Kale. Yes, I know you might be wondering why the brief title, but I can’t tell you that it’s the point I’m trying to get across. Kale has been such a backbone in my own nutrition. Not only has it helped me in having a better quality of life, but it also piqued my interest in other health foods. It’s funny because the first time I heard about Kale was actually on the Joe Rogan Podcast. It’s an unusual place to get nutrition information, but it got me excited nonetheless. Kale contains over 100% of your daily required amount of vitamins A and K. In fact, it only takes about a cup of Kale to get these values. You can even make a health quick snack with kale by making chips out of it. You simply remove the leaves from the stems, drizzle a little salt and oil, and bake at 400F for 10-15 minutes. Voila, you have yourself some vitamin packed leafy greens on call.
You might be asking yourself, “Why is this man going on about Kale so much?”. I go on and on about Kale to prove a point. Kale is considered what is known as a tipping point vegetable by at least one research journal. What does this mean? Basically once certain vegetables like kale, once incorporated, would usher people towards making even more healthy decisions. That’s what kale does for people that I find to be the most interesting fact. It’s obscure vegetables that most interest me, and Kale was just a starting point. This is my true passion, making others as interested in health as I am. It’s with items like Kale, that we get people started down that path.
Let’s not forget about kale. I’d love to share a story of my own experience with whoever is reading this. My family has a small garden outside our house that we have been tending to for many years. My father has this ritual of always asking us what we wanted in the garden. So this year I decided I’d like to have some homegrown kale of my own. Lo and behold, we find out that kale is a pretty resilient plant. Kale grows incredibly fast and isn’t much bothered by its environment. In fact, after this, I did a lot of my own research. It turns out even after a frost, the only thing that happens it kale is it ends up tasting better. Kale is one of the hardiest crops right up there with potatoes.
I’m hoping what you gather from this, is that it only takes one thing to push someone in the right direction. Whether it be kale, beets, or a turnip it doesn’t matter. Any item that can push someone towards discovering a new and healthier life is worth exploring. I’m hoping that more people start to adopt a more specific method of informing people, as opposed to the mass amount of info I see disseminated about MyPlate.
References Used in this post:
- Tomoko, J.D. Gussow, I.R. Contento.
Tipping Point Vegetables: “Owning” Kale and Kohlrabi. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2014:46:S105 - All images are from wiki commons and labeled for reuse