than
larger-leaved kale. Choose organic varieties (or grow your own), as kale
is frequently sprayed with pesticides, and particularly toxic
pesticides at that. One study by the Environmental Working Group
detected 51 pesticides on kale, including several they described as
“highly toxic.”
9
For best results, store kale in your refrigerator (unwashed) in a
plastic storage bag. Remove as much air as you can. Ideally, eat kale as
soon as you can, because the longer it sits the more bitter the flavor
becomes.
10
Visit Our Food Facts Library for Empowering Nutrition Information
If you want to learn even more about what’s in the food you’re
eating, visit our Food Facts library. Most people are not aware of the
wealth of nutrients available in healthful foods, particularly organic
fruits and vegetables. By getting to know your food, you can make
informed decisions about how to eat healthier and thereby boost your
brain function, lower your risk of chronic disease, lose weight, and
much more.
Food Facts is a directory of the most highly recommended health foods
to add to your wholesome diet. Its purpose is to provide you with
valuable information about various types of foods including recipes to
help you maximize these benefits. You’ll learn about nutrition facts,
scientific studies, and even interesting trivia about each food in the
Food Facts library. Remember, knowing what’s in your food is the first
step to choosing and preparing nutritious meals each and every day. So
visit
Mercola Food Facts today to get started.
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By
Dr. Mercola via
Healthy Holistic Living
